Fearless (Taylor’s Version) Review and Master’s Issue Update
By: Mallory Johnson
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) came out on April 9th. The album is a whopping 26 songs (1 hour and 46 minutes) long and features all the songs from her original Fearless album (that came out in 2008). It also includes the song Today Was a Fairytale, which was on the soundtrack for the movie Valentine’s Day (which she starred in). Additionally, the album includes six previously unreleased songs from “the vault.” These songs were written in approximately 2008 and were not originally on the album. They are: You All Over Me (featuring Maren Morris), Bye Bye Baby, Mr. Perfectly Fine, That’s When (featuring Keith Urban), We Were Happy, and Don’t You. Keith Urban also sings background vocals on We Were Happy. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the first of the re-recorded albums to be released. It is theorized that 1989 may be next, as Fearless and 1989 are both critically acclaimed.
In November 2019, I wrote an article covering the reason why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums. In summary, she was formerly with the record label Big Machine Label Group. In 2019, she posted on her social media accounts that the rights (“masters”) to her first six albums were sold to Scooter Braun. Scott Borchetta was the man that signed her (he is the owner of Big Machine). He is the one that sold the rights and did it without Taylor’s permission. She begged to own her work but was not allowed to. She was legally allowed to begin re-recording her first five albums last November, these albums include: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989. She cannot re-record her sixth album Reputation until next November, as it needs to be five years old. Taylor chose to add the (Taylor’s Version) at the end of all the album and track titles to prove that she owns them and to prevent possible mix-ups with the original versions.
I listened to Fearless (Taylor’s Version) as soon as it came out, and I am obsessed with it. Somehow, Taylor sounds both young and mature at the same time. The nostalgia that I have surrounding all the songs made this even more special. It is rare that you get to listen to an album for the first time again, and this re-recording process allows for that.
There are a few lines/songs that feel different listening to them now versus way back in 2008. For example, the song White Horse has a line that says, “I’m gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well.” Taylor has been in a loving relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn for around four years now, and he treats her very well. Also, the line in the song Change that says, “It was the night things changed,” is special because April 9th was truly the night things changed for Taylor.
I saw a social media post that pointed out that Taylor now owns 4/9 of her albums and now the release date of April 9th (4/9) makes a lot of sense. Her vocals on the album sound incredible, and you can tell that she put a lot of effort in to make it sound as close to the originals as possible. She also brought back some of the band members that she was working with at the time the songs were made, which I love. In the vault song Mr. Perfectly Fine, I love the line “Hello Mr. Casually Cruel,” as it is a lyrical parallel to the emotional Red song All Too Well where she says, “So casually cruel in the name of being honest.” My favorite songs on the album are Fearless, The Way I Loved You, and Mr. Perfectly Fine. Overall, I give the album a strong 10/10 and highly recommend checking it out, and I am so excited for the rest of the re-recorded albums to come out!