Taylor Swift, 'Fearless'

The buzz: All Taylor Swift did with her self-titled debut album was sell three million copies, produce a pair of chart-topping singles (“Our Song” and “Should’ve Said No”), get nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy and win virtually every country music award a newcomer can get. Two years later, Nashville’s teen phenom is now all of 18 and ready to show that her debut was no fluke.

The verdict: Swift is already a superstar in country music circles, but “Fearless” should catapult her to the top of the pop heap, as well. It’s very nearly a flawless record, full of big-hearted anthems with catchy melodies, chiming, pop-radio guitars (and the occasional fiddle and banjo, as if to say, “Don't worry, I'm still a Nashville girl at heart”) and disarmingly frank lyrics about being an average American kid with real-life hopes, dreams and dramas. On “Fifteen,” she captures the wide-eyed excitement of dating older boys in high school, singing “he’s got a car!” like it’s the most exciting thing imaginable. “Hey Stephen” is an irresistibly sunny come-on of a love song; “The Best Day” miraculously manages to portray a happy childhood without getting cloying or sentimental; even lead single “Love Story,” with its corny “Romeo and Juliet” references, is infused with so much sweetness and precocious wit that it’s impossible not to get swept up in the song’s surging chorus. Right from the get-go, it appeared that Swift’s talent ran deep; on this record, she proves it, and then some.

Did you know? On the CMT show “Crossroads,” Swift teamed up British pop-metal veterans Def Leppard to perform songs like “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” (The pairing is less odd than it sounds; the producer behind those classic ‘80s Def Leppard albums, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, also produced hits for one of Swift’s biggest influences, Shania Twain.)