Taylor Swift’s Fearless released

Fearless Taylor Swift

Released: November 11, 2008 (Original Version) Released: April 9, 2021 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 111 US, 135 CW, 5 UK, 11 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 0.3 UK, 12.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country/pop

Song Title (Writers) [Time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Tracks (Original Album): Fearless (Swift, Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey) [4:01] (11/1/08, 9 US, 69 CN, sales: 1 million) Fifteen [4:54] (11/29/08, 23 US, 10 CW, 34 AA, 19 CN, 48 AU, sales: 1.5 million) Love Story [3:55] (9/27/08, 4 US, 1 CW, 1 AC, 3 AA, 2 UK, 4 CN, 1 AU, sales: 8.1 million worldwide, airplay: 0.6 m) Hey Stephen [4:14] (11/29/08, 94 US) White Horse (Swift, Rose) [3:54] (11/29/08, 13 US, 2 CW, 60 UK, 43 CN, 41 AU, sales: 2 million) You Belong with Me (Swift, Rose) [3:51] (11/22/08, 2 US, 1 CW, 1 AC, 2 AA, 30 UK, 3 CN, 5 AU, sales: 4.9 million, airplay: 0.5 m) Breathe (with Colbie Caillat) (Swift, Caillat) [4:23] (11/29/08, 87 US) Tell Me Why (Swift, Rose) [3:20] You’re Not Sorry [4:21] (11/15/08, 11 US, 11 CN, sales: 0.7 million) The Way I Loved You (Swift, John Rich) [4:03] (11/29/08, 72 US) Forever & Always [3:45] (11/29/08, 34 US) The Best Day [4:05] (5/23/09, 56 CW, gold single) Change [4:39] (8/30/08, 10 US, 57 CW) Tracks (Platinum Edition): Jump Then Fall [3:57] (11/14/09, 10 US, 59 CW) Untouchable (Swift, Carly Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, Tommy Lee James) [4:27] (11/14/09, 19 US) Forever & Always (piano version) [4:27] (4/24/21, 65 US) Come in with the Rain (Swift, Rose) [3:57] (11/14/09, 30 US) Superstar (Swift, Rose) [4:23] (11/14/09, 26 US) The Other Side of the Door [3:58] (11/14/09, 23 US) Tracks (Taylor’s Version): Today Was a Fairy Tale [4:01] (1/19/10, 2 US, 19 RR, 21 AC, 21 A40, 41 CW, 57 UK, 1 CN, 3 AU) You All Over Me (with Maren Morris) (Swift, Scooter Carusoe) [3:40] (3/26/21, 51 US, 52 UK, 34 AU) Mr. Perfectly Fine [4:37] (4/7/21, 30 US) We Were Happy (Swift, Rose) [4:04] That’s When (with Keith Urban) (Swift, Brad Warren, Brett Warren) [3:09] Don’t You (Swift, James) [3:28] Bye Bye Baby (Swift, Rose) [4:02] Total Running Time (Original Version): 53:41 Total Running Time (Taylor’s Version): 106:20

