''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' is the first live album by American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

. It was released on November 21, 2011, by

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by for ...

. It consists of two components: an audio CD and a visual accompaniment either on DVD or

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

. Recorded on Swift's Speak Now World Tour, which she embarked on to support her third studio album '' Speak Now'', the live album consists of songs and performances on various dates. The 16-track CD is made up of live recordings of all ''Speak Now'' tracks on the standard edition save for two—"Never Grow Up" and " Innocent", and the deluxe edition track " Ours". Additionally, it includes three covers of pop songs of other artists—" Drops of Jupiter" (

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

), "

Bette Davis Eyes "Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was originally recorded by DeShannon in that year for her album ''New Arrangement'' but it was made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981 w ...

" ( Kim Carnes), and "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

" (

the Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most ...

). Swift's single " Back to December" was performed as part of a

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

with

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cel ...

's " Apologize" and her own " You're Not Sorry" from her 2008 album ''

Fearless Fearless or The Fearless may refer to: Psychology * Lack of fear * Courage or bravery Film, television and audio Film * ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi * ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...

''. The DVD or Blu-ray contains bonus performances of Swift's other songs not from ''Speak Now'' and video recordings of Swift's rehearsals for the tour and personal life. In Brazil, ''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' was supported by the digital single "

Long Live ''Viva'', ''vive'', and ''vivat'' are interjections used in the Romance languages. ''Viva'' in Spanish (plural ), Portuguese, and Italian (Also . in plural is rare), ''Vive'' in French, and ''Vivat'' in Latin (plural ) are subjunctive fo ...

" featuring Brazilian singer

Paula Fernandes Paula Fernandes de Souza (; born August 28, 1984, in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and arranger. In 2011 she was one of the most searched people on Google Brazil. She won a Latin Grammy Awards for her album ''Ama ...

, which reached the top 10 on the

Brasil Hot 100 Airplay Top 100 Brasil, previously Brasil Hot 100 Airplay, is the music singles charts in Brazil, compiled by Crowley Broadcast Analysis. In the beginning, the chart was published monthly by ''Billboard Brasil'' since the release of the magazine, in Oct ...

chart.

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

praised the live album for showcasing Swift's stage persona and showmanship, but considered it too long and took issue with her live vocals as weak and strained. In the United States, the album peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and has sold 368,000 copies as of July 2019. ''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' additionally entered the top 30 on charts in Australia, Canada, and Japan, and was certified triple platinum in the first country.

Background and release

American singer-songwriter

released her third studio album, '' Speak Now'', in October 2010. She quickly followed with the Speak Now World Tour, which started in February and wrapped its North American leg in November 2011. By December 2011, the album had sold 3.7 million copies, and the tour had attracted 1.3 million concertgoers. Swift's management team at

decided to release a live album to accompany the tour because of its profitability. According to the management team leader Jim Weatherson, "We've sold out virtually every show. ..We know there's got to be a gap between 1.3 million tickets and 3.7 million albums. We felt we could create a wonderful piece for people to either relive the concert or experience what it was all about." On Swift's part, she told ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' that she wanted to capture the tour on DVD because she would like to look back at it in the future": "Every single night I stand on that stage and it feels like it's the best crowd of the tour every night. They are so loud and emotional and so passionate, and ..I want to look back on this years from now and show it to my kids and my grandkids." Swift announced ''Speak Now World Tour – Live'', her first live album, and its cover artwork via her official website on September 21, 2011. The live album was marketed as

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

, aligning with Swift's self-identity as a country-music artist. The DVD and Blu-ray releases feature all seventeen performances from the North American leg of the Speak Now World Tour, as well as bonus content. The CD has over seventy-five minutes of music as well as select live performances of songs from the ''Speak Now'' album. The combo was released on November 21, 2011, via

in North America. It was released in Australia on November 25, and other territories on November 28. In the United States, Swift partnered with

American Greetings Corporation American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, elect ...

for a holiday promotion where contest winners won a copy of ''Speak Now World Tour – Live''. In the United States, a

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

-exclusive release contained a promotional

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any s ...

of " Ours", a track on ''Speak Now'' deluxe edition. Meanwhile, a

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

-exclusive edition contains bonus DVD material consisting of bonus performances of the songs "Ours", "Nashville" by

David Mead David Mead may refer to: *David Mead (military general), founder of Meadville, Pennsylvania *David Mead (musician), American pop singer and songwriter *David Mead (rugby league) David Mead (born David Moore on 4 November 1988) is a Papua New Gui ...

, and " The Sweet Escape" by

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs ...

