Part of the Countdown to Fearless!
So just how good is an album that produced four singles in the top five and one single in the top ten of the country charts and hit number one on the country albums before being certified 3x Platinum? In Taylor Swift's case, it's very, very good.
2006 was the year that Taylor Swift would being blowing us away. At sixteen, she released Tim McGraw and it hit the top ten on the country charts. The song was a hit, and it deserved to be, it was amazing. Then another single was released at it hit the top five.
Now, Taylor Swift's career-making song was her third single, Our Song. The single hit number one on the country charts, making her the youngest sole-writer of a number one single. This was the song that made me stop and notice her, the country elements mixed with the uptempo pop elements produced an amazing melody for an amazing song. Suddenly, Taylor Swift became the next big thing. She finished off her album with a bang, the last single hit number one.
This album just proves to people her age in the industry that you CAN make an amazing debut album. She wrote a lot of stuff on the album, and she did it well. It just goes to show that the consumers aren't stupid, they know a good song when they hear one, and they react even better if the artist wrote the song(s) themselves.
Let's see, how many number one singles did Vanessa Hudgens' debut album produce? None, not even a top 20 single(Come Back To Me peaked at 55). How many number one singles did Miley's debut album turn out? None, See You Again peaked at number ten. How many number one singles did Ashley's debut produce? None, she did worse than Vanessa, He Said, She Said peaked at number 58.
Taylor Swift's debut produced two number one singles, and there's more! She was the SOLE writer of the two number ones. Vanessa, Ashley and Miley don't write their singles without outside writers, because they can't.
This is another important thing that every debut album should have, at least one song that the artist him/herself wrote without the help of professionals. I think it's important that consumers like us know exactly who we're listening to. It's sort of related to the identity issue, but it deserves more attention.
An artist not writing his/her own songs becomes replaceable. The best example of that are the Sugababes. They co-write a lot of stuff, but there's no one who really writes all the songs so when someone leaves, she's replaced. I guess pop is like that, but Taylor Swift just proves otherwise.
Which is why I'm eagerly anticipating Fearless! Enjoy the countdown to the album release every day until November 11!
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