Rating: 3.643 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Swift’s sophomore album did anything but slump. Once you count five charted songs from the 2009 re-release known as the platinum edition, Fearless was responsible for landing an astonishing 17 hits on the charts. 16 of those made it on the U.S. Hot 100 and five of those were top 10 hits. It was “the first album in music history to produce thirteen top forty hits. Swift now holds the record for most singles on the Hot 100 at the same time by a female artist with nine.” WK “The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 592,304 copies in its first week, the best first-week sales for a female artist in 2008. Fearless became the first album to sell one million copies in 2009.” WK In addition to 11 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, giving it the most weeks at #1 since Santana’s 1999 Supernatural album. “The album has spent 45 weeks in the top ten on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest run for a country album in the top ten since Shania Twain’s Come On Over, which had 53 weeks from 1997-1999.” WK The album also spent 35 non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. WK The album also cleaned up on awards. It is the only album in history to take home the Country Album of the Year prizes from the Academy of Country Music, American Music Award, Country Music Assocation, and the Grammys. It also won the Grammy for Album of the Year. It wasn’t just that the album was a success based on awards and sales, though. It was also a display of her growth as an artist. She “abandons any pretense that she’s a teen…which isn’t to say that she suddenly tarts herself up, running away from her youth in a manner that’s all too familiar to many teen stars. Swift’s maturation is deliberate and careful, styled after the crossover country-pop of Shania Twain and Faith Hill before they turned into divas. Despite the success of her self-titled 2006 debut, there’s nothing at all diva-like about Swift on 2008’s Fearless: she’s soft-spoken and considerate, a big sister instead of a big star.” STE “There may be a hint of youthfulness to her singing but that’s the only hint of girlishness here; her writing – and she had a hand in penning all 13 tracks here, with six of them bearing her solitary credit – is sharply, subtly crafted and the music is softly assured, never pushing its hooks too hard and settling into a warm bed of guitars and keyboards. Like many country-pop albums of the 2000s, the pop heavily outweighs the country – there aren’t fiddles here, there are violins – yet Fearless never feels garish, a crass attempt at a crossover success. It’s small-scale and sweetly tuneful, always seeming humble even when the power ballads build to a big close. 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.” STE The album’s first official single, Love Story, “was her first song to achieve commercial success outside the United States; it reached number one in Australia [and Canada] and number two in the United Kingdom.” WK The song also won CMT’s Video of the Year award. “White Horse was the second official US single from Fearless” WK but “like its predecessor, …became successful before its single release.” WK “You Belong with Me was the third official US single from Fearless.” WK It “has become the biggest hit of Swift’s career domestically, and became the highest charting country single since 2005, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.” WK It won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. “Controversy ensued while during Swift’s acceptance speech for the award, rapper Kanye West stole her microphone away from her, and said that Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’, which was one of the videos ‘You Belong With Me’ beat out, deserved to win the award…Beyoncé, after winning the award for Video of the Year for ‘Single Ladies’, invited Swift to the stage to finish her acceptance speech, instead of delivering her own.” WK Fifteen, which was one of the many album tracks to chart when the album was released, “was announced to be the fourth official US single from Fearless.” WK The song is “a kind warning for a teen to watch her heart sung from the perspective of a woman who’s perhaps twice that age – a sly trick for the 18-year-old Swift.” STE “On the chart week of November 14, 2009, Swift set a record for the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album Fearless.” WK Three of those had previously charted or were still on the charts from the previous week, but with a non-Fearless song (Boys Like Girls’ ‘Two Is Better Than One’, which featured Swift) also debuting that week, Swift also had “six debuts in one week, the biggest number of debuts by any female artist of all time. It also lifts the number of her simultaneously-charting songs to nine, setting another record for the biggest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week.” WK That same week, Swift became the artist with the most number of Top 20 debuts in her career. WK Notes: The platinum edition of the album added five new songs. In 2021, Taylor re-recorded and re-released the entire album, including the tracks on the Platinum Edition, plus eight more songs.

Resources and Related Links: STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia page for Original Version WK Wikipedia page for Taylor’s Version Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/30/2009; last updated 4/21/2022.

Shania Twain hit #1 with Up!

Up! Shania Twain

Released: November 19, 2002 Peak: 15 US, 16 CW, 4 UK, 111 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 5.5 US, 0.6 UK 17.6 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/country

