Taylor Swift (album)

Taylor Swift
A portrait of Swift with wavy blonde hair against a blue-and-green background
Standard cover[note 1]
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 24, 2006 (2006-10-24)
Recorded2005
Studio
GenreCountry
Length40:28
LabelBig Machine
Producer
Taylor Swift chronology
Taylor Swift
(2006)
The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection
(2007)
Singles from Taylor Swift
  1. "Tim McGraw"
    Released: June 19, 2006
  2. "Teardrops on My Guitar"
    Released: February 20, 2007
  3. "Our Song"
    Released: September 4, 2007
  4. "Picture to Burn"
    Released: February 3, 2008
  5. "Should've Said No"
    Released: May 19, 2008

Taylor Swift is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Under the Big Machine Records imprint, it was released in the United States and Canada on October 24, 2006, and elsewhere on March 18, 2008.

Relocating from Pennsylvania to Nashville, Tennessee, Swift signed with Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing at 14 to write songs for the album. Her contract with Big Machine in 2005 enabled her to work with the producer Nathan Chapman during her freshman year of high school. Of the 11 tracks that made the album, Swift wrote three by herself and the rest with Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, Angelo Petraglia, and Liz Rose. Inspired by her outlook on life as a teenager, the lyrics address romantic relationships, friendships, and security. A country album, Taylor Swift incorporates acoustic instruments such as guitars, banjos, and fiddles, and its songs feature pop and pop rock elements.

Five songs were released as singles; "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" peaked atop Hot Country Songs, and "Teardrops on My Guitar" charted on Pop Songs. Swift embarked on a six-month radio tour in 2006 and opened tours for other country artists throughout 2006–2007. By promoting her album via the social networking site Myspace, she reached a younger audience relative to country music's middle-age demographics. In mainstream reviews of Taylor Swift, critics praised its accessible sounds with crossover appeal and Swift's earnest depictions of adolescent feelings. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards.

In the United States, Taylor Swift spent 24 weeks at number one on Top Country Albums, became the longest-charting album of the 2000s decade on the Billboard 200, and made Swift the first female country artist to write or co-write every song on a platinum-certified debut album. It also charted and received certifications in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The pop-oriented country production and autobiographical songwriting of Taylor Swift were a blueprint for Swift's next albums and an inspiration for other confessional singer-songwriters. Rolling Stone featured it in their 2022 list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time.
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