Taylor Swift - Fearless

I heard "Love Story", the lead single from this album, in a car in Elmira, NY on the way to a local shopping mall; Craig and Shellie ID-ed it for me, and I decided to pick up the album when we arrived at the mall, which turned out to be a straightforward affair, as it was prominently displayed as the number one selling record in the store. Having now listened to Fearless, I can understand why it and Swift are so popular in the States - the 'pop' part of the equation is more prominent than the 'country' (I'm reminded of Kelly Clarkson at points, not least in the way that practically every song has an anthemic quality to it), and it's produced with a kind of golden gloss which smooths any rough edges while Swift sells the songs, lyrics included, with conviction, investing them with a personal feeling. Like many pop records, it's heavily frontloaded, the first three songs, "Fearless", "Fifteen" and "Love Story" a clear notch above the rest for mine, but it doesn't fall away too badly, and all up it's pretty impressive even if not one that is really likely to grow with me too much.