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Up! (11/16/02, 63 BB, 12 CW, 21 UK) I’m Gonna Getcha Good (9/23/02, 34 BB, 10 AC, 34 A40, 7 CW, 4 UK, 1 CN) She’s Not Just a Pretty Face (10/6/03, 56 BB, 9 CW) Juanita Forever and for Always (4/7/03, 20 BB, 1 AC, 30 A40, 4 CW, 6 UK, 5 CN, 45 AU) Ain’t No Particular Way It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing (2/9/04, 71 BB, 16 AC, 16 A40, 18 CW) Nah! Wanna Get to Know You That Good C’est La Vie I’m Jealous Ka-Ching! (2/17/03, 8 UK) Thank You Baby for Makin’ Someday Come So Soon (8/11/03, 11 UK) Waiter! Bring Me Water! What a Way to Wanna Be I Ain’t Goin’ Down I’m Not in the Mood to Say No In My Car I’ll Be the Driver When You Kiss Me (11/10/03, 21 UK) Total Running Time: 72:55

Rating: 3.687 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Quotable: “This is Super-Size pop, as outsized and grandiose as good pop should be.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Shania’s Early Years Country singer/songwriter Eilleen Regina “Shania” Twain was born in 1965 in Ontario, Canada. After graduating from high school in 1983, she toured with a cover band called Flirt. Toronto DJ Stan Campbell noticed her talent and used her as a backing vocalist on an album by Canadian musician Tim Denis. Twain halted her burgeoning music career in 1987 when her mother and stepfather died in a car accident. She moved home to take care of her younger siblings. After her siblings moved out on their own, Twain re-entered the music world by assembling a demo which caught the attention of a few labels. She signed to Mercury Nashville Records and released her self-titled debut album in 1993. The album failed to chart in her native Canada or the United States, although the single “What Made You Say That” backed by “Dance with the One That Brought You” reached #55 on the Billboard country chart. Producer Mutt Lange became a fan of Twain’s after her first album. They met, fell in love, got married, and proceeded to produce one of the great blockbuster albums of all time in 1995’s The Woman in Me. The album sold 20 million copies, setting up a seemingly impossible benchmark for the follow-up. Instead of falling short, 1997’s Come on Over was even bigger. Perhaps its greatest accomplishment was how she “served up a musical style that blended the sassiness of country with the beat and melodic feel of pop.” AM Previously, “country music and pop were poor bedfellows” AM with a few notable exceptions such as Dolly Parton or Tammy Wynette. However, Come on Over spent 50 weeks atop the country charts and sold 40 million copies propelled by a whopping twelve chart hits. Eight of those reached the top ten on the country chart with three going all the way to #1. The album also proved to have pop crossover appeal with three of the songs reaching the top-ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Another Blockbuster Shania Twain’s next album, Up!, would be another blockbuster, selling more than 17 million copies worldwide and doing what her previous releases couldn’t – top the Billboard album chart. There was some drop-off, as expected. The album did produce another impressive eight chart singles, but this time none of them reached #1 on the country chart (although three made the top ten) nor the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The biggest hit was Forever and for Always, a #4 country hit and #20 pop hit. Keys to Success Twain revealed that she wrote far more songs than would fit on the album, which helps explain why her albums “are such brilliant pieces of mainstream pop. Anything that doesn’t fit the mold is discarded, so the album can hum along on its big, polished, multipurpose hooks and big, sweeping emotions.” AM “This is Super-Size pop, as outsized and grandiose as good pop should be.” AM Interestingly, Twain also said she hides her more personal songs from Lange (which seems like a red flag), but this also plays into the appeal of the album. “Unlike the work of most pop divas, where the subject matter is firmly about the singer, none of the songs on Up! are remotely about Shania Twain, the person – let’s face it, she's never faced a situation like Waiter! Bring Me Water!, where she’s afraid her guy is going to be stolen away by their hot waitress.” AM “No, these songs have been crafted as universal anthems, so listeners can hear themselves within these tales. Just as cleverly, the songs are open-ended and mutable – always melodic, but never stuck in any particular style, so they can be subjected to any kind of mix and sound just as good.” AM The Album Length While the album was certainly constructed with success in mind, it also reaches too far. “The sheer length of the album could be seen as off-putting at first, since these 19 tracks don’t necessarily flow as a whole.” AM “Upon the first listen, singles seem indistinct, and it seems like too much to consume at once.” AM Of course, Up! is “designed as a collection of tracks, so the album is durable enough to withstand years on the charts, producing singles with different textures and moods every few months. Time revealed Come on Over as a stellar pop album, and the same principle works for Up!.” AM Repeat listens reveal an album in which “the hooks become indelible and the gargantuan glossiness of the production is irresistible.” AM “In other words, it’s a more than worthy follow-up to the great mainstream pop album of the late ‘90s, and proof that when it comes to shiny, multipurpose pop, nobody does it better than Shania Twain.” AM Two Versions “In an attempt to satisfy both her pop fans and her country critics,” AB Up! was released as a double disc. The red album featured the songs in a pop style while the blue one covered the same songs, but in more of a country vein. It seemed a completely unnecessary move, but however you hear the songs, there are hits. “The album has its fair share of pop standards, such as I’m Gonna Getcha Good! but Twain also dabbles with political themes on Ka-Ching! – about the evils of consumerism – and on What a Way to Wanna Be!, on which Twain decries the diet and fashion industries for making women feel inadequate about the way they look and their weight.” AB

