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Fearless
Studio album by Taylor Swift
Released	November 11, 2008 (see release history)
Recorded	2007-2008 Nashville, TN Blackbird Studios Starstruck Studios The Sound Cottage The Sound Eporium Quad Studios Love Shack Studios Fool On The Hill Studios Franklin, TN The Sound Kitchen
Genre	Country pop[1]
Length	53:41
Label	Big Machine and Universal Music Group
Producer	Scott Borchetta (exec.), Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift chronology
Taylor Swift (2006) Fearless (2008)
Singles from Fearless
"Love Story" Released: September 16, 2008 (2008-09-16) "White Horse" Released: December 9, 2008 (2008-12-09) "You Belong with Me" Released: April 21, 2009 (2009-04-21) "Fifteen" Released: September 1, 2009 (2009-09-01) "Fearless" Released: January 4, 2010 (2010-01-04)[2]
Promo singles from Fearless
"Change" Released: August 22, 2008 (2008-08-22) "You're Not Sorry" Released: October 28, 2008 (2008-10-28)

Fearless is the second studio album by American country pop artist Taylor Swift. Released on November 11, 2008, on Big Machine Records, the album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums charts. The release sold 592,000 copies in the United States its first week—the largest sum for a country album since Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden in November 2007.^[3] Fearless later became the first album to sell one million copies in 2009,^[4] and earned the title of top-selling album of 2009.^[5] As of February 11, 2010, the album has been certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA,^[6] and has sold 10 million copies worldwide.^[7]

The album's lead single, "Love Story," was her first song to achieve commercial success outside of the United States;^{[citation needed]} it reached No. 1 in Australia,^{[citation needed]} No. 3 in New Zealand,^[8] and No. 2 in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]} The album's third single, "You Belong with Me," became Swift's biggest domestic hit,^{[citation needed]} peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[9] The album itself topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks and topped the Billboard Top Country Albums for 35 non-consecutive weeks.^{[citation needed]} The album was later re-released on October 26, 2009, as Fearless: Platinum Edition with six additional new songs.^[10]

At the 52nd Grammy Awards, Swift won awards for Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Fearless.^[11] Her Album of the Year win made her the youngest person ever at the age of 20 to receive that award, thereby eclipsing Alanis Morissette's win for Jagged Little Pill at the age of 21.^{[citation needed]} Fearless was also the first album in history to win the American Music Award (AMA), Academy of Country Music Award (ACM), Country Music Association Award (CMA), and Grammy Award for Album of The Year in the same year.^{[citation needed]}

Promotion

Swift has performed songs off of Fearless for many award shows, including the CMA Awards, American Music Awards, 51st Grammy Awards, Academy of Country Music awards show, 2009 CMT Awards, and 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.^{[citation needed]} Some of these performances have been alongside other artists, including Miley Cyrus.^{[citation needed]}

To promote the album, she has additionally performed on several major syndicated television shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Saturday Night Live.^{[citation needed]} To promote the album in the UK, she has appeared on music/talk show T4, Loose Women, and BBC Breakfast.^{[citation needed]} In September 2008, "White Horse" was played during the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.^{[citation needed]}

Tour

In spring 2009, Swift headlined a massive, sold out 52-city Fearless Tour in the United States and Canada, with opening acts Kellie Pickler and Gloriana.^{[citation needed]} Following Fearless's success in the UK, Swift later brought the tour to London and Manchester in the fall, as well as performed at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, VA, after the school won a performance by her as part of a promotional contest sponsored by Verizon Wireless.^[12]

According to Country Standard Time, the tour "feature[d] an incredibly theatrical presentation of graphics, sets and visual elements designed by Swift herself."^[13] Each show consisted of performances by Swift on five guitars and the piano, as well as multiple costume changes and an illuminated fairy-tale castle.^[13] Most of Swift's shows sold out within hours; her August 27, 2009, show at Madison Square Garden sold out in less than 1 minute after its availability.^[14]

After wrapping up the first leg of her Fearless Tour, Swift launched the second leg on March 4, 2010, after returning from a five-show tour in Australia in February 2010.^[15] The tour was set to end on June 5, 2010.^[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[16]
Allmusic	[17]
Billboard	(favorable) [18]
Blender	[19]
Boston Globe	(B+) [20]
Entertainment Weekly	(B) [21]
The Guardian	[22]
Robert Christgau	(A-) [23]
Rolling Stone	[24]
Slant	[25]
U.K. Guardian	[26]

Fearless has become a massive critical success, winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. According to the music review aggregator Metacritic, it has received an average score of 73.^[27] Newsday gave the album an "A" rating, calling it "wise beyond her years".^[28] James Reed of the Boston Globe gave the album a strong positive review saying the "Young country star's 'Fearless' proves she's just that, and more".^[20] Allmusic quote the way Swift writes her music and how she matured into her new album: "Swift's gentle touch is as enduring as her songcraft, and this musical maturity may not quite jibe with her age but it does help make Fearless one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008."^[29] Rolling Stone magazine said that her "music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism - it's so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory - with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true."^[24] Fearless is listed as the 39th best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.^[30]

Re-release

Swift released Fearless: Platinum Edition on October 26, 2009. The album contains the same tracks plus 6 additional tracks and a DVD.^[31]

