Swifties found themselves in Wonderland on October 27th, as soon as midnight struck. Taylor Swift reclaimed her 2014 pop album sensation, 1989, and her fans knew she has never missed a beat. Nine years after its original release, this blockbuster album now carries the label “Taylor’s Version” and included five brand new “From the Vault” tracks.
Swift made her fans’ wildest dreams come true when she announced that 1989 Taylor’s Version was on its way at the final show of her US leg of the widely attended “Eras Tour”. The suspense had been building the entire night with subtle “easter eggs” that Swift is known for using to hint at certain album or song releases. This is the fourth album she has reclaimed in her six-part re-record project. So far Swift now has received ownership of her albums Red, Fearless, Speak Now, and most recently 1989.
Self-identified Swiftie junior Isabella Tritto said she “was so excited” and “was dancing and singing” when she first hit play on the album and heard one of her childhood favorite songs “Welcome to New York.” Tritto “was most excited to hear ‘I Know Places’” but she had “mixed feelings about it” compared to the original. While she listened through the whole album, she said she “had a great time reliving that initial 2014 experience” and she “especially loved ‘Out of The Woods (Taylor’s Version)’.”
Junior Karina Morgan said, “Taylor Swift is one of my favorite artists since she has a variety of music styles.” When she listened to 1989 (Taylor’s Version) she said she loved “how her voice has changed over the years and hearing that applied to some of my favorite songs.” The stand-out songs for Morgan included “Say Don’t Go”, “This Love”, and “Now That We Don’t Talk.”
Sophomore Maddie Collins had been anticipating the release, commenting that she “listened at nine on the dot, but my music crashed for a sec so that kinda stressed me out.” Once her streaming platform functioned again she said, “I listened to the vault tracks first, and I was really excited to hear ‘Say Don’t Go’.” Following her first listen through Collins reported, “I loved ‘Say Don’t Go’, 10/10,” and “also really enjoyed ‘Now That We Don’t Talk’. It was definitely 1989 vibes.”
The album has been very well received by the Taylor Swift fandom, with the re-record helping to boost Swift to be the number one most streamed artist on Spotify with 106,608,279 monthly listeners. Swifties will agree: Taylor Swift never goes out of style.
