If nine years ago you were blasting Taylor Swift’s “1989” album the first time, you would love to do it for the second time.
Taylor has released the re-recorded “1989” album as of Oct. 27, and although the re-recorded songs sound very similar to the originals, five new songs make a great improvement to the album.
Taylor has been making music since 2004, winning 12 Grammys, and producing 10 albums, while only owning three of them. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is the fourth album that Taylor has re-recorded to reclaim ownership.
Yes, the re-recorded songs do sound interchangeable with the originals, however with the new album, Taylor now has ownership of her songs and the album entirely.
Scooter Braun, who is well-known for managing talented people, purchased the company that owns Taylor’s first six albums. Since then, she has had different people as her bosses.
Taylor made an agreement with Universal Music’s Republic Records in 2018 that said that she has control over her original recordings, but she wants to fully own her music by creating new versions of her songs.
The new album consists of new versions of all the original albums songs, but it also has incorporated five new songs.
As her first all pop album, and the “most streamed album” according to The Hollywood Reporter, fans of Taylor have been waiting for the re-release of “1989” since it was announced in August of 2023.
This new album consists of 21 songs total: 16 songs that are being re-released and five new songs “From the Vault.” The songs follow the same order from the original album, but have five new songs added to the end.
The opening track, “Welcome To New York,” doesn’t differ much from the 2014 version. It has the same lyrics and the same tune as the original; the only difference is the added maturity in Taylor’s voice.
The second song, “Blank Space,” is still as good as it was nine years ago. However, she introduced some heavy enunciation to her words in the 2023 version, most likely so there wouldn’t be another “Starbucks lover” incident where listeners mistake Taylors lyric “Got a long list of ex-lovers” for “Got a long list of Starbucks lovers.”
Most of her songs in this new album are relatively the same as the 2014 version, except for “Shake It Off.” The new version lacked the genuine feel of the original song. It had much less energy and it was less aggressive.
As mentioned before, there are five new songs in this album that were written at the same time of all of the original songs, yet didn’t make the final cut of the album that came out in 2014.
The first one—“Slut!”—focuses on Taylor’s reputation in the media in 2014. In contrast to the harsh title, the melody and lyrics are quite soft.
Taylor is known for her honest lyrics in her songs, and this one is no different. The lyrics in this song represent her feelings on how her name was circulating through the media at the time of writing and hone in on her reflection of the internet slut shaming her.
As she sings in “Shake It Off,” “the haters gonna hate.”
The next two songs that came from the vault, “Now That We Don’t Talk,” and “Say Don’t Go,” are better driven. In “Say Don’t Go,” the track pulls the listener in by building up in the first half of the song, and keeps them there with her lyricism in the back half.
“Suburban Legends” is the fourth song from the vault. This song sounds a lot like “Mastermind” from Taylor’s tenth album, “Midnights,” with similar beats and melody throughout the song.
The song also has an attention-grabbing Ke$ha reference with the lyric “Tick-tock on the clock, I pace down your block.” However, the rest of the song is strong in lyrics.
“Is It Over Now” is the last song on the 1989 vault track, ending the album on the perfect note. The song has a very catchy tone and definitely fits the feel of the pop album.
The track has become Taylor’s 11th No. 1 hit song on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Without question, the songs that were re-released are just as good as they were nine years ago. The new songs that were added are an appreciated addition to the “1989” album and blend in seamlessly with the preexisting songs.
It is definitely not over yet for Taylor Swift.
