By Sana Yousuf, Staff Writer
On October 27, Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The album was announced by Swift on August 9 during the Los Angeles portion of her widely popular tour, The Eras Tour. Many fans were eager to listen to Swift’s fourth installation in her re-recorded album series.
Swift’s rerecording journey began as a way to regain the masters to her music, which were privately sold to her previous management without her permission in 2019. Swift went about solving this by re-recording her albums that had been sold, and releasing them under the name “(Taylor’s Version).” As of November 2023, Swift has re-released four of her albums, with two remaining. The rerecording process has yielded great success for Swift; her sales and popularity have skyrocketed as a result of her prolific releases.
1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latest album to be re-released, was put out nearly a decade after the release of the original 1989 in 2014. Due to the large amount of time separating the two album versions, many fans anticipated the new version to sound substantially different compared to the old version in terms of vocals and production. Some were even worried that Taylor’s Version would not be able to live up to the original version. After listening to the re-recording several times, some changes are noticeable, but overall the album was sonically similar to the original version. Swift’s vocals have substantially matured and strengthened, which most likely comes naturally from the extra ten years of experience and practice Swift gained when re-recording 1989.
In terms of instrumentals and production, the production has had some notable changes. Songs such as I Know Places and You Are In Love seem to be fan favorites across the board; many fans online claim that the production “has only gotten stronger.” However, songs such as Style and New Romantics have not received the same levels of positive feedback from fans. Many users claim that the instrumentals of these songs do not compare to the original, as they sound “poorly mixed and produced.” I agree with these reviews; it felt as though Swift’s vocals were lost in the instruments during some of the songs, but overall the album feels cohesive with its original version.
Another exciting aspect of Swift’s re-records are “vault tracks”, which are songs that Swift wrote for the original album but were never released. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) contains 5 vault tracks, including songs titled Now That We Don’t Talk and Is It Over Now, all of which were my personal favorite aspect of the album. Each song is able to capture the essence of the original 1989 tracks, while also adding a fresh touch of Swift’s current sound.
The album has generally received positive feedback from critics, receiving a 7.7/10 from Pitchfork. Rolling Stones also holds high praise for the album, stating that in comparison to the original album, “1989 (Taylor’s Version) shines a lot brighter.”
Overall, I can confidently say that Taylor Swift has once again released an album that is bound for success, both in terms of popular hits and fan favorites.Whenever you’re seeking a positive reset, or just in the mood to dance, I would highly recommend giving 1989 (Taylor’s Version) a listen.