Speak Now Album Review!

*Warning*  This review could be considered biased by some, as I adore Taylor and really enjoyed this album. Advance at own risk! ;)

This is a track by track review of "Speak Now"! I will be reviewing it and rating each track out of ten, at the end I'll calculate all the scores together and get an average score for the album! Here we go!

1. "Mine" The first single, and an obvious choice to be one! I really love this song, however prefer the originally leaked one which had a bit more of a country edge to it. The song starts soft and is built around the chorus, with an infectious chorus- Swift's vocals soar over the hook. 

9/10

2. "Sparks Fly" Sparks Fly is probably my favourite song off of Speak Now. Used as the opening for the "Speak Now World Tour" it's definitely a song with a bold message and one with a theme of spontaneity. It captures that one pure moment of lust and magic between two people who forget the world around them. 

10/10

3. "Back To December" this song is a poignant outright apology, something you rarely hear from Swift. This is not to say that she's an unapologetic person, she just generally has had heartbroken and doesn't do the heartbreaking. This song is purely apologetic, Swift admits her mistakes and describes her nostalgia for December. 

8/10

4. "Speak Now" Speak Now is probably one of the most lackluster songs off of Speak Now. It was lyrically done incredibly well, and Swift paints a picture in the mind of the listener but I just don't think the song had a climax and it pretty much stayed the same throughout the entire thing. I'm glad this wasn't a single, as the song bores me to be perfectly honest. 

 6.5/10

5. "Dear John" Dear John is another understated song. This song is not easy listening and it definitely takes time and tough love to get used to it. It's not a typical ballad, it's got a rough country edge and is really special and different when listened to more than once. It's not a clear outstanding ballad, but it's unique for sure. 

8/10

6. "Mean" Mean was a clear choice for a single, and to me is probably the stand out song of the album. It was written about a critic who gave negative feedback regarding her grammy performance. Mean is one of those anthems, that just makes you feel good and smug about yourself. It's got a great message and has been compared to the likes of Perfect by Pink and Born This Way by Lady Gaga in it's themes. 

10/10

7. "The Story Of Us" Another one of the more lackluster songs off of Speak Now. I think that this song has a very catchy chorus, but a neither slow nor fast paced verse. It's a confusing song to listen to, and definitely an "Awkward" one as it has that kind of vibe to it. The instrumentation is done very well, and that kind of saves the song. 

7/10

8. "Never Grow Up" Never Grow Up is one of the more subtle songs off of Speak Now. It's understated, but extremely honest and even crude at times. It's hard to work out exactly whether this song is about Swift herself or someone close to her that she observed growing up. Either way it's an endearing easy listening song! Accompanied by a guitar, it's purity and simplicity makes it great.

9/10

9. "Enchanted" Enchanted is a power ballad to say the least. It's got a very slow build up, with a great muted guitar pattern in the first verse. It leads up to this absolute rock ballad chorus complete with electric violins and electric guitars. The song goes on to feature Swift's layered vocals, forming a duet with herself. It's a creative and ingenius song. 

10/10

10. "Better Than Revenge" This is probably the most risque song off of Speak Now with such daring (sarcasm implied) lines as "..better know for the things that she does on the mattress". All jokes aside, Swift channels a rock goddess in this song and sings of getting back at someone for stealing her man. Another side we don't often see of Taylor- the ever forgiving and lovable girl who wants..revenge? Although the song is great, it doesn't really fit within her squeaky clean persona. 

8/10

11. "Innocent" Innocent is another song about forgiveness (see Back To December), but from the other end of the spectrum. It's an honest and loving ballad about learning to forgive someone despite their actions- and that not every action defines a person. This song is a personal favourite, and I feel that it hasn't been given the recognition it deserves! 

9/10

12. "Haunted"Haunted is another power/rock ballad. It's kind of like Better Than Revenge combined with Enchanted. No pun intended, but the song is Haunted! The excessive use of bell sounds, screechy guitar, and piano combined makes it have a sort of Halloween Town feel to it. I like this song, it's edgy. 

