Taylor Swift has been pushing out more content than she ever has in only a few short months. Her award winning album “folklore” was released July 24, 2020 and she quickly followed up with a sister-album “evermore” released on Dec. 11, 2020. Now, after Swift’s albums being ripped from her grasp, she has gracefully risen from the ashes. 

According to Time.com, Swift signed with Big Machine Records in 2008. When her contract expired in 2018, she switched to Universal’s Republic Records. When she made this move, Big Machine Records still owned her first six albums and original recordings. Big Machine then sold to an entity owned by powerhouse music manager Scooter Braun, who sold her masters to another company in 2019. As long as the old recordings are owned by Braun and still being streamed, all of the revenue will be given to him rather than Swift and her team. Re-recording her old albums will put the power back into her control and hers alone. 

Swift plans to re-record every past album labeling them as “Taylor’s Version.” Only four months after “evermore,” she released the first Taylor’s Version of her second album (Fearless), originally released in 2008. Not only did she re-record all 13 original songs, she also included six new songs “From The Vault.” 

Before the full album release, Swift gave her fans a sneak-peak with a single “Love Story” (Taylor’s Version). The song keeps the original sound with a few hints of new flair. Being able to enjoy “Love Story” as the classic it is all over again made her fans ecstatic for the rest of the album. She stays close to her roots with the typical country twang that was showcased in her first few albums. Although, the instrumentals have cut back on the twang to give a more modern feel. 

A fan favorite, “Mr.Perfectly Fine (From The Vault),” captures the youthful essence of “Fearless.” The upbeat passive aggressive break-up song is the definition of Swift’s past era of heartbreak and revenge. The song, rumored, is about Swift’s ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas (a member of the Jonas Brothers). They broke up only after a few months, and though the relationship was short lived, Swift has up to four songs written about him (including “Mr.Perfectly Fine”). Lyrics such as, “Mr.’Looked me in the eye and told me you would never go away,” from “Mr.Perfectly Fine” creates a direct parallel to lyrics, “You looked me in the eye and told me you loved me” from “Forever & Always” (written about Jonas). 

“Fearless,” one of the most memorable songs on the album cannot go without mention. Reminiscent of Swift’s country past and the aura of this iconic era is fully encaptured into the song. Being able to step back in time with new experiences and an older view on life has changed the way I, and many other fans, listen to this album. Clearly, listening to “Fearless” now versus 2008, each song on the album means so much more to me (especially “Fearless”). Swift strayed from any sort of modernization for this song which seems to be a smart choice. “Fearless” deserves an authentic remaster that sticks to its roots and Swift definitely executed it to perfection. 

One fun surprise was the song “That’s When (feat. Keith Urban).” Urban is arguably one of the most influential country artists of all time and seeing him featured in a “From The Vault” song was an exciting shock. Swift really dug deep into her country roots with this song. A country twang style duet is exactly what her fans didn’t know they needed. The song was a great addition to this country-princess album.

I am very pleased with the way Swift executed the re-recording of “Fearless.” She hung on tight to her original sound and made the stylistic choice to keep almost everything as-is. This was a wonderful choice that gave her fans the opportunity to listen to her authentic past-self with new perspectives and growth. From being 19 years old during the original release, to now being a grown woman at the age of 31, I can’t imagine the emotions she experienced going back through and re-singing about her old lovers and tragedies. It must have been a complete sigh of relief for Swift to now officially own one of the five albums taken from her. I know myself, and the rest of her fans, are thrilled to see what Swift brings back next. 

Contact Avery Hamlin at [email protected]