Member Since: 12/6/2011
Posts: 3,223
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Two previous articles about Taylor by David Marchese. Even tho he wasn't negative towards her, he seemed to doubt her staying power. It will be interesting to see what he has to say about her now.
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Despite her popularity, the music media, me included, paid relatively little attention to Swift, especially when compared to others in her sales stratosphere like Britney or Beyonce. This is partly an image issue. Both in terms of her dress (she doesn't show much skin) and subject matter (chaste teenage love affairs), there's something*Sweet Valley High*about the nineteen-year-old Pennsylvanian. Aside from her possibly dating a Jonas brother, there's just not that much juicy material.
But to relegate her to teen fad-land isn't quite fair. Her songwriting skill marks her as a different beast than, say, the kids from*High School Musical. True, while the melodies and arrangements on*Fearless*are all strong, they often come off like the aural equivalent of a pesky child tugging on your sleeve for attention.
Lyrically, though, she's way mature. I can't profess to know the inner workings of a teenaged girl's mind, but when Swift writes, about a love rival, "She doesn't get your humor like I do" (on "You Belong to Me"), or about her mother's gift for consolation on "The Best Day," there's a level of detail and emotional honesty that you don't find in most music, pop or otherwise. I'd love to see Swift work with someone like Rick Rubin, who could focus on her songwriting strengths and dispense with the saccharine window-dressing.
Swift has also undoubtedly been helped by some genre-blurring. Her appealingly conversational vocals have a mild country twang, but not so much as to dissuade blue-staters. Similarly, her songs are full of country music signifiers -- banjo, fiddle, mandolin -- but employ them as accompaniment to the crisp guitars in the foreground. The result is smack dab in that sales hot zone between Miley Cyrus and Carrie Underwood.
It'll be interesting to see how long she stays there. At some point, whether it's a result of commercial slippage or simply of growing up, Swift will change. Maybe she'll become a country traditionalist (a la Leann Rimes) or make a pure pop move and go for the Britney bucks.
Until then, let's just appreciate her for the rare thing that she is -- a star who's better than she has to be.
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Taylor Swift*and*Lady Gaga*were easily the two biggest breakout female pop acts of 2009. They're also both blonde. That's pretty much where the similarities between the two starlets end. But as we move into 2010, it's fun to wonder how these ladies' careers will evolve. And for as unpredictable as Gaga's fashion choices and stage antics have been, I think Swift is the one whose continued trajectory raises more questions, and whose future is more wide open.
Basically, Gaga is trying to be*Madonna. At various times in 2009, Gaga was a sexual provocateur, a style beacon, a gay hero, and a dancefloor queen. Which is to say she was doing a Madge. But Swift? There is no easy comparison. Remember, she started out solely as a country act--it wasn't until the release of*Fearless*in late 2008 that the Pennsylvania native crossed over to non-genre audiences. There are precedents for that kind of country-to-pop boundary crossing--the*Dixie Chicks*and*Shania Twaincome to mind--but neither of those artists were as young as Swift when they blew up. (She only turned 20 last month.) Twain and the Dixies were already fully formed adults when stardom beckoned. Right now, Swift straddles the line between grown-up star and teen idol. Again, hard to think of a truly apt prior example.
What will happen when she grows up? Up till now, Swift has had massive success playing the audience surrogate--her songs are about high school crushes and getting along with her family. But there's a part of me that wonders if she'll ever be able to move past her adolescent vibe. Why? The thing is, Swift
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http://m.spin.com/blog/taylor-swift-...true-musician/
https://music.yahoo.com/blogs/spin/w...ady-gagas.html
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I really wish she'd re-record some songs cause I almost couldn't stand her voice in Breathe and skipped it with headphones on. 
but the songs are all flawless. I'd love to hear them with her better vocals
Just troll their faves and move along if they get under your skin. 
Such a masterpiece.
