"Fearless" (Taylor's Version)
Taylor released her version of “Fearless” last Friday at midnight, and we could not be more obsessed. The album includes re-recordings of every song on her iconic 2008 “Fearless Platinum Edition” album, as well as six songs “from the vault,” which means never before heard old-school Taylor songs to cry to in the shower.
It’s been a big year for Taylor. In July of 2020, she released “Folklore,” an Indie-folk album that jump-started a new era for Swifties. Recorded in quarantine with her producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, “Folklore” brought us some joy in a pretty dark time. Just a few months later in December, she released “Folklore’s” sister album “Evermore.” She also won her eleventh GRAMMY a few months ago after “Folklore” was nominated for album of the year.
Taylor announced her plans to re-record all six of her first albums back in 2019; “Fearless” was the first. This idea was born after Scooter Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings, bought Taylor’s label, Big Machine, and with it, all of the master tracks to her albums. Re-recording her albums as “Taylor’s version” is the ultimate screw you to Braun.
Out of the many things Taylor does well, one of the most iconic is her ability to gracefully seek revenge on her enemies. She’s done an enviable job of turning her heartbreaks and frustrations into a phenomenal career and impressive platform. Her marketing moves are absolutely genius, and we are here for it. By re-releasing her albums, she regains control of her work and minimizes the profits Braun can make off of her music, and by doing so she is also giving so much back to her fans.
"We kept all the same parts that I initially dreamed up for these songs, but if there was any way that we could improve upon the sonic quality, we did," Taylor said in an interview with People (The TV Show). "We just kind of took all the knowledge that we've acquired over decades of playing this music and applied that to it."
Taylor, now 31, was only 18-years-old when “Fearless” was released. This puts many college students in their early teens when the album first came out. Now, having lived so much more life, having grown up and left home, and having experienced our own heartbreaks, these songs hit so much harder. For the most part, the songs are the same as the original album with some small improvements and Taylor’s matured voice, but the change in message and nostalgia that come with this re-recording is pretty fantastic. We can’t wait to hear more new-old Taylor and hope she’ll give us more soon!