CD Review – Speak Now – Taylor Swift (Target Digital Deluxe V-Album)

14 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on CD Review – Speak Now – Taylor Swift (Target Digital Deluxe V-Album)

Speak Now – Taylor Swift (Big Machine, 2010)

Albums come in various versions these days and alongside the standard and deluxe versions of Speak Now, Taylor Swift has also released a Target exclusive deluxe digital V-Album ScatterTunes service. The package includes all 14 tracks from the standard album, 3 bonus tracks, 3 track remixes, ‘Mine’ music video, 30 minutes of bonus video material, and photos.

The concept behind Taylor’s third studio album, which is a full-on pop album, is saying what you feel when you’re feeling it. It’s not always easy to identify the right time to speak up and so with this collection of songs the young star set out to express things she had left unsaid. This strong concept is evident on every song on Speak Now and while the openness makes some songs triumphs, it also creates failures. The flip side of regretting what you didn’t say is regretting what you did say and I wonder if the latter is going to be the case once the dust settles.

Having exclusively written about boys and continuing to do so, the rise to the celebrity A-list means the songs are no longer about high school friends but often about very famous faces and the project is in danger of looking like an episode of Entertainment Tonight. It has also resulted in the lyrics being scrutinized to pieces to look for ‘clues’ and it becoming a game of ‘Guess the Celeb’. It will be interesting to see if the songs still manage to connect with her core audience now that her experiences are becoming more and more removed from their own.

One of the most talked-about tracks is ‘Back to December.’ It became an instant fan-favorite and those attributing this entirely to it being linked to actor Taylor Lautner are overlooking that it is just plain excellent. Swift knows how to write a melody and here it softly sways, matching the melancholy in the words while at the same time managing to sound catchy and radio-friendly. If this becomes the second single, I predict a massive hit. Another song where everything falls into place is the pop-rock ‘Sparks Fly’ where the messy guitars share the urgency of the lyrics.

The problems start when Taylor tries to speak from the moral high ground as she can’t stop herself from either acting in the way she accuses others of, or sounding quite smug. When in ‘Mean,’ she describes her critics as “pathetic and alone in life” and sees them drunk in a bar “grumbling on about how I can’t sing” it sounds less like a description but more like she’s actually wishing that future upon them. And that is beyond mean; it’s vindictive. She will have supporters saying she’s just being honest but she’s dangerously close to sounding like a spoiled brat who can’t handle it that not everyone praises her. Merely pointing out what millions of TV viewers of various award shows could clearly hear is not mean. She has big problems with pitch and that’s just how it is. Someone who made a career out of naming and shaming people in her songs cannot get upset when people call her out on any shortcomings.

The whole Kanye West saga is (hopefully) laid to rest on ‘Innocent,’ a possible contender for most condescending song ever. The guy is silly and (almost) everyone knows this. Offering him absolution of the when-you’re-older-you’ll-understand variety is patronizing at best.

A lot has also already been said about ‘Dear John.’ While she does eventually admit that maybe her own naivety is to blame and you find yourself wanting to empathize with her, the main point of the chorus is ‘Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?’ But wouldn’t she have considered herself old enough to get involved with the ‘bad boy’ in the first place? When it goes wrong, accusing that same guy of not seeing you were too young seems quite foolish and a denial of your own responsibility.

There is more cattiness on punk pop ‘Better than Revenge’ in which she’s angry at a girl for stealing her boyfriend (whom she compares to a toy) and lowers herself to calling her just an actress who knows what to do on a mattress while she could have walked away the better person. Opposite this is the title track which sounds like a K T Tunstall composition. Sure, it’s also catty, but it has something those other tracks don’t: a sense of humor. Just try not to smile when she describes the bridezilla the boy is marrying as ‘wearing a gown shaped like a pastry.’ Well-crafted tunes like this make me think Taylor should give up the association with country music and just go for the pop and later on the AC charts.

At 14 tracks, Speak Now is at least 2 tracks too long. It holds a few songs which come and go without adding much, like ‘Haunted’ and first single ‘Mine.’ There are enough album tracks here which are neither brilliant nor forgettable, like the endearing ‘Enchanted’ and the heartbreaking ‘Last Kiss’ to give the album enough impact.

While Speak Now has some very fine songs on it, my main point of contention with Taylor’s writing remains in place; any girl is defined by her relationships with boys. I would also like to see her develop her songwriting to the point where she can write from a perspective other than her own so the stories she’s looking to tell are not so one-dimensional. Speak Now is very dense and contains several far-too-wordy songs, so while I admire the accomplishment of penning and entire album solo, perhaps some editing from co-writers would be a good thing.

Having said all that, there is one thing Taylor Swift understands better than almost any artist – giving fans what they want. When she creates a deluxe album, it doesn’t just hold a few extra songs, it comes armed with tons of bonuses.

The extra song material on the V-album contains acoustic tracks and while I often prefer those, in this case I miss the intricacies of the full production. The reduction of the amount of music to back her up also highlights the pitch problems which become impossible to miss. Two great pop tunes make these bonus items well worth getting though: ‘Ours’ and ‘If This Was a Movie.’ ‘Superman’ is the kind of song Taylor has outgrown by now and it sounds out of place. The UK pop mix of ‘Mine’ is a bit redundant as it seems unnecessary to create a pop mix of what is already a pop song.

Speak Now contains good moments but the writing is still a bit too Taylor-centric and she doesn’t quite practise what she preaches.

If you are a Swift fan, the ScatterTunes download is the best deal in town with a stack of bonus material for $16.99 only.

Go to the ScatterTunes website for all the download info.

Disclosure of material connection for this review.  

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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