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This article is about the album. For the song, see Speak Now (song).
Untitled

Speak Now is the third studio album by American country pop recording artist Taylor Swift. It was released on October 25, 2010 by Big Machine Records. Production for the album was handled by Swift and country music producer Nathan Chapman during 2008 to 2010. Written entirely by Swift, Speak Now expands on the country pop style of her previous work and features lyrical themes concerning love, romance, and heartbreak. On the albums first week it sold 575,525 copies in the US alone and 1 million worldwide.[2][3]

Writing and development

Swift worked on the album for two years prior to its release.[4] Swift wrote all of the songs on the album without co-writers. Speaking on a live webcast on July 20, 2010, she said, "I actually wrote all the songs myself for this record. It didn't really happen on purpose, it just sort of happened. Like, I'd get my best ideas at 3:00 AM in Arkansas, and I didn't have a co-writer around and I would just finish it."[5] She has described it as a "conceptual" project, with variations of the theme of "boy-crazy country starlet tries to stop dripping tears all over her guitar".[6] In an analysis of Swift's lyrics, The Oxonian Review noted themes of regret and solitude, highlighting that "December is a month to get through so we can return to the beginning, and is certainly not a month to relish. Yet, Swift goes there—'all the time'—in 'Back to December' by delivering an apology to an ex-boyfriend, which she never did on her prior two albums."[7] 60% of the album was recorded in producer Nathan Chapman's basement. Some of the songs feature live strings, and some, a full orchestra.[8]

Release and promotion

Speak Now was released worldwide on October 25, 2010 by Big Machine Records.[9][10] The album's official cover was premiered through Us Weekly on August 18, 2010.[11] An upcoming world tour has been confirmed for the album.[8]

Swift performed the song "Innocent" at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Some of the tracks were previewed in advance of the release date: "Speak Now" on October 4, "Back to December" on October 11, and "Mean" on October 18, 2010.[12] These three were subsequently released to the iTunes Store the following day, respectively.[13] Additionally, "The Story of Us" will see its preview on October 22, 2010 through Comcast on-demand and XfinityTv.com.[13] "Speak Now" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eight and on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number sixty the week of October 11, 2010, selling 217,000 digital downloads.[14][15][16] "Back to December" debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, with 242,000 digital downloads.[17] "Mean" debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 163,000 downloads.[18]

Singles

The album's first single, "Mine", was released on August 4, 2010, instead of the planned August 16 release, after being leaked.[19] A music video for the song was shot in Kennebunkport, Maine during July.[20] Swift said the single was about her tendency to "run from love".[4]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number six on the Top 40 Albums chart.[21]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(78/100)[22]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Chicago Sun-Times[23]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[24]
Los Angeles Times[25]
The New York Times(favorable)[26]
Rolling Stone[27]
Slant Magazine[28]
Spin(7/10)[29]
USA Today[30]
The Washington Post(mixed)[31]

Speak Now received positive reviews from most music critics.[22] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[22] Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it 4 out of 5 stars and commended Swift for her lyrical maturity, stating "she writes from the perspective of the moment yet has the skill of a songwriter beyond her years".[1] Erlewine noted that the album musically is "no great progression from Fearless but rather a subtle shift toward pure pop with the country accents".[1] Los Angeles Times writer Ann Powers gave it 3 out of 4 stars and stated "she makes memorable music by honing in on the tiny stuff: the half-notes in a hummed phrase, the lyrical images that communicate precisely what it’s like to feel uncomfortable, or disappointed, or happy".[25] Eric R. Danton of The Hartford Courant noted Swift's songwriting for "balancing the wistful teenage puppy-love mindset of her previous albums with more grown-up themes".[32] Rudy Klapper of Sputnikmusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and viewed it as an improvement over her previous album, calling it "the best pop record of the year".[33]

Elysa Gardner of USA Today gave the album 3½ out of 4 stars and complimented Swift's "youthful" perspective, stating "At its best, Speak Now captures the sweet ache of becoming an adult, as only those who are still in the process can articulate".[30] Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt praised her songcraft and called its tracks "perfectly contained snow globes of romance and catharsis, whole cinematic narratives rendered in four-to six-minute miniatures".[24] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called it a "bravura work of nontransparent transparency... the most savage of her career, and also the most musically diverse. And it’s excellent too, possibly her best".[26] Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield perceived "a minimum of country schmaltz" and commended Swift for "slipping more grown-up details into her love stories".[27] Despite finding its "bubblier tunes [...] the album's dullest, most forgettable moments", Mikael Wood of Spin wrote that "Swift taps into something nervy and intense when she goes nasty".[29] Paste writer Liz Stinson gave it a 71/100 rating and stated "Swift is strongest when she lets her country roots shine through".[34]

