1989 [Taylor's Version]

by Taylor Swift

Overview

While Taylor Swift transitioned cautiously from country to pop on 2012's Red, she became the face of mainstream pop music with the monumental synth-driven hit parade of her next album, 1989. Released in October of 2014, the album was named after Swift's birth year as well as the era of synth pop radio hits that provided partial inspiration for the dancy, hyper-produced material. 1989 [Taylor's Version] continues Swift's series of re-recording her albums for purposes related to licensing rights, and more than any of the revised versions that preceded it, illuminates the moment when she became a timeless songwriter. At the time of its original release, 1989 was a grand slam, moving platinum numbers, producing seven hit singles (three of which were number ones), and remaining in the charts internationally for more than a year. Returning to this material exactly nine years later, one would expect songs played to death on the radio for nearly a decade to feel a little dated, or for the Jack Antonoff or Max Martin and Shellback co-written tunes to sound especially formulaic in hindsight. Instead, the re-recorded versions (like all of Taylor's Versions, aiming for faithful re-creation of the originals more than artistic updating) sound fresh and vital, perhaps even more powerful in light of Swift's often-shifting artistic progress since. Songs that may have come across shallow or substanceless in 2014 (the cheerleader-y bounce of "Shake It Off" or Swift's PG-rated Lana Del Rey mirroring on "Wildest Dreams") now make more sense as part of the unfettered celebration of pop -- in all its self-indulgence and escapism -- that 1989 was intended as. The album's homage to the gated reverb and MIDI keyboard tones of late-'80s radio comes into full view on the five additional tracks that were kept in the vault from the time the album was initially made. There are echoes of the Outfield's 1986 hit "Your Love" in the verses of "Say Don't Go" before a decidedly 2010s chorus washes up on a cascade of bubbly synth notes, and both "Suburban Legends" and the magnetic hooks of "Slut!" offer a more subdued counterpoint to the overenthusiastic electro-pop exclamation Swift got into on "New Romantics." Fleshed out by these extra tracks, 1989 [Taylor's Version] confirms the lasting strength that Swift's songwriting was achieving in this one of many blooms, and serves as a lovely reminder of when she officially stepped into her place in the pop culture continuum. ~ Fred Thomas

Product Details

Release Date:	10/27/2023
Label:	Emi Records / Republic
UPC:	0602455542144
Rank:	184

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Welcome To New York [Taylor's Version]
2. Blank Space [Taylor's Version]
3. Style [Taylor's Version]
4. Out Of The Woods [Taylor's Version]
5. All You Had To Do Was Stay [Taylor's Version]
6. Shake It Off [Taylor's Version]
7. I Wish You Would [Taylor's Version]
8. Bad Blood [Taylor's Version]
9. Wildest Dreams [Taylor's Version]
10. How You Get The Girl [Taylor's Version]
11. This Love [Taylor's Version]

Disc 2

12. I Know Places [Taylor's Version]
13. Clean [Taylor's Version]
14. Wonderland [Taylor's Version]
15. You Are In Love [Taylor's Version]
16. New Romantics [Taylor's Version]
17. "Slut!" [Taylor's Version] [From The Vault]
18. Say Don't Go [Taylor's Version] [From The Vault]
19. Now That We Don't Talk [Taylor's Version] [From The Vault]
20. Suburban Legends [Taylor's Version] [From The Vault]
21. Is It Over Now [Taylor's Version] [From The Vault]
22. Sweeter Than Fiction [Taylor's Version]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Taylor Swift   Primary Artist,Vocals,Clapping,Vocals (Background)
Kendrick Lamar   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Imogen Heap   Drums,Piano,Kalimba,Keyboards,Percussion,Vibraphone,Vocals (Background)
Ryan Tedder   Piano,Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Amos Heller   Bass,Guitar (Bass),Synthesizer Bass
Noel Zancanella   Bass,Synthesizer
Max Bernstein   Guitar,Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Jack Antonoff   Bass,Drums,Guitar,Mellotron,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Peter Noos Johansson   Tuba,Trombone
Mattias Bylund   Synthesizer
Brian Pruitt   Drums
Paul Sidoti   Guitar,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Matt Billingslea   Drums,Percussion
Dan Burns   Synthesizer,Synthesizer Bass
Mike Meadows   Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Patrik Berger   Bass,Guitar,Synthesizer
Tomas Jonsson   Sax (Tenor),Sax (Baritone)
Sean Hutchinson   Drums,Percussion
Wojtek Goral   Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Magnus Johansson   Trumpet
Christopher Rowe   Trumpet,Vocals (Background)
Mattias Johansson   Violin
Evan Smith   Guitar,Saxophone,Synthesizer,Vocals (Background)
Janne Bjerger   Trumpet
Zem Audu   Synthesizer
David Bukovinszky   Cello
Ilya Salmanzadeh   Vocals (Background)
Michael Riddleberger   Drums,Percussion
Mikey Freedom Hart   Bass,Organ,Guitar,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Orion Meshorer   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Johan Schuster   Drums,Sound Effects
Robert Allen   Clapping,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Imogen Heap   Composer,Producer,Recording,Programming
John Hanes   Engineer
Ryan Tedder   Composer,Producer,Recording,Programming,Drum Programming
Max Martin   Composer
Noel Zancanella   Producer,Programming,Drum Programming
Taylor Swift   Composer,Producer
Max Bernstein   Synthesizer Programming
Jack Antonoff   Composer,Producer,Recording,Programming
Lowell Reynolds   Editing,Engineer,Programming,Assistant Engineer
Diane Warren   Composer
Mattias Bylund   Editing,Arranger,Recording
Brian Pruitt   Drum Programming
Matt Billingslea   Drum Programming
Dan Burns   Engineer,Programming,Drum Programming,Synthesizer Programming
Shellback   Composer,Producer
Ali Payami   Composer
Mike Meadows   Synthesizer Programming
Patrik Berger   Composer,Producer,Programming
Sean Hutchinson   Recording,Programming
Derek Garten   Editing,Engineer,Programming
Joey Miller   Assistant Engineer
Sam Holland   Vocal Producer
Christopher Rowe   Producer,Recording,Vocal Engineer
Randy Merrill   Mastering Engineer
Ray Charles, Jr.   Recording
David Payne   Recording
Jack Manning   Assistant Engineer
Evan Smith   Recording,Programming
Laura Sisk   Recording
Zem Audu   Recording
Kendrick Lamar   Composer
Jon Sher   Assistant Engineer
Michael Riddleberger   Recording
Oli Jacobs   Recording
Rich Rich   Recording
Mikey Freedom Hart   Recording,Programming
John Turner   Assistant Engineer
David Hart   Recording
Ryan Smith   Mastering Engineer
Bryce Bordone   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Megan Searl   Assistant Engineer
Jacob Spitzer   Assistant Engineer
Jozef Caldwell   Assistant Engineer