20-year-old Taylor Swift has achieved what most singers would die to accomplish in a lifetime. Hardly out of her teens, she has already reached dizzying heights and seems to have an unceasing amount of energy to keep churning out music at a frenetic pace. She had a huge reputation to live up to when her last album 'Fearless' won her the Album of the Year at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

'Speak Now' starts off with familiar chords and her trademark tunes. In fact, a few tracks into the album you begin questioning her brilliance of ranting about teenage relationships and the same old progressions. But she isn't one of the best contemporary artists for nothing and Swift shows that as you enter the middle of a rather long album (22 tracks, if you order the Deluxe version).

'Mean' has a peppy, upbeat vibe laden with mandolins and hand-claps. It is followed by the over-driven guitars of 'Story of Us'. This is immediately followed by two stripped-down ballads. On 'Better Than Revenge' she sings, full of angst, ' She's not a saint and she's not what you think/She's an actress/She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress' - Lyrics like this make you laugh and cringe at the same time. What's impressive is that, unlike many of her protégés, Taylor Swift writes her own lyrics and has also co-produced this album. No wonder teenage/adolescent girls worship her!

In fact, Taylor Swift has comfortably slipped into the shoes of notable absentees from music charts - Leann Rimes, Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, The Corrs and Avril Lavigne - most of whom are her idols. None of them have released an album since 2007 so Swift has smartly wrapped her teenage-love lyrics around a healthy mix of pop, country, pop rock and ballads.

'Speak Now' is rapidly climbing up charts and has already overtaken a few 2010 records. She sure has a good head-start as Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Susan Boyle, Kanye West, Take That (with Robbie Williams) and Cheryl Cole look to chase her down in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to see if any of them can give this talented lass a run for her money.

Verdict: This is a great album if you're a teen/tween and/or if you like this genre of music.

7.5/10

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