The Washington Post's Allison Stewart called the album "ridiculously entertaining [...] a lengthy, captivating exercise in woo-pitching, flame tending and score-settling", but found it "long: 14 wordy, stretched-thin, occasionally repetitive songs".[31] Despite commending Swift for her "thoughtful honesty and surprisingly articulate take on", Mischa Pearlman of Yahoo! Music viewed its songs as "somewhat homogeneous... with interchangeable choruses".[35] Chicago Sun-Times writer Thomas Conner gave the album 2 out of 4 stars and stated "The topicality of 'Speak Now,' plus Swift’s penchant for screwing a big, diesel-powered chorus into every song [...] makes the album a little exhausting".[23] Boston Herald writer Jed Gottlieb gave it a B- rating and criticized Swift's adolescence-oriented themes, stating "Speak Now has Swift taking a few strokes toward the deep end, but she’s over her head [...] eventually Swift has to give up the starry-eyed stuff".[36] Slant Magazine's Jonathan Keefe viewed that "her lyrics generally lack the variety and sophistication of her compositions", but complimented its "expertly crafted pop music" and called it "a studied, smart album that is easily the best, most dense work of Swift's career so far".[28]

Track listing

The track listing was confirmed by Taylor Swift's official website on September 22, 2010.[37]

All tracks are written by Taylor Swift[5][8]

No.TitleLength
1."Mine"3:50
2."Sparks Fly"4:20
3."Back to December"4:53
4."Speak Now"4:00
5."Dear John"6:43
6."Mean"3:57
7."The Story of Us"4:25
8."Never Grow Up"4:50
9."Enchanted"5:52
10."Better than Revenge"3:37
11."Innocent"5:02
12."Haunted"4:02
13."Last Kiss"6:07
14."Long Live"5:17
  • International versions of the album feature alternate versions of "Mine", "Back to December", and "The Story of Us".

Deluxe edition

A deluxe edition solely for release by the Target Corporation was announced that will feature a slightly different cover, with Swift in a red dress. It was released on the same day as the standard edition, it includes three additional tracks, two acoustic versions, a Pop Remix of "Mine", and thirty minutes of video content: the music video for "Mine", as well as behind-the-scenes footage of its production.[38][39][40] Taylor also released a video for the Target Deluxe Edition talking about her first crush [41]

International deluxe edition bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Ours"3:58
2."If This Was a Movie"3:54
3."Superman"4:36
4."Back to December" (Acoustic version)4:52
5."Haunted" (Acoustic version)3:37
6."Mine" (US Version)3:51
7."Back to December" (US Version)4:53
8."The Story of Us" (US Version)4:27
9."Mine" (music video: behind the scenes) 
10."Mine" (music video) 
North America bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Ours"3:58
2."If This Was a Movie"3:54
3."Superman"4:36
4."Back to December" (Acoustic version)4:52
5."Haunted" (Acoustic version)3:37
6."Mine" (Pop Mix)3:51
7."Mine" (music video: behind the scenes) 
8."Mine" (music video) 

Personnel

Tour

Taylor Swift 2011 Tour
Tour by Taylor Swift
Associated albumSpeak Now
Start dateJanuary 21, 2011
End dateMarch 30, 2011 (to date)
Legs3 (announced)
No. of shows20 (announced)

An upcoming world tour has been confirmed for the album.[8]

Date City Country Venue
North America
January 21, 2011 [42] Cozumel Mexico Allure of the Seas Aquatheater
Asia
February 9, 2011 [43] Kallang Singapore Singapore Indoor Stadium
February 11, 2011 [44] Seoul South Korea Gymnastic Gymnasium
February 13, 2011 [44] Osaka Japan Osaka-Jo Hall
February 16, 2011 [45] Tokyo Budokan Hall
February 17, 2011 [45]
February 19, 2011 [43] Manila Philippines Araneta Coliseum
February 21, 2011 [46] Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR AsiaWorld Arena
Europe
March 6, 2011 [43] Brussel Belgium Forest National
March 7, 2011 [47] Rotterdam The Netherlands Ahoy
March 9, 2011 [45] Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
March 12, 2011 [44] Oberhausen Germany Oberhausen Arena
March 14, 2011 [44] Munich Olympiahalle
March 17, 2011 [45] Paris France Le Zénith
March 19, 2011 [45] Madrid Spain Palacio De Deportes
March 22, 2011 [45] Birmingham United Kingdom L.G Arena
March 25, 2011 [48] Belfast Odyssey Arena
March 27, 2011 [48] Dublin Ireland The O2
March 29, 2011 [45] Manchester United Kingdom M.E.N Arena
March 30, 2011 [45] London The O2