Reviews: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AB Michael Spilling (editor) (2015). Best-Selling Albums: From Vinyl Records to Digital Downloads. Amber Books Ltd.: London, United Kingdom. Page 234. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Links: First posted 3/27/2008; last updated 12/9/2024.

Shania Twain Come on Over spent first of 50 weeks atop the country chart

Come on Over Shania Twain

Released: November 4, 1997 Peak: 2 US, 150 CW, 111 UK, 15 CN, 120 AU Sales (in millions): 20.0 US, 3.34 UK, 40.0 world (includes US and UK), 47.06 EAS Genre: country

Tracks: (Click for codes to charts.) Man! I Feel Like a Woman! [3:53] (11/15/97, 23 BB, 18 BA, 18 GR, 17 RR, 16 AC, 12 A40, 4 CW, 3 UK, 17 CN, 4 AU, 12 DF) I’m Holdin’ on to Love to Save My Life [3:30] (7/3/00, 17 CW) Love Gets Me Every Time [3:33] (10/4/97, 25 BB, 1 CW) Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You) [3:35] (11/11/97, 40 BB, 6 CW, 5 UK, 32 AU, 29 DF) From This Moment On (with Bryan White) [4:43] (11/15/97, 4 BB, 13 GR, 14 RR, 1 AC, 22 A40, 6 CW, 9 UK, 4 CN, 2 AU, 24 DF) Come on Over [2:55] (11/15/97, 58 BB, 43 BA, 6 CW, 36 DF) When [3:39] (6/1/98, 18 UK, 14 CN) Whatever You Do, Don’t! [3:49] If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask! [4:04] You’re Still the One [3:34] (1/24/98, 2 BB, 6 GR, 3 RR, 1 AC, 6 A40, 1 CW, 10 UK, 7 CN, 1 AU, 8 DF) Honey, I’m Home [3:39] (11/15/97, 1 CW) That Don’t Impress Me Much [3:38] (12/12/98, 7 BB, 5 BA, 5 GR, 4 RR, 8 AC, 6 A40, 8 CW, 3 UK, 5 CN, 2 AU, 18 DF) Black Eyes, Blue Tears [3:39] I Won’t Leave You Lonely [4:13] Rock This Country [4:23] (1/10/00, 30 CW, 29 DF) You’ve Got a Way [3:24] (5/31/99, 49 BB, 42 BA, 40 RR, 6 AC, 13 CW, 17 CN, 28 AU) All tracks written by Shania Twain and Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Total Running Time: 60:06

