Today: Mar 29, 2024

Music Review: Taylor Swift now owns her album ‘Red’

Sarah SheltonFeatures Editor

Being able to relive “Red” is honestly one of the best things to happen this semester. 

As a giant Selena Gomez fan, I knew I was supporting because her and Swift have been best friends for over 13 years. Also I do just love Swift’s music and what she stands for. She even stopped by The Tonight Show to promote this album release and joked in an interview/game, “I will do anything to bring up Selena Gomez. Anything!” 

Gomez even featured in her Tik Tok right before Swift’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, which received 12.2 million likes within 21 hours. 

Swift has been on many shows to promote “Red (Taylor’s Version)” because it is “exciting” how she now owns her music, which she mentioned during one of the interviews. 

If you did not know, Taylor Swift has been recreating all her old albums under “Taylor’s Version” so she has ownership of the songs she wrote since her masters, including all her songs on her first six albums, was sold to Scooter Braun. 

The original album came out in 2012 with 16 tracks, but the new one has 30 tracks, many from “the vault” featuring multiple artists. “Taylor’s Version” even has a 10-minute version of her song “All Too Well.” 

I was 11 when the original “Red” came out, so as much as I liked the songs, I just could not relate to them. Now, I definitely can, except for “22” of course, being that I am still 20. 

I love to listen to albums in order, but for this one I had to skip to “I Knew You were Trouble,” right away. I feel it is very basic of me to say this, but it is definitely one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs. 

I did not think I was going to like the newer version better, because the original song is just so good, but I really did. This is one of those songs I can relate to, and it is my favorite type of music. Lyrics hit harder when you can relate.  

The bridge was very strong, voice wise, in this version. Part of me feels like maybe there was less autotune? Or maybe her voice just matured a lot since she was so much younger in the original recording. 

The second track on the album is the title track “Red” and I was very excited to hear the difference between this song and the original. 

My roommate Ali said she was scream singing and then crying during “Red.” 

“My mom was concerned,” she said. 

One thing very noticeable while going through the album is her voice change. Her voice is very mature and it is cool to see how her style and voice have changed throughout the years. This was very noticeable in “Red,” but also in “We are Never Getting Back Together.”  

Another song everyone knows, or should know in my opinion, on the album is  “We are Never Getting Back Together.”  

Immediately, you can tell the difference in her voice, especially during the “what?” at the beginning. For this song, I feel like I like the original just a bit more, but of course I will be listening to this version to support Taylor. I do not know why, but I feel like this song really fit her voice back then, but it is still very good. 

And of course, the single many people play on their 22nd birthday, “22.” This one I like just as much, if not a little more, than the original. When I was 11 and first heard the song, it was not my favorite, but now I really appreciate it. It is a fun and cute song. 

Now, what everyone has been talking about: “All Too Well.” 

I like the difference between “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version).” I actually never listened to this song before, but it is such a beautiful song. You can even tell the difference right in the beginning with the music between the two. I also loved the extra verses. 

Some of the extra verses included her singing about this guy meeting her dad and then skipping her 21st birthday, something very important to her. Also the big age difference between her and the guy.  

What is funny is I have been seeing all over Tik Tok a video of “Billy on The Street,” Billy Eichner’s show, of Billy running up to a guy and saying “for a dollar, name a celebrity you hate, go, scream it!” and the guy said, “Jake Gyllenhaal.” Swifties, Taylor Swift fans, have been reusing this audio in honor of Swift’s album since this is the guy she is singing about in most of the songs, especially in “All Too Well.”  

As a Taylor Swift fan, I do not promote hate, but we will be disliking Gyllenhaal for a bit. 

A lot songs she released from the vault, including “Run (feat. Ed Sheeran)” and “Better Man,” were really good.  

Also, I saw on Twitter, according to @chartstswift, “Red (Taylor’s Version) breaks the record for the biggest female album debut on Spotify in history, surpassing her own folklore.” 

I highly recommend this album, but I realized we are going to get “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” and I am way more excited for that, and I apologize in advance for who I will become when that happens.   

Remember, stream the Taylor Swift albums with “(Taylor’s Version)” after it.   

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