With the streak of re-releasing her studio albums, the arrival of Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” revives one of Swift’s most highly acclaimed releases in a reminiscence of 2014.
In June 2019, Swift entered a dispute with her former record label, Big Machine, over the ownership of her first six albums—including 2014’s “1989”—after the label was purchased for $300 million. Though her contract with Big Machine would expire in November 2020, Swift prompted an announcement to remaster and re-record her first six albums with Republic Records in an interview with Good Morning America in August 2019.
“My contract says that starting November 2020, so next year, I can record albums one through five all over again,” Swift said. “I think that artists deserve to own their work.”
At Swift’s final U.S. show of the Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium on Aug. 9, the announcement of an Oct. 27 release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” enthralled fans, known as “Swifties,” as the date marked exactly nine years since the release of “1989” on Oct. 27, 2014. The announcement of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was long speculated as Swift surprised listeners with a re-recorded version of her song “Wildest Dreams” on Sept. 17, 2021. The string of assumptions for “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” have anticipated re-releases of her older albums after a contention about the ownership from her former recording label.
Hearing the album’s opening track, “Welcome to New York (Taylor’s Version)” offers a rendition of a familiar synth instrumental yet a feeling of a new experience as Swift’s lyrics implore the listener that “It’s a new soundtrack.” This repeating emphasis truly enchants listeners that, though heard, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” offers an unknown listen to a familiar tone.
With the album sharing 16 re-recordings from the original, five unreleased songs—labeled as “From The Vault”—add to the familiarity of acclaimed favorites like “Blank Space,” “Style” and “New Romantics.” Out of the five, “Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” illustrates an alluring romance that is pulled right from the exurbs of a metropolis with a shared delayed synth as “Bejeweled” from Swift’s 2022 album, “Midnights.”
Though a bare difference from 2014’s “1989,” “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” provides the desire to relive the past of the 2010s, signaling a masterful nostalgia that Swift captures to many who want to be weighted with a sense of comfort amid a changing world. Many may scoff at a remastering of a radio hit like “Shake It Off” for being an earworm. However, the album embodies that attitude to reminisce of those earworm experiences. Swift continues the streak of remasterings from her acclaimed discography that serves as an homage to the expansive imprint on pop culture her albums have had.