Rating: 4.213 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Shania’s Early Years Country singer/songwriter Eilleen Regina “Shania” Twain was born in 1965 in Ontario, Canada. After graduating from high school in 1983, she toured with a cover band called Flirt. Toronto DJ Stan Campbell noticed her talent and used her as a backing vocalist on an album by Canadian musician Tim Denis. Twain halted her burgeoning music career in 1987 when her mother and stepfather died in a car accident. She moved home to take care of her younger siblings. After her siblings moved out on their own, Twain re-entered the music world by assembling a demo which caught the attention of a few labels. She signed to Mercury Nashville Records and released her self-titled debut album in 1993. The album failed to chart in her native Canada or the United States, although the single “What Made You Say That” backed by “Dance with the One That Brought You” reached #55 on the Billboard country chart. Her next album, 1995’s The Woman in Me, was a blockbuster. It reached the top 10 in Canada and the U.S. and has sold 20 million copies worldwide. It featured four #1 country hits, including the double-platinum “Any Man of Mine.” It “proved that the world was ready for a combination of traditional instruments, girl-power themes, and dance-pop dynamics.” AM She proved to be equally as marketable as “a modern-day Dolly Parton or a country music Spice Girl.” AM Mutt Lange One of the key components in Shania’s huge leap in commercial success had to do with Robert John “Mutt” Lange. The famed producer reached out to her after hearing her first album. After hours on the phone, the two met six months later and married by the end of 1993. As the man who had produced iconic rock albums for Bryan Adams, AC/DC, the Cars, Def Leppard, and Foreigner, he was able to bring that same sensibility for catchy hits to Shania’s The Woman in Me. Bigger and Better Come on Over, also produced by Lange, “was essentially more of the same, but with even more hooks and a more polished, commercial sound.” TB Twain “updated her image accordingly, and now looked less like a country singer and more like she’d just walked out of the pages of Vogue. This immediately boosted her appeal internationally.” TB Twain “accentuates the sing-along choruses and simple dance rhythms while downplaying the country elements.” AM “There are still country elements, such as the fiddles on ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!,’ but even they have been processed to fit with the record’s modern pop sheen.” TB Entertainment Weekly praised the album for “incorporating a substantial rock influence without losing its country sensibilities.” WK “The emphasis is on fun rather than depth.” AM The Biggest Country Album Ever As big as The Woman in Me was, it still didn’t properly prepare the world for the monstrous success of Shania’s third album, Come on Over. Twain took a page out of Michael Jackson’s Thriller playbook, pulling singles over multiple years, stretching from 1997 to 2000. Powered by eight top-10 country hits, including three #1’s, Come on Over spent a whopping 50 weeks atop the country chart. It received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. It became the best-selling country album of all-time, as well as the best-seller by a woman and by a Canadian. WK Twain had never even charted in the UK, but the album went to #1 and generated six top-10 singles. TB The Songs Here are insights into individual tracks. “Love Gets Me Every Time” and “Don’t Be Stupid” Love Gets Me Every Time was the lead single from Come on Over. It topped the country chart and went gold. The second single, Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You), was the album’s second top-40 hit on the Billboard pop chart and also reached the top 10 on the country chart. “You’re Still the One” The album’s third single, You’re Still the One, was the album’s biggest hit and the biggest hit of Shania’s career. It was another #1 country hit, reached #2 on the pop charts, and went double platinum. It also landed four Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Country Song, and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, winning the latter two. “From This Moment On,” “Honey, I’m Home,” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much” The album’s biggest hit was followed by From This Moment On, Shania’s second entry into the top five on the Billboard Hot 100. It was another top-ten country hit and went platinum. Honey, I’m Home became the album’s third #1 country hit and went gold. That Don’t Impress Me Much was a platinum single that hit the top 10 on the country chart and the Billboard Hot 100. “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Come on Over” Twain landed another top-40 pop hit and top-five country hit with Man! I Feel Like a Woman!. The triple platinum earned Twain another Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. That same year – 2000 – Twain landed the Grammy for Best Country Song for Come on Over, the album’s eighth and final top-10 country hit. Notes: An international version of the CD was released in 1999 that contained some remixes of the original tracks and a different track listing.

Reviews: AM AllMusic.com review by Michael McCall TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 285. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Links: First posted 3/27/2008; last updated 12/9/2024.