Speak Now Review

Nobody else's name is on any of these songs, which is a genuine feat, and the record earns most of the swagger that fact implies. Dear John is a six minute prosecution with a guitar figure that keeps circling like a bad thought, and it is the first time she wrote something that could hurt an adult. Back to December is a real apology, unusual for a writer who mostly assigns blame.

Enchanted is the great romantic set piece, all shimmer and nerve. Mine and Sparks Fly are strong singles. Where it slips is control. Better than Revenge is petty in a way she later disowned, Innocent is condescending, and the arrangements swell into arena rock at moments that would have played better small. Chapman's production is the last of the country pop era and it is the album's ceiling. But the writing is a level above anything before it, and the confidence is completely earned.