; and behind-the-scenes footage of the music video for "

Mean There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

". Many of the songs and performances were captured from various legs around the world of the tour. The Brazilian release of the album contains a new studio version of the song "

", featuring new verses in Portuguese, composed and sung by Brazilian singer

. The track was released for download in January 2012, accompanied by a music video. The version peaked at number five on the

chart.

Content

''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' is a set of CD and DVD; it consists of 16 tracks on the CD and 18 on the DVD, alongside bonus behind-the-scenes footage and videos of Swift's personal life. The CD runs for 79 minutes, and the DVD two hours. The 16-track CD consists of live recordings of all tracks on the standard edition of ''Speak Now'', save for two—"Never Grow Up" and " Innocent"; a live recording of the deluxe edition track "Ours"; and three covers of songs by other artists—" Drops of Jupiter" (

), "

" ( Kim Carnes), and "

" (

). Swift's live recording of " Back to December" is part of a

with two other songs:

's " Apologize" and her own " You're Not Sorry" from her 2008 studio album ''

''.

described ''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' as

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

. ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

'' Jonathan Keefe said that despite Swift's self-identity as a country musician, her music instead "leans far more heavily on massive pop-rock power chords and sing-along choruses" that suited the live arenas where Swift performed. The DVD features bonus performances of songs from other albums by Swift—"

Our Song Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regula ...

", " You Belong with Me", " Fifteen", and "

Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres * Romance (love) ** Romance film ** Romance novel Films * ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film * ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film * ''Love ...

". The DVD recording of Swift's "

" is part of a medley with Train's "

Hey Soul Sister "Hey, Soul Sister" is a song by American rock band Train. It was written by lead singer Pat Monahan, Amund Bjørklund, and Espen Lind. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, ''Save Me, San Francisco'' (2009). The ...

" and

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't W ...

's " I'm Yours". In addition, it also contains home videos and footage of Swift's rehearsals for the tour. Recorded on numerous shows from the Speak Now World Tour, the DVD performances showcase elaborate stage settings, choreography, backup dancers and band, and Swift's numerous costume changes. In

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, James Christopher Monger said that the film "more closely resembled a high-profile Broadway musical than it did a country music concert". The DVD starts with Swift performing " Sparks Fly" in a fringed golden dress as aerialists dangle from the rafters. She sings the tracks, "Mean" and "Our Song", on a banjitar alone, in front of a

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

setting resembling the American countryside. For the performance of " Speak Now", which has lyrics about a protagonist interrupting a wedding, Swift is dressed in a

royal blue Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by clothiers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of whom won a competition to make a dress for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. Brightness The ''Oxford ...

dress, ponytail, and short white gloves, and performs girl group-styled choreography with colorful dressed backup dancers; another backup dancer plays a bride in a puffy gown. Swift then sings "Fearless" / "Hey Soul Sister" / "I'm Yours" on

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

sitting under a glowing tree. The performance of " Enchanted" is accompanied by ballet dancers, whereas "Haunted" features Swift hurling herself at a bell. The last song before the

encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pr ...

is "Long Live", and the concert closes with "Fifteen" and "Love Story". During the performance of "Love Story", Swift sings on a floating balcony across the venue as glitter falls across the venue.

Critical reception

In a review for Roughstock, Matt Bjorke said ''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' might not appeal to those who had not been fans of Swift already, but appreciated her for improving live vocals. Jonathan Keefe in ''Slant Magazine'' found the covers of Train and OneRepublic awkward, criticized Swift's live vocals as weak and off-key, and considered the live album's impact unsubstantial because it "may not add anything to an already solid set of songs on a narrative level". Keefe nonetheless praised it for showing Swift's "one-of-us authenticity" and songwriting that strongly resonated with her audience. In ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

'', Yeow Kai Chai similarly took issue with Swift's vocals as weak and off-key, and found the covers, such as "I Want You Back" and "Drops of Jupiter", forgettable. Yeow nonetheless appreciated Swift's stage persona: "Her sincerity and pretty girl-next-door smarts redeem every cookie-cutter confessional." The ''

Daily Breeze The ''Daily Breeze'' is a 57,000-circulation daily newspaper published in Hermosa Beach, California, United States. It serves the South Bay cities of Los Angeles County. Its slogan is "LAX to LA Harbor". Early history The paper was founded ...