8/10

13. "Last Kiss" Last Kiss is another one of those Dear John/Back To December songs. It's not easy listening, but it's got a recurring theme that we see throughout this album. One of regret, sorrow, and yearning to be with someone you just can't be with. This song is about missing someone, and all of the things you did with them. It's also about dealing with forgetting them and them forgetting you. It's stark, and true. 

9/10

14. "Long Live" is a glory song. It sounds like one of those songs you would hear after your favourite team wins a football match, or when the hero gets the girl in one of your favourite movies. It's a great feel good song written about Swift's band and fans combined. I really enjoy this song and it's a fantastic end to the album- it finishes with a bang. 

9/10

Highlights From This Album: Sparks Fly, Enchanted, Never Grow Up, Last Kiss, Back To December, Mean. 

Long post! What do you guys think? what were your highlights? I want to hear from YOU!

FUTURE Singles Off Speak Now I Would Like, And Hopes For GRAMMY Performance!

There have already been six singles from Speak Now, which is truly an amazing (although not surprising) achievement for our dear Taylor. Most albums get a good run of about 3-4 singles, but Taylor has carried this album for over a year and has sustained it's momentum by releasing truly great songs as singles. All of her singles tend to peak well and generally appear within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. The singles so far have been: Mine, Back To December, Mean, The Story Of Us, Sparks Fly, and Ours. 

I think that Taylor has been relatively good with choosing her singles for Speak Now, but often chooses great songs and under promotes them. This is not entirely her fault though as she has been on tour when other artists wait to go on tour until they have released every single. One thing to admire here is Taylor's extreme work ethic. She loves her fans and works hard for them! But her singles do tend to suffer. The one "forgotten about" single to me was The Story Of Us. It didn't peak particularly well or have an amazing music video which didn't help either. 

I also think it's great that Taylor chose to use Ours as a single, to give her fans satisfaction and letting them know that she doesn't just disregard tracks because they weren't originally on the album. I towuld be great to see another bonus song get a music video and radio promotion. In my own selfish way, I would love to have If This Was A Movie as a single. It's an amazing song with a great and catchy hook. But the thing with If This Was A Movie is that it's already peaked at number 10 on the billboard hot 100! Higher than Ours did- and it wasn't even a single! So it's probably unlikely that she'll release it. 

What I DO think is likely, is Enchanted being released as a single. She used Enchanted as the song for her commercial of her fragrance "Wonderstruck". I would definitely LOVE to see the commercial continued into an Enchanted music video which it has all the potential to do. It would also be interesting to see whether Enchanted will do commercially well within the US as the market is pretty much dance and techno music at the moment. It could do exceedingly well, or not chart particularly high at all. It's got a great chorus but the build up is slow and I wouldn't expect non Taylor fans to stick around and hear if it gets better.

Moving on to Taylor's upcoming Grammy performance!

Taylor recently just confirmed that she will be performing at this years Grammy awards! I cannot translate into words how INCREDIBLY excited I am! Taylor Swift has previously performed at the Grammy's and I wouldn't say her performances were anything AMAZING, they were great but they didn't have that certain WOW factor. Which is why I think Taylor really needs to step up her game this year! 

I think it is quite probable that she might do an understated version of Safe and Sound with the Civil Wars, which personally I feel indifferent about. I have no strong opinions on whether she does the song or not- but I hope she does something more elaborate! I would love to hear a mashup of all (or nearly all) of her singles from Speak Now, some sort of Medley with lights and pyrotechnics and instrument changes! I think the fans would love that and so would the crowd. 

There is a possibility that she might perform Ours, but it already had it's time at an awards show this year so I don't think it'll really happen and if it does I will probably be a bit upset seeing as how it received so much promotion. 

Well that's it for todays post! Leave me a comment, what do you want Taylors next single to be? How about her Grammy performance? Any opinions? I want to hear from YOU!