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[21] 6

References

  1. ^ a b c d Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2010-10-25). "Taylor Swift - Speak Now". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-10-25. {{cite web}}: Text "AllMusic" ignored (help); Text "allmusic.com" ignored (help)
  2. ^ http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi
  3. ^ http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news08280
  4. ^ a b John, Christopher (July 21, 2010). "Taylor Swift Sets Release Date for New Album 'Speak Now' - Speakeasy - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
  5. ^ a b Posted Jul 21st 2010 9:00AM by Nancy Dunham Comments [1]. "Taylor Swift on New Album, New Home, Favorite Fan Moments". The Boot. Retrieved 2010-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Collins, Leah (July 22, 2010). "Taylor Swift to release concept album". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  7. ^ Taylor Swift needs a gap year. The Oxonian Review. Retrieved on 2010-11-02.
  8. ^ a b c d Kreps, Daniel (July 21, 2010). "Taylor Swift Announces Third Album, 'Speak Now'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  9. ^ "NEW CD RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCED | Countdown to Taylor Swift's new single". Speaknow13.com. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
  10. ^ PR (September 27, 2010). Taylor Swift Launches Speak Now Album Release With 3-Week iTunes Countdown. PR Newswire. Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
  11. ^ Check Out Taylor Swift's New Album Cover - Us Weekly Wednesday – August 18, 2010 – 2:28pm
  12. ^ http://www.taylorswift.com/news/o1287965052241?post=speak-now-3-week-itunes-countdown0.69034700%201287776315#o1287965052241
  13. ^ a b Vena, Jocelyn (September 27, 2010). "Taylor Swift Rolling Out Speak Now Tracks Early". MTV News. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  14. ^ Caulfield, Keith; Pietroluongo, Silvio (October 14, 2010). "Chart Moves: 'Glee,' Mavis Staples, Stephen Colbert, 'Social Network,' Pink". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  15. ^ "Chart Highlights: Country, Dance/Club Play Songs & More". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 11, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  16. ^ Caulfield, Keith (October 13, 2010). "Toby Keith's 'Gun' Fires at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  17. ^ Caulfield, Keith; Pietroluongo, Silvio (October 21, 2010). "Chart Moves: Lil Wayne, David Archuleta, Taylor Swift, Kanye West". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  18. ^ Caulfield, Keith; Pietroluongo, Silvio (October 28, 2010). "Chart Moves: Susan Boyle, Willow Smith, Taylor Swift, Bo Burnham, Cee Lo". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  19. ^ "Taylor Swift's New Single, "Mine," Shipped to Country Radio After Leak". Country Music Television. August 4, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  20. ^ Kreps, Daniel (July 21, 2010). "Taylor Swift Announces Third Album, 'Speak Now'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  21. ^ a b The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart - 31 October 2010. BBC Online. Retrieved on 2010-10-31.
  22. ^ a b c Speak Now (2010): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
  23. ^ a b Conner, Thomas (2010-10-25). "Boy leaves girl repeatedly on Taylor Swift's present-tense 'Speak Now'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-10-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ a b Greenblatt, Leah (2010-10-25). "Speak Now". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-10-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Text "EW.com" ignored (help); Text "Music" ignored (help)
  25. ^ a b Powers, Ann (2010-10-25). "Album review: Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Text "Pop & Hiss" ignored (help)
  26. ^ a b Caramanica, Jon (2010-10-20). "Taylor Swift, Angry on 'Speak Now' - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (2010-10-26). "Speak Now by Taylor Swift". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-10-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ a b Keefe, Jonathan (2010-10-25). "Taylor Swift: Speak Now". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2010-10-25. {{cite web}}: Text "Music Review" ignored (help)
  29. ^ a b Wood, Mikael (2010-10-26). "Taylor Swift, 'Speak Now' (Big Machine)". Spin. Retrieved 2010-10-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ a b Gardner, Elysa (2010-10-22). "When Taylor Swift speaks on new album, you should listen - USATODAY.com". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-10-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ a b Stewart, Allison (2010-10-24). "Album review: Taylor Swift, "Speak Now"". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-10-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  32. ^ Danton, Eric R. (2010-10-26). "CD Review: 'Speak Now' by Taylor Swift". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2010-10-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ Rudy, Klapper (2010-10-25). "Taylor Swift - Speak Now (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
  34. ^ Stinson, Liz (2010-10-29). "Taylor Swift Speak Now Review". Paste. Retrieved 2010-10-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ Pearlman, Mischa (2010-10-28). "Taylor Swift - 'Speak Now'". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  36. ^ Gottlieb, Jed (2010-10-22). "It's her turn to 'Speak Now' - BostonHerald.com". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2010-10-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  37. ^ "Speak Now Tracklist!". TaylorSwift.com. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  38. ^ "Speak Now (Deluxe Edition)(CD) - Only at Target". Target Corporation. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  39. ^ Vena, Jocelyn (September 15, 2010). "Taylor Swift Announces Deluxe Version Of Speak Now". MTV News. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  40. ^ "Taylor Swift partners with retailer for new CD". Associated Press. September 15, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  41. ^ "Taylor Swift's New Target Commercial for 'Speak Now'!". The Disney Flame. October 24, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  42. ^ http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentSitelet.do?pagename=taylor_swift_experience&cid=RCHPF1-10152010taylorswiftexperience
  43. ^ a b c http://www.ahoy.nl/agenda/TaylorSwift-mrt11
  44. ^ a b c d http://www.taylorswift.com/tour
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h http://www.livenation.nl/search?q=Taylor+Swift
  46. ^ http://www.hkticketing.com/eng/
  47. ^ http://www.greenhousetalent.be/artist.asp?id=208&concert=Tickets voor het concert van -Taylor-Swift-Ahoy-Rotterdam
  48. ^ a b http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Taylor-Swift-tickets/artist/970469
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