After countless refreshes and re-opening Spotify for the tenth time, I finally see the play button next to the album’s title. After obsessing over Taylor’s vocals from her previous “1989” re-recordings, “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” and “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version), I couldn’t wait to hear my favorite pop songs as new releases.
Nine years after its original release, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was officially available for streaming on Oct. 27th. After being announced on Aug. 9th at the Eras Tour SoFi Stadium show, fans eagerly awaited for the album’s rerecording.
Months of anticipation were spent hypothesizing “vault” track titles until Sept. 20th when cryptic puzzles began popping up on fan’s computers after googling “Taylor Swift.” After 33 million of these puzzles were solved, Swift announced the titles of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”’s five “From The Vault” songs: “Slut!,” “Say Don’t Go,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends” and “Is It Over Now?”.
As a longtime “1989” fan, I was so excited when Swift announced that it was next in her lineup of re-recordings. After hearing songs like “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off” during the Eras Tour, I knew that Swift’s hits from the album would sound amazing with her matured voice.
Per usual, Swift did not let me down. Although this album had some major differences from the 2014 version, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is still pure pop perfection.
In my opinion, the biggest differences were evident in the overall production of the album. Songs like “Style (Taylor’s Version)” and “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)” featured somewhat different backing instrumentals, as if they were mixed completely differently. Well the new sound of familiar classics wasn’t an unwelcoming addition, it’ll definitely take a little bit of getting used to.
On the contrary, songs like “Blank Space (Taylor’s Version)” and “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)” seemed much more polished and featured stronger vocals than their original versions.
The best part of the album, in my opinion, were the new “From the Vault” songs. These five new songs were outstanding additions to any already great album. “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” has fresh, strong lyrics with a fun, upbeat sound. “Slut! (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” gives listeners a sweet love song. “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” is a fun pop song with an awesome bridge.
“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is even better than the original chart-topping album, with a new sound and stand-out “vault” tracks.
