Taylor Swift - 1989 (Taylor's Version)

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 5 / 12 / 2023

Label: Universal Music
Format: CD

Expanded and reworked version of Taylor Swift’s 2014 album which saw her make the transition from country to pop

Review

Aged just 33, Taylor Swift recently catapulted herself to the top echelons of the mega-star realm by achieving the rarefied status of $ billionaire! After a Summer of “Taylormania” and a hugely successful world tour, Bloomberg News have calculated the singer-songwriter's net worth at over $1.1 billion (almost £1 billion!) Known for her astonishing work ethic, Taylor Swift is one of pop's truly prolific singer-songwriters. Her current ‘Eras’ tour is one of the most lucrative in history (it is estimated to have added almost $4 billion to the US economy) and its film spin-off is shattering cinema box office records. Soon after her start singing country-style music in 2006, I recall interviewing Taylor for a UK-based country music magazine. She was personable, charming plus clearly talented - and very determined to succeed in her career. Subsequently she has won a dozen Grammy awards! She has a shrewd head for business too. In order to own the full rights to her back catalogue (sold recently by music executive Scooter Braun to a private equity company), she decided to painstakingly re-record her first six albums, replicating the original arrangements with great skill. The new expanded version of her fifth album, ‘1989’, named after the year she was born, has just been released with the title ‘1989 (Taylor's Version)’ - and it is likely to become one of the best selling albums of the year. Originally, this was the record that sealed Taylor's move from country to pop back in 2014 and it replaced the Nashville banjos and songs about high school crushes of earlier records with 1980s-style electronics and more adult lyrics. Nine years ago ‘1989’ sent Taylor Swift's career stratospheric and her followers - the “Swifties” - won't be disappointed with the new version. Her voice is more mature now but the restoration work has ensured the album still has the same unique trademark feel of the original. Also, five additional tracks “from the vaults” that failed to make the original cut have now been included and they are all excellent – taking the template of ‘1989’ and enhancing it with swooning melodies, smart lyrics, potent hooks plus great backing vocalists. ‘Say Don't Go’ pairs Taylor's diary-style lyrics with songwriting giant Diane Warren, queen of the power ballad and the song builds into an epic. ‘Slut!’ is a softer ballad (despite the title) where Taylor laments that it is she rather than any former lover who is publicly shamed for her romantic dalliances.... “If they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once” she sings philosophically. ‘Now That We Don't Talk’ is another highlight – a familiar Taylor Swift love-gone-wrong tale where she cooly discovers one bright side of a break-up - “I don't have to pretend I like acid rock”. On its first release, ‘1989’ won album of the year at the Grammys and Taylor Swift became a superstar. Almost a decade later, the new version of the record actually sounds better than ever.

Track Listing:-

1 Welcome to New York
2 Blank Space
3 Style
4 Out of the Woods
5 All You Had To Do Was Stay
6 Shake it Off
7 I Wish You Would
8 Bad Blood
9 Wildest Dreams
10 How You Get The Girl
11 This Love
12 I Know Places
13 Clean
14 Wonderland
15 You Are In Love
16 New Romantics
17 "Slut!"
18 Say Don't Go
19 Now That We Don't Talk
20 Suburban Legends
21 Is It Over Now?
22 Bad Blood
23 Sweeter Than Fiction
24 "Slut!" (Acoustic Version)