The album cover for “Red (Taylor’s Version)” shows Taylor Swift sitting in a car. Swift’s re-recorded version is the perfect nostalgic album for listeners. Photo fair use of Billboard Music
On Nov. 12, Taylor Swift released “Red (Taylor’s Version),” the second of her re-recorded albums. Swift’s powerful vocals take the youthful lyrics and bring life to the older tracks.
Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version),” released on Nov. 12, is a re-recorded version of Swift’s original “Red,” released in 2012.
After switching from Big Machine Records to Republic Records in Nov. 2018, Swift has begun re-recording previous albums under her own name to obtain rights to her old music. After beginning her re-recordings with “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” released in April, Swift is back with “Red (Taylor’s Version).”
“Red (Taylor’s Version)” is a twist on the original album that allows listeners to reminisce on the early years of the 2010s.
With songs as iconic as “22” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” Swift brings back the classics that many listeners may have grown up listening to in the best way possible.
Although it is the same album, listeners may notice subtle differences between the original and newer version. Swift’s happy and excited vocals radiate throughout the emotive album, allowing listeners to feel nostalgic and joyful along with Swift.
With noticeably deeper and more mature vocals, Swift also offers a level of sophistication to the pop songs that topped the charts in 2012.
Swift’s happy and excited vocals radiate throughout the emotive album, allowing listeners to feel nostalgic and joyful along with Swift.
In “We Are Never Getting Back Together (Taylor’s Version),” listeners can hear a noticeable change in the 2021 version. While Swift had a chaotic and almost screaming tone in the original angry break-up song, “Taylor’s Version” is subtle and calmer.
Listeners may also notice the lack of country accent that Swift had in the original version. Although the original “Red” is technically considered a pop album, the 2012 version still had a hint of the Southern charm that gave Swift her popularity. Regardless, the absence of her young vocals and Southern voice is not missed when the maturity in Swift’s voice is enough to make up for it.
“Red (Taylor’s Version)” also includes unreleased songs that were not included in the original album. These “From The Vault” tracks include “Babe,” “Run,” which features pop sensation Ed Sheeran, “The Very First Night” and six more never-heard before songs.
Some “From The Vault” songs offer more calm moods than original songs in the album, but they add a touch of the Taylor listeners have gotten to know today through recent albums “Evermore” and “Folklore,” refreshing the old album.
Beautifully sung, “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is a time machine that will transport listeners, new and old, to the early years in Swift’s career. This re-recorded album is the joyful and catchy experience many never knew they needed.
