It’s funny, those two bands get grouped together fairly often these days (and even did a tour together a couple years ago) but back in 1999, no one I knew would ever put them in the same genre. They came from such different universes
I don’t hear much on Speak Now that reminds me of Avril or Paramore. Maybe “Better Than Revenge.” Taylor could’ve easily been pulling from the same emo influences as Paramore.
the first song i heard was 'you belong with me' which i thought was AL. i didn't hear a ts album until 1989
Yeah I grew up in the Bay Area and listened to both bands interchangeably as did many of my friends. If you had told me when Static Prevails came out (or even Clarity) that they would have gotten as big as they did I would have never believed it.
It blew my mind that Static and then Clarity came out on a major label. “Lucky Denver Mint” sorta making it onto radio felt like a huge deal!
No, she has always been a songwriter, first and foremost, so I wouldn't put her close to Britney, who isn't much of a songwriter. Sure, Taylor has a few hits that were co-written with Martin and Shellback, who wrote some of Britney's biggest hits, but that really is where the similarities start and stop.
i meant in terms of sound she is closer to pop stars like them, i wasn't talking about her songwriting etc., than she is to 'real' country music
Eh, I don't want to get into the semantics of what constitutes "real" country music (not sure who gets to decide that), but genres change. The days of the genre being Johnny Cash and Hank Williams are long gone.
Though I can see a somewhat straight line from the storytelling songs of Cash to what Taylor does (especially on the more recent albums)
I had a Tom Petty song playing earlier and it occurred to me that a lot of her songs are like his in that you can imagine most of them would come across well with just the vocal and an acoustic guitar or piano. I don't know all of Cash's material, but what I do know would fall under the same category, so, yeah, there is a thread there.
You know, along similar lines, I recall thinking that some of her sound reminded me somehow of Bryan Adams' hits, though of course Taylor is way out of his league as a lyricist. Similarities? Maybe the tendency to write in lyrical images, which is Taylor's MO, as well as a musical taste aiming at the fat middle of American radio, circa 1984 -- the way that Bryan Adams is the kind of pop-rock star that country music fans can get along with. Taylor's musical taste has evolved, it goes without saying, but much of her peak years of popularity might be described that way. RH
Just chiming into say that I span Folklore while organising my 45s last night. Still just a flat out masterpiece.
It really is. It is still in my regular rotation. It's a great album to listen to when driving at night. Heck, it's great anywhere!
I did the same, played it back to back with Evermore and def. Folklore is a more solid album to me as a whole.
I slightly prefer Folklore now (it wasn't that way for a while), but Evermore is pretty great as well. I just wish Evermore ended better. Closure is okay, but I could have done without it, and while I love the Taylor parts of the title track, the Bon Iver part is jarring and takes me out of the song. That song should have remained just Taylor and the piano from start to finish.
Yeah, they tried to recapture lightning in a bottle with the Bon Iver Part II. It's not a bad songs by any means, but his voice throws me off sometimes.
Of the Bon Iver duets, I like “evermore” better than “exile.” The Long Pond version of “exile” edges out the album version for me, but I’d still take “evermore” over it
Folklore is a Top 10 of all time for me. It replaced Red in that regard, though I still love that album, and All too Well is by far my favorite Taylor Swift song of all.
Yeah, but they are so connected I see them as one work in a sense. However, it has a few weaker tracks in comparison. Personally am not too keen on any of the vocal collaborations (HAiM doesn’t count since they are only doing background vocals, no writing, no leads). A really great album nevertheless.
evermore falters in a few tracks for me as well. But thinking now, a lot of Taylor's albums are a bit too long. Almost every album could have used a trim.
I like his voice, but that part just seems very out of place in the middle of the otherwise very calming Evermore track. I get going for dynamics within the song, but I just feel that that is one where staying with the calm melody would have made it better. Others like it with the Bon Iver vocal, and that's cool, too.
Taylor's debut was.... 2008?? I'll wait while you list all the Top 10 country artists from 2008 that sounded like the Carter Family or Hank Williams Sr! That first album fits seamlessly alongside Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood, which was the sound of female-sung country at the time. You can argue that Taylor had a weaker voice than either woman (agreed) or that her twang feels forced in hindsight (agreed), but even at age 15 she was already a solid songwriter, with a unique teenage sensibility that only sharpened over the next few albums. The real predecessor for Taylor Swift was really Shania Twain in the 90s, who expanded country's demo (especially among females), crossed over to the pop charts easily, and enjoyed larger album sales than any of her contemporaries.
I think the "problem" there are the self-identifying "real" country fans who claim all of that is not real country, as if the genre cannot change and they get to say what is and what isn't country. I get not liking country going in the pop direction it has went in the last 25 years, but that is largely what country is now. I can't go that far as I do love Exile (I also prefer the Long Pond version, although the studio one is great as well), The Last Time and Coney Island. Those are all among my favorites from their respective albums.
