Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts/ Big Machine Records) - Speak Now, the highly-anticipated third album from four-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift, is set for worldwide release next Monday (October 25th). The Big Machine Records album will be released simultaneously in over 40 countries, and Taylor's new music is already garnering substantial acclaim from some of the nation's top critics.
The New York Times calls Speak Now "the most musically diverse [album] of her career.... And it's excellent too, possibly her best."
"Brilliant. The stone-hearted among [the cynics] who listen to Speak Now will find it hard to complain that Swift somehow stole that Best Album Grammy for Fearless. Entirely self-penned, sans the collaborations of the previous albums, it's an enormous breakthrough in songwriting maturity....It'll be decades before she's holding her peace." - The Hollywood Reporter
"["Dear John"] might be her masterpiece to date, or at least the most bracingly, joltingly honest song you've heard any major performer have the nerve to put on record in years." - Yahoo Music
"Since the start of her major label career four years ago, Swift has proved an exemplary role model and a strong songwriter because she is able to tap into her emotions in an authentic way. She's reached a new high watermark with 'Mean.'" - The Beat Goes On (Inside Music with Melinda Newman)
"Taylor Swift has again achieved the near-impossible...with a third bundle of melodic, cathartic country-pop. Speak Now is another unrestrained grand-slam. 4 Stars" - Us Weekly
With this week's release of the track "Mean," Taylor bested her own Billboard record (which she set last week) for Most Top 10 debuts on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 in the history of the chart. The four songs from Speak Now released early as part of an iTunes rollout all reached No 1 on the site's all-genre downloads chart within hours of release, and paid song downloads from Speak Now now exceed 1.8 million.
Fans can take a look inside Taylor's Speak Now album - from the recording, to performances, to the behind-the-scenes of release week - on Thanksgiving night, when NBC will air the one-hour primetime special "Taylor Swift - Speak Now." The program will follow Taylor on her journey from New York City to Los Angeles through interviews, events, and all the in-the-moment experiences of a four-time Grammy winner releasing brand new music, as well as showcase multiple one-of-a-kind performances (including a concert held 30,000 feet in the air as Taylor travels across the country).
Taylor's official album release party will again be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, who will devote her entire one-hour show to the festivities on November 1st.
Taylor will make several other television appearances to launch the album, including:
The Today Show (NBC) - Tuesday, October 26th The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) - Tuesday, October 26th
Live! With Regis & Kelly (ABC, syndicated) - Wednesday, October 27th
Dancing With the Stars (ABC) - Tuesday, November 2nd
Taylor is featured on the covers of the current issues of GLAMOUR and People magazine.
Speak Now is available for special pre-sale on the site www.SpeakNow13.com
Speak Now artwork is available for download at: www.taylorswift.com/media-page
