Rating: 3/5 stars

Taylor Swift (“Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”) has once again re-released one of her previous albums to be under her own name. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was released on Oct. 27 and has 21 songs, making it over an hour of the classic pop album every “Swiftie” knows and loves. 

Swift’s 2014 album had many hit songs like “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood,” “Shake It Off” and “Style.” “1989” was a huge step in her career, officially moving from the country scene into a true pop icon. With these pop hits, she solidified her spot in the music industry, not letting the hate get to her but continuing to be the voice for many girls in this generation. 

The hit songs on “1989” were beloved, but with the re-recording of a few, some sounded too different and leaned more into a Kidz Bop sound. This was most seen on the production of “Style” and “New Romantics.” The prechorus of “Style,” “I should just tell you to leave ‘cause I/Know exactly where it leads, but I/Watch us go ‘round and ‘round each time,” sounded a little off and monotone compared to the original. It was blended with background vocals from Swift which sounded weird, leaving a few fans unimpressed with the production. “New Romantics” also seemed to have that similar problem, where the production just sounded a little too different from the original. 

Swift is known for her unreleased vault songs that most fans are waiting for when they hear she is re-releasing an album. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” delivered with its vault songs like “Sl*t!,” “Say Don’t Go,” “Now That We Don’t Talk,” “Suburban Legends,” and “Is It Over Now?” 

“Sl*t!” demonstrates Swift’s phenomenal lyric writing. She uses beautiful imagery to set this mood of summer and being in love, knowing that people will shame and judge her, but she does not care because she is in love. Swift writes in the chorus, “But if I’m all dressed up/They might as well be lookin’ at us/And if they call me a sl*t/You know it might be worth it for once.” 

Swift can capture feelings so well in her songs. Her lyrics, storytelling and imagery tell the experience of being a girl dealing with societal pressures, heartbreak and falling in love. “1989” is full of catchy pop hits which touch on all of these issues while having really cool production and beats. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” did stay true to some of the originals like “Out Of The Woods”and “Clean” sounded similar with their strong vocals and instrumentals. 

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” did a great job with its new vault songs which really showcased Swift’s songwriting and lyrics, but some of the originals fell flat sounding a bit peculiar and not living up to fans expectations. Still, Swift has once again won the hearts of many people across the world with another fan favorite re-released album.

Image from @taylorswift13 on twitter.com