'' journalist Sam Gnerre, on the contrary, deemed the covers the highlights. Gnerre found the CD rather "typical", but praised the DVD for showcasing Swift's showmanship, "her remarkable mix of youthful energy and seasoned skill". ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

'' Brandy McDonnell praised the DVD and found the covers entertaining but said that "Ours" was disappointing and Swift's vocals were uneven. Jon Dolan of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' lauded the content of the DVD but found the CD and bonus behind-the-scenes material redundant. Dolan commented that the best moments are where Swift performs alone with her guitar. In ''

The Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'', Heather Williams similarly lauded Swift's artistry and called her "a great role model and musician". In ''

The Gold Coast Bulletin The ''Gold Coast Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper serving Australia's Gold Coast region. It is published as ''The Gold Coast Bulletin'' on weekdays and the ''Weekend Bulletin'' at weekends. It is owned by News Corp Australia. History The n ...

'', Bob Anthony wrote: "it's clear Swift knows how to put on a show. And while she may not be a country music purist's cup of tea, there are thousands of

tweenies ''Tweenies'' is a British live action Puppet children's television series created by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan. The programme is focused on four pre-school aged characters, known as the "Tweenies", playing, singing, dancing, and learning ...

out there who would love nothing more than to have this collection in their collection." Carlos Olivares Baró in a review for Mexican media agency

Notimex Notimex is the official Mexican news agency, created on August 20, 1968 to handle coverage of the 1968 Summer Olympics. Notimex is headquartered in Mexico City and has five hundred and sixty-eight regional coordinating offices throughout Mexico. ...

lauded the stage and selected the performances of "Sparks Fly", "Mean", "Speak Now", "Last Kiss", and "Long Live" as standouts.

Commercial performance

''Speak Now World Tour – Live'' debuted at number eleven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart with 77,000 copies sold first-week. It also debuted at number two on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart, the highest debut of the week. As of July 2019, the album has sold 368,000 copies in the US. The album peaked at number 16 on the Australian albums chart and entered the top 30 on albums charts in Canada and Japan. In Australia, it additionally peaked atop the country-music albums chart, and the DVD, which peaked at number five, was certified triple platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA) in 2014. Two of the tracks appeared on charts. The live recording of "Drops of Jupiter" peaked at number seven on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart, number 22 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart, and number 74 on the Hot Canadian Digital Songs chart. The medley "Back to December / Apologize / You're Not Sorry" also peaked at number 45 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart.

Track listing

CD

DVD

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic

Musicians

– lead vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

, acoustic guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, piano,

* David Cook – keyboards * Caitlin Evanson – fiddle, backing vocals, acoustic guitar * Jody Harris – rhythm guitar * Amos Heller –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

* Liz Huett – backing vocals * Mike Meadows – backing vocals, banjo, rhythm guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Grant Mickelson – lead and rhythm guitar * Paul Sidoti – lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals * Al Wilson – drums * Daniel Sadownick – percussion

Production

* Taylor Swift – art direction, director, lighting design, producer, set design * Chris Adams – editing * Robert Allen – executive producer, mixing * Charity Baroni – dancer * Shannon Beach – dancer * Brent Bishop – assistant engineer * C.J. Boggs – engineer * Scott Borchetta – executive producer * Justin Boulet – dancer * Claire Callaway – dancer * David Cook – musical director * Justin Cortelyou – mixing * Paula Erickson – liner notes * Emily Evans – art direction * Sharon Everitt – colorist, editing *

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's ...

– mixing * Thomas Freitag – assistant engineer * Grant Garner – liner notes * Derek Garten – assistant engineer *

Christie Goodwin Christie Goodwin (born 1962) is an English art photographer who specialises in music photography. Biography Goodwin received her BA (hons) in Art Photography from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1986, and worked freelance as a pho ...

– photography * Olivier Goulet – video director * Austin Hale – design * Baz Halpin – director, lighting design, set design * Greg Hancock – engineer * Dom Kelley – dancer * Justin Key – art direction * Glenn Meadows – mastering * Fernando Miro – dancer * Joe Neil – engineer * Bethany Newman – design * Josh Newman – design * Marlyn Ortiz – dancer * Meredith Ostrowsky – dancer * David Payne – engineer * Ryan Polito – director * Aaron Rayburn – design *

Garth Richardson Garth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian record producer and music engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson (Alice Cooper, The Guess Who, Badfinger, Poco), a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Ga ...

– engineer * Chris Rowe – engineer, mixing * Joel Schwamburger – assistant engineer * Jennifer Spenelli – editing assistant * Andrea Swift – executive producer * Austin Swift – photography * Ben Terry – assistant engineer * Brian Virtue – mixing * Jim Weatherson – art direction, executive producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

2011 live albums 2011 video albums Albums produced by Taylor Swift Big Machine Records live albums Big Machine Records video albums Live video albums Taylor Swift live albums Taylor Swift video albums {{DEFAULTSORT:Speak Now World Tour - Live