Review: Taylor Swift rerecords album 1989

by Belle O.

Many teenagers today, including those here at AHS, are fans (also known as Swifties) of singer/songwriter Taylor Swift. Some students even attended her tour called the Eras Tour. She just re-recorded her album 1989 (Taylors Version). Although the original album came out in 2014, she re-recorded the songs and issued a new version of the album because she wants ownership of her album. Taylor Swift goes through the process of re-recording because her old music executive Scooter Braun. Scooter Braun purchased Swift’s first 6 studio albums in 2019. Swift announced the purchase and said she is going to re-record her albums so she owns them. I personally think that Taylor Swift’s rerecording of her album 1989, was better than the original with songs from the vault, new tunes, and inclusion of Kendrick Lamar. This is definitely positive for me because I am a Swiftie and new songs or merch from her are a blessing.

First of all, the inclusion of songs from the vault really give a new edge to an old album. These are songs that Taylor Swift wrote or recorded but never released. I love that she does this because instead of the same songs being re-recorded, you get to hear a new and fresh perspective. Most of the songs on 1989 TV remained the same. Swift has been known to change some of her re-recorded songs with either a new melody or lyrics. She has previously done this with her song “Better Than Revenge” off of Speak Now TV. Listening to 1989, I noticed that the melody for Style, I Know Places, Wonderland, and Blank Space were different.

Secondly, on each of Taylor Swift’s albums, she records one of her songs with another artist. On 1989, Kendrick Lamar was included on her song Bad Blood. The music video included many famous actors and Lamar. The music video will forever be iconic. Swift and Perry had a feud during Swift’s Red tour because Katy attempted to take her background dancers for her own personal tour. Taylor included so many famous actors in the music video which was so cool to see.

Airport High junior Emma M., was interviewed about her opinions on the album. “It’s better and new,” Emma M. replied, when asked what she liked about 1989 TV. I agree with Emma M. because it's a new outlook fans can have on the album. Her vault song “Is It Over Now?” talks about her past relationship with Harry Styles and how he treated her. My favorite song from 1989 (Taylors Version) is “Slvt!” because the song is talking about Swift being unashamedly in love with Harry Styles. Her lyrics “In a world of boys he's a gentleman” are so well written.

The next interviewee, Emma C., an Airport sophomore also had positive remarks to share. “I liked it a lot better than the original because she sounds older and I liked her vault songs,” Emma C. replied. I agree that her singing voice is much more mature than when she originally recorded the album in 2014. It's to be expected considering it was released a decade ago but it's still nice to hear her improvement.

Critics have also been very fond of her re-recording. Jinelle Sanchez from The Short Horn called it “one of Swift’s best recordings.” Rolling Stone believed it to show her unashamedly in love no matter how embarrassing it may have been.

In conclusion, I recommend listening to this album. I rank this 10 out of 10 stars. You can stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Musi, etc.