1989 (Taylor’s Version) will never go out of style

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It’s officially been a year since Taylor Swift released 1989 (Taylor’s Version), becoming the fourth out of her six stolen albums to be re-recorded and released. Similar to the original 1989 album, this Taylor’s Version has been one of her most anticipated re-recordings, proving so by breaking the record of the most streamed album on Spotify within 24 hours of its release—according to Billboard—as well as Apple Music ranking it in the top 20 of the 100 best albums. Whether you love her or hate her, it’s hard to deny the album's catchiness. Even after a year of its release, all of the music continues to hold up and I foresee it staying so for a long time. 

A New Soundtrack 

Since the original album and re-recording have a nine year difference, Taylor’s vocals have changed a lot, and for some that can make or break the new songs. There are some songs on the album where Taylor’s matured vocals really shine, like “I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)” and “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version).” Both songs have this underlying aggressive tone that we rarely get from Taylor Swift's songs and it seems like when re-recording them this time around, she didn’t hold back her emotions. This left with a final product that accentuates the maturity in her voice and celebrates the fact that she got to go back and tweak her past work. On the other hand, some of the re-recordings lacked the same flavor that the original album had, “Style (Taylor’s Version)” being one of the biggest disappointments of the album. In all fairness, there’s nothing that really could’ve topped the original version of “Style," with its production and sound encapsulating the entire vibe that 1989 was going for back in 2014. It took some getting used to, but after a year of having 1989 (Taylor’s Version), both versions have their own strengths and weaknesses. 

Production is another big difference between both versions of the album, with some people saying the use of synths in Taylor’s Version was excessive and ruined the vibe of the original album. But for the most part, the differences aren’t that worrisome, it just took people time to adjust to a new sound. “New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)” is the only instance where the new sound heavily affected the song, with the synth overpowering Taylor’s vocals and becoming a bit overwhelming when listening with headphones. A lot of the blame goes to producer Jack Antonoff, a long-term friend and music producer, due to his tendency to go synth-heavy on songs. The album was recorded around the same time as the release date of Taylor’s tenth studio album Midnights, which utilizes synth a lot throughout that album and many have said the sound carried over to the re-recording and vault tracks. Personally, I don’t think it’s his fault considering he’s helped produce half of Taylor’s discography without the same complaints, the idea of having to listen to the same album you’ve had for nine years in a whole new way can be frustrating for some listeners, which is why there was some criticism against the producer of the album. 

Vault Tracks

A newfound tradition within the re-recording era has been the vault tracks tacked onto the end of every Taylor’s Version, which are songs that were written for the original album but had to be cut for various reasons/ These songs have become so beloved by fans because we get a glimpse back into that era and learn why the songs were cut and what songs they were replaced with on the stolen versions. Some beloved songs that came from the vault include: “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault).” These tracks came straight from the writing of 2008, 2010, and 2012 versions of Taylor, and listening to them for the first time feels like a blast to the past. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) came in swinging with nostalgia and even though it has only been out for a year, every time I listen to it I feel like I’ve known these songs for as long as the original tracks.

Out of all the re-recordings released so far, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has the strongest run with every vault track being banger after banger. It starts with the sultry sound of “Slut!” (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” which has a very different vibe than was expected, but definitely grew on me. The rest of the vault tracks are just as strong. “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is one of the shortest songs in Taylor’s discography but the length adds to the experience; the sudden cutoff makes me as a listener want to repeat the song and keep hearing more and more. “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is very underrated in my opinion, not getting much noise from fans, but the bridge of the song is catchy and the metaphors within the song make it a certified classic in my book. The one vault track that I was disappointed by was “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault);” the song itself isn’t bad, the echoed chorus is a very interesting concept that Taylor hasn’t toyed with as much in her recent music, but the writing felt very repetitive and underwhelming which is why this track makes the most sense as to why it stayed in the vault. Every single vault track may not have been my favorite, but as a whole, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has the best vault track run amongst the re-recordings. It also ends with the banger that is “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” which is arguably one of her best album closers to date. Even a year later I’m still in awe of the fact that we may have never seen these tracks if the re-recordings didn’t exist. 

12 Months Older

After a full year of listening to 1989 (Taylor’s Version), it just keeps getting better and better. I was 10 years old when the original album dropped, and I remember how it felt watching all of the music videos as they dropped, and now as a 20-year-old, the album feels even more relatable as well as nostalgic for me, getting to relive the dramaticism that little me felt while also understanding the complex feelings that are littered throughout the writing of the album. Taylor Swift puts a lot of her passion and emotions into the albums she writes but it’s very obvious 1989 was a special one for her, making the re-recording process all the more unique. With the small change in vocals, the expanse of her songwriting through her vault tracks, and the overall cultural opinion on the album even after nine years of the original and one of the re-recordings,  the music is still as interesting as ever and is considered a pop classic in my book. 

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Sources: Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Billboard, Apple Music, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify, Spotify

Photos: Disney, Spotify, last.fm, Disney

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Contact Sam Jasionowski with comments at samantha.jasionowski@bsu.edu or on Instagram @s.jasionowski on Instagram.