Billboard CD reviews: Taylor Swift, T-Pain

ARTIST: TAYLOR SWIFT

ALBUM: FEARLESS

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Those who thought Taylor Swift was a big deal after the release of her first record should be prepared: The country singer is about to get way bigger. Though they're written by a teenager, Swift's songs have broad appeal, and therein lies the genius and accessibility of her second effort. The insightful "Fifteen" ("In your life you'll do greater things than dating a boy on the football team") will connect with teens looking for hope and with adult women looking back, while the sparse "White Horse" will appeal to anyone who's experienced love lost, which is to say, everyone. "Hey Stephen" ("All those other girls, they're beautiful but would they write a song for you") displays Swift's confident sense of humor, and "Breathe" (written with Colbie Caillat, who sings on the track) is a love-gone-wrong song suitable for women of all ages.

ARTIST: DAVID ARCHULETA

ALBUM: DAVID ARCHULETA (19/JIVE)

Most teen Disney heroes have got nothing on David Archuleta. The 17-year-old "American Idol" contender has one of those once-in-a-decade pop voices: A silky tenor with a natural melancholy that makes him a heartbreaker by default. His charming debut exploits that very quality with some strokes of pop genius, like "Touch My Hand," a temporary love ballad to the pretty girl in the front row, and "Your Eyes Don't Lie," a Jonas Brothers-do-"No Diggity" ditty with a fair amount of crooner slink. But Archie is at his best on the bleeders, like piano ballad "To Be With You," and "Angels," the Robbie Williams cover he saved from obscurity on "Idol."

ARTIST: T-PAIN

ALBUM: THR33 RINGZ (JIVE)

Unless you're an astute T-Pain follower, you may not have realized he hasn't released an album since May 2007. That's because he's been nearly as ubiquitous as Lil Wayne in the guest appearance department since then, adding his Autotuned voice to tracks from Wayne, Ciara and Ludacris, among many others. So what's the difference between T-Pain the guest and T-Pain the featured artist? Not much, but that's OK, thanks to a winning mix of humor and sincerity. "I don't need your sex/I'll masturbate," he sniffs on the Kanye West-featuring "Therapy," while "Chopped & Skrewed" is a comic tale of being hoodwinked by a woman. But there's more substance here than on past albums, particularly on the Eric Clapton-sampling "Change," and T-Pain seems comfortable leaning in a poppier direction on tracks like "Can't Believe It" featuring Wayne.

ARTIST: Q-TIP

ALBUM: THE RENAISSANCE (UNIVERSAL MOTOWN)

Between Q-Tip, Guns N' Roses and Eminem, it's a big fall for the long-missing. But will "The Renaissance" justify the wait for anyone besides those still rocking faded Tribe gear? Q-Tip's honey-dripped vocals are welcome in any context, but this set shows him plunging hard into the loverman R&B that made women love the voice and brothers dig the lyrics -- hence the cameos by D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq and Norah Jones, who sounded considerably more comfortable guesting with Mike Patton. Tip hits his stride on "You," a tale of suspicious minds with a nagging beat, and there are a few highly welcome moments of rat-a-tat freestyle on "Dance on Glass." But his jazzy vibe, once novel and aggressively refreshing, seems buried here in a curiously midtempo sea of slow jams and hook-challenged R&B.

ARTIST: RANDY OWEN

ALBUM: ONE ON ONE (BROKEN BOW RECORDS)

Former Alabama lead singer Randy Owen's solo debut walks a fine line that will please both Alabama faithful and new fans. Owen, who wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's 11 cuts, and producer John Rich have found a way to create an album that is familiar and refreshing. The Dolly Parton-penned "Holding Everything" with Megan Mullins is a powerful country duet in the tradition of Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris and easily the album's best cut. "Pray Me Back Home Again," written in the wake of 9/11, and "Braid My Hair," about a young cancer victim, provide the album's most poignant moments. The I-done-her-wrong "Like I Never Broke Her Heart" is solid and radio-friendly, and the sexually charged "Slow and Steady" finds Owen channeling Conway Twitty's "I'd Love to Lay You Down."

ARTIST: SEAL