Taylor Swift

[Navarre]

With Eminem being my favorite artist and country music not even being on my radar except for Taylor Swift and the Dixie Chicks, this reminds me of one of several reasons I am a fan of Taylor.

Taylor's short cover of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" (from Yahoo):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLWpyRAaybU&feature=player_embedded

After all the conversations Gaumer and I have had about the virtues of Country vs Rap, Taylor has become our good will ambassador.   

[Gaumer]

Yup. If only we had a metal version of a Swift, country hit. Everything would be full circle with Taylor Swift affixing herself to the center

http://youtu.be/CnWDtQUd9Dk

And there we go


But for the record, THIS is the best country rap cover evar!!!

http://youtu.be/wCAM3C3dpIA

[Navarre]

Ah, great find, Gaumer.

Amongst The Ruin does that growl-singing thing I don't like in metal. It seems like a cover for the fact that the lead singer can't sing (even if he can).

But it all elevates Taylor's name and that works for me.

Taylor has fun with her talents. I like that about her.

[Gaumer]

Taylor writes her own music, is young, and, even though she doesn't have the strongest voice I've ever heard, like you said, she has fun.

http://youtu.be/lpK-QXGZiIE

http://youtu.be/k6jpjnsS_vw

http://youtu.be/QqHMcIFJ1Kk

http://youtu.be/OOIpXWmGtVA

She does this a whole bunch. And it pretty cool

[Slappy]

Let it be said I am not a fan of Country Nor Miss Swift.

She does have a nice voice for a country singer.  (I HATE the twang) but musically speaking there isn't much there.  Just more of go with the flow until another cute young singer comes along.  Granted music has been on auto pilot for years.

I am a musical snob, I freely admit that.  Unfortunately POP music has been largely uninspired and stagnant.

[Navarre]

Yes, Taylor is very cool. I agree she isn't the greatest country singer ever (though I'll stand up for Natalie Maines) but she is awesome in so many ways.

I am not versed in music as Slappy is so I can't critique to that degree. But I submit that music is to be, above all, enjoyed.

I enjoy Taylor and so do many, many others. That works for me.

[Gaumer]

Let it be said I am not a fan of Country Nor Miss Swift.

She does have a nice voice for a country singer.  (I HATE the twang) but musically speaking there isn't much there.  Just more of go with the flow until another cute young singer comes along.  Granted music has been on auto pilot for years.

I am a musical snob, I freely admit that.  Unfortunately POP music has been largely uninspired and stagnant.

Totally agree. That's why I can give Swift a benefit of doubt, because she writes her own shit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin_production_discography

Great example there about how pop songs are pressed out like Model T's

Yes, Taylor is very cool. I agree she isn't the greatest country singer ever (though I'll stand up for Natalie Maines) but she is awesome in so many ways.

I am not versed in music as Slappy is so I can't critique to that degree. But I submit that music is to be, above all, enjoyed.

I enjoy Taylor and so do many, many others. That works for me.

Alison Krauss is the female country singer with the best voice.

http://youtu.be/83w8SkdJtPM

http://youtu.be/elZs9SkiOZs

1:40 on Whiskey Lullabye to skip the Brad Paisley part

And don't get me started on the bluegrass library for Alison Krauss. Not that's some good shit that bluegrass

[Navarre]

But this isn't the Allison Krauss appreciation thread so I do not hear your words.

Taylor does a lot to keep non-Country-listeners like me aware that country music is still out there and maybe even worth listening to.

[Gaumer]

But this isn't the Allison Krauss appreciation thread so I do not hear your words.

Taylor does a lot to keep non-Country-listeners like me aware that country music is still out there and maybe even worth listening to.

Agreed, but that IS my point in bringing up other artists I feel deserve to have more support and have done more for country music than Swift.

It could be stated that Swift's pop success does more harm than good to a genre that had such a distinct sound. I don't feel that way, but purists would argue

I would argue that by pointing out artists like Lady Antebellum and Carrie Underwood who have also had success on the pop music charts, among others.

But I will say that Swift's sound has changed as her newest album is released. I'm not going to say its a natural evolution of her music or a deliberate push towards a pop sound, I'm just saying.

[Slappy]

the way taylor records many of her radio tracks is actually cleverly done and kind of standard in the industry for crossover artists as a country station will get a more "Country" sounding version as opposed to the Pop station that gets a "Pop" version of the same song.
This is strictly a marketing decision to appeal to the greater mass and hopeully turn them into buyers of a genre they normally wouldn't explore.

[Navarre]

Taylor is obviously a crossover artist and is being marketed that way. But less separatism of genre fans might not be a bad thing.

If Taylor can get me to listen to country then she's doing something good for country music.

[Gaumer]

Taylor is obviously a crossover artist and is being marketed that way. But less separatism of genre fans might not be a bad thing.

If Taylor can get me to listen to country then she's doing something good for country music.

Not necessarily.

Her pop/country sound could be construed as being so far away from traditional country that it does an injustice to that traditional sound, and you're only listening to "highly polished, fake country".

I tend to think of music, and most arts, as an ever evolving thing, with Swift's take on the genre only adding to that genre's evolution.

[Navarre]

I tend to think of music, and most arts, as an ever evolving thing, with Swift's take on the genre only adding to that genre's evolution.

I agree. Rap isn't the same as the old school days but that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to the new stuff. Metal isn't hair metal or its predecessors but there's still plenty of good metal out there.

Like I said, music is to be enjoyed. Genres, like other labels in my opinion, divide more than unite.

For every purist who balks at that, there are fans who listen to classical now because of Trans-Siberian Orchestra or fan of rap because Eminem does a duet with Rhianna or a new fan of country thanks to Taylor.

[Beta Ray Bill Cosby]

This is my favorite Taylor Swift song.

[Slappy]

My last big exposure to Country was when a junior pastor at my former church hired a West Virginia hillbilly family from the place he tooke the youth a few times a year to help out.
It was our third and almost last time at that church.