Taylor Swift’s re-released 1989 album featuring five previously unheard tracks has been branded “a pop masterclass”.
The 21-track offering marks the next stage of the US megastar’s ambitious re-record of her entire back catalogue to regain control of her master recordings.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) features hit songs including Blank Space, Bad Blood and Shake It Off, as well as never-before-released songs “from the vault” such as Say Don’t Go, Now That We Don’t Talk and Suburban Legends.
✨🫶 My name is Taylor and I was born in 1989 🫶✨https://t.co/klomIqGx38 pic.twitter.com/sWofWRjpvN
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 27, 2023
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Swift shared a series of images and a handwritten letter on Twitter to accompany the album’s launch on Friday.
“I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014 and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly,” she wrote.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.
“This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.
“I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989. It’s been waiting for you.”
Will Hodgkinson, of The Times, described the album, which was released on the same date it was originally published in 2014, as a “triumph”.
Headlining the review “a pop masterclass” and awarding it five stars, he said: “This is the album that turned Taylor Swift into the biggest singer of modern times.
“Nine years after it was first released, you can see why.”
Neil McCormick, a music critic for The Telegraph, also gave the album five stars.
“1989 (Taylor’s Version) is an impeccable remake of her best album – and her five new tracks reflect the original’s themes in intriguing ways,” he said.
“With a forensic attention to detail, Swift’s remake is astonishing in its exactitude, another reminder that she is a star of a different magnitude with a mastery of her own talents and a bold business acumen.”
It’s a new soundtrack 🩵 Here are the back covers and vault track titles for 1989 (my version) I can’t wait for this one to be out, seriously. Thank you for playing along, sleuthing, puzzling and making these reveals so much chaotic fun (which is the best kind of fun, after all… pic.twitter.com/s3QrxGpXhP
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) September 20, 2023
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, from the Financial Times, said that although he gave the original 2014 album three stars “I should have given it the full five”.
He added: “These ‘from the vault’ tracks are among the best of those to appear so far in the re-recording project, which began with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in 2021.”
Angie Martoccio, from Rolling Stone magazine, also said the vault tracks “might be her best batch yet” after the re-release of three other albums featuring previously unheard songs.
“1989 was released almost a decade ago, in the last days of the mindset where pop music wasn’t taken seriously by many cultural gatekeepers,” she added.
“But now, in a post-rockist world, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) shines a lot brighter. Standing on the beach, in the clear and out of the woods, so does Swift.”
Allow me to introduce…The 1989 (my version) Sunrise Boulevard Vinyl Edition 🩵💛 Available on my site for the next 48 hours 🥰https://t.co/klomIqGx38
📷: Beth Garrabrant pic.twitter.com/myTj4wxI2j— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 17, 2023
Awarding the album five stars, Hollie Geraghty from NME said: “1989 (Taylor’s Version) feels more symbolic than her previous re-releases.
“Not only is it another step closer to having a full back catalogue of albums that she will own, but it’s also a celebration of the moment Swift really took ownership of her pop sound.
“As we’re witnessing the biggest year of Swift’s career so far, the artist’s ability to reinvent herself while honouring her core blueprint is only becoming more impressive.”
However Adam White, from The Independent, awarded the album three stars, writing: “A pop classic is re-recorded to diminishing returns.”
The re-recording of her albums was instigated by music manager Scooter Braun’s sale of her early catalogue.