Singles

• "Love Story" was the lead single from Fearless and was released in September 2008 to the United States. The single was later released to other continents in spring 2009.^{[citation needed]} The song became Swift's first top five single on the US charts, and was her third non-consecutive No. 1 on the US country charts.^{[citation needed]} The music video for "Love Story" also premiered in September 2008 on CMT.^[34] "Love Story" made Swift the first country singer to have a top 10 hit in the UK since Shania Twain's "Party for Two," which charted at No. 10 in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

• "White Horse" was the second US single from Fearless and was released in November 2008. With "White Horse" debuting at No. 13 in the US, Swift then tied for second place with Mariah Carey and The Beatles for the most top 20 debuts in a career in the 50-year history of the Billboard charts.^[35] The single was also released to Australia two days after the release of "Love Story" in spring 2009.^{[citation needed]} "White Horse" reached No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart but was not an official single.

• "You Belong with Me" was the third US single from Fearless and was released in April 2009. The song was also the third official single for the UK, released in September 2009.^{[citation needed]} It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Swift's highest charting single to date.^{[citation needed]}

• "Fifteen" was the fourth US single from Fearless and was released for airplay in August 2009. The single was officially released to the US in September 2009, and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.^{[citation needed]}

• "Fearless" was the fifth single from Fearless and was released in January 2010 as a digital single from the album. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[36]

Digital singles

Prior to the album's release, four digital-only singles were released, all reaching the top 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Change" (No. 10), "Fearless" (No. 9), "You're Not Sorry" (No. 11), and "You Belong with Me" (No. 12). In November 2009, "Jump Then Fall" and "Untouchable" off of Fearless: Platinum Edition debuted at No. 10 and No. 19 respectively, making Swift the artist with the most number of Top 20 debuts in a career.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

Standard Edition

¹ Specific letters were capitalized in the lyrics in her cover booklet, spelling out hidden messages for each song.

Platinum Edition

Sales and chart performance

Sales and certifications

Fearless sold 592,000 copies in the United States its first week—the largest sum for a country album since Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden in November 2007.^[3] Of those 592,000 copies, 129,000 were digital copies—the fourth biggest week for a digital album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004^[3] In July 2009, Fearless was announced as the top-selling album of the first half of 2009 in the United States.^[38]

Chart performance

Fearless is the fifth longest-running No. 1 album by a female artist in the Billboard 200 history,^[47] as well as the longest-running No. 1 album by a female country artist in the Billboard 200 history.^[48] As of March 2010, the album spent 58 non-consecutive weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, also making it the longest-running country album in the top 10 in the history of Billboard.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2009, with eight singles from the re-release of Fearless, Swift set a record for the most songs by a female artist simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100: "Jump Then Fall" at No. 10, "Untouchable" at No. 19, "The Other Side of the Door" at No. 22, "Superstar" at No. 27 and "Come in With the Rain" at No. 30, "You Belong with Me" at No. 14, "Forever & Always" at No. 34, and "Fifteen" at No. 46.^[49] Additionally, the song "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls featuring Swift debuted at No. 80.^{[citation needed]} This gave Swift six debuts in one week, the largest number of debuts by any female artist of all time,^{[citation needed]} meaning setting another record for the largest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week at a total of nine.^[50]

With "Fifteen," Swift also tied Beyoncé Knowles with 20 Top 40 singles as the female artist with most Top 40 singles this decade.^{[citation needed]} Her collaboration with John Mayer on "Half of my Heart" for his studio album Battle Studies however, gave her the lead after the song debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.^{[citation needed]}

Chart procession and succession

Release history

Personnel

As listed on backing card.^[63]

• Nick Buda – drums
• Colbie Caillat – background vocals on "Breathe"
• Nathan Chapman – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, accordion, steel guitar, percussion, background vocals
• Eric Darken – percussion, vibraphone
• Jessie Farinholt – background vocals
• Artie Garr (Kyle Ford) - Mandolin, Piano, Background Vocals
• Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar
• Caitlin Evanson – fiddle
• Tony Harrell – keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, accordion
• Amos Heller – bass guitar
• Claire Indie – cello
• John Keefe – drums
• Tim Lauer – keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, accordion
• Tim Marks – bass guitar
• Grant Mickelson – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin,steel guitar
• Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar, mandolin
• Taylor Swift – lead and background vocals
• Ilya Toshinsky – banjo
• Al Wilson – percussion
• Paul Sudoti - Lead guitar, keyboard

Strings composed, performed and arranged by Jonathan Yudkin.

• Mike Meadows - Banjo
• Ben Clark - Banjo

Finger snaps on "Hey Stephen" by Andrew Bowers, Nicholas Brown, Carolyn Cooper, Burlas Cox, Lauren Elcan, and Martina McBride's two daughters, Delaney and Emma McBride.

Production

• Produced By Nathan Chapman & Taylor Swift
• Mixed By Chad Carlson, Nathan Chapman & Justin Niebank
• Mix Assistants: Steve Blackmon, Drew Bollman, Todd Tidwell & Shawn Daughtry
• Engineering: Chad Carlson, Kyle Ford, Kyle Ginther, Matt Legge, Mark Petaccia, Todd Tidwell
• Mastering: Hank Williams

References

External links

• Radio Interview with Producer Nathan Chapman
• Fearless - Taylor Swift Songs Lyrics