As Taylor Swift declared in social media posts before the opening night of "The Eras Tour," she's in her “Eras era.” Swift announced her third re-recorded album, "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)," on Night 1 of her "Eras Tour" stop in Nashville, Tennessee - confirming months of speculation from fans that a third re-recording was on the way. In between the announcement on May 5 and its release on July 7, Swift also released "Midnights (Til Dawn Edition)" with a remix of "Karma" featuring Ice Spice, and promoted "Cruel Summer" (from “Lover”) to pop radio as the 5th single from that album.
Consequently, the promotion for "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)" was a mess that was blended with the promotion for the two previously-mentioned projects and the Eras Tour. The tracklist announcement for the album, which had previously included word scrambles of the vault tracks coming out of a themed vault for the re-recordings of 2008-album "Fearless" and 2012-album "Red," was instead reduced by leaks to a simple social media post of the back cover. Furthermore, mass social media promotion was held until release day, when Swift and her team finally changed social media theming to match "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)." In other words, the release of "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)" was much less of an event (or an "era," for that matter) than the releases of "Fearless (Taylor’s Version)," "Red (Taylor’s Version)," and "Midnights." However - all poor marketing decisions aside - onto the music.
Taylor Swift, with her first re-recording, set the precedent that each “Taylor’s Version” would be split into two main parts: the re-recordings of the original tracks (and any other songs associated with that era), and the aforementioned vault tracks.” For those unaware, the vault tracks are songs initially written for the album that were not included in the final lineup for one reason or another. As such, this review will also have two major parts: the re-recordings, and the vault.
The original "Speak Now," which Swift released with Big Machine Records in 2010, had stood out in her discography long before the re-recordings project began. While the album had weaker commercial success than the rest of her first six albums, particularly when it came to singles, the art stood for itself. The album was entirely self-written, a feat difficult for any artist, but particularly difficult for an artist so new to the industry. As Swift says in her prologue for "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)," “I didn’t want to just be handed respect and acceptance in my field, I wanted to earn it. To try and confront these demons, I underwent extensive vocal training and made a decision that would completely define this album: I decided I would write it entirely on my own. I figured, they couldn’t give all the credit to my cowriters if there weren’t any.” She also experimented with other genres of music further than her first two albums, leaning heavily into large rock instruments and large vocals that fall further into country-rock than country-pop.
While many have said that "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)" never strays far from the original version of the album, I actually disagree quite strongly with this characterization. As someone who very frequently listened to "Speak Now" (2010), more songs on the album have quite noticeable differences from the original versions than don’t have them. For example, tracks such as "Back To December (Taylor’s Version)" and "Enchanted (Taylor’s Version)" showcase Swift’s vocal growth, breathing back life into lyrics written over thirteen years ago.
However, this vocal improvement doesn't always play in Swift’s favor. In tracks such as “Dear John (Taylor’s Version)” and “Last Kiss (Taylor’s Version),” she loses quite a bit of the emotion that made those songs fan favorites. In the former, Swift changes a note during the bridge of the song that softens its scathing nature; and in the latter, Swift did not replicate a shaky breath following the bridge that brings attention to the song’s devastating lyrics. Also included in this, while not an emotional song, is “Sparks Fly (Taylor’s Version).” The re-recorded version sounds almost flat - losing all of the youthful sound that made the original version so fun to listen to.
The other, and perhaps most notable change among the original tracks, is “Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version).” Swift replaced the original line “She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress” with “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches,” upsetting many fans who consider the original line among their favorites on “Speak Now” (2010). Personally, I am not all that upset about the removal of the original line. However, the new lyric just doesn’t fit in the song. The original “Better Than Revenge” (2010) was a ranting and vengeful song that did what it intended to do - serving as a glimmer of youthful drama among an album of advanced maturity. “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches” is simply too poetic of a line to go with the remainder of the song, standing out like a sore-thumb in a hand-banging, bedroom-dancing revenge track. Despite all of this, Swift did manage to improve the song with better instrumentals, vocals, and vocal effects.
Next up are the vault tracks,” which many fans went directly for upon the album’s release at midnight.
First off, I’m disappointed to say that I was quite underwhelmed by the two most anticipated songs from the vault - “Electric Touch” featuring Fall Out Boy and “Castles Crumbling” featuring Hayley Williams. After Swift announced she was bringing on two major figures of 2000’s emo pop-punk, I looked forward to Swift potentially springing two songs similar to “Haunted” or “The Story of Us” out of the vault.” However, after listening, I have two similar but contradicting issues with “Electric Touch” and “Castles Crumbling:” The former has entirely too much Patrick Stump, and the latter doesn’t showcase nearly enough of Hayley Williams. I have never generally been a fan of Fall Out Boy, but I wish they had been put on a song that fit the voice of their lead singer without sounding deeply out of place. Hayley Williams of Paramore has one of the best voices of her generation, but had no room to use her range on the rather low-key song of “Castles Crumbling.”
On the contrary, the vault track “I Can See You” immediately took its place as my favorite song on the album. I, and many other listeners, were completely surprised by the blatant sexuality of the lyrics. However, I feel that this contributes to that previously-mentioned advanced maturity of “Speak Now,” as this is now her earliest risqué song in her discography. She wouldn’t explore the theme of sexuality (at least positively, looking at you “Better Than Revenge”) until albums later with “Dress” on 2017 album “reputation.” Going from the sweet-hearted track of “When Emma Falls in Love,” to the lyric “I could see you up against the wall with me” provided a level of whiplash that I didn’t expect that late into the album.
There are three other vault tracks, “When Emma Falls in Love,” “Foolish One,” and “Timeless.” While I do enjoy all three (and absolutely love “When Emma Falls in Love”), none of them necessarily stand out on their own. Each one of them are traditional country-pop songs, with strong lyrics (“Timeless” with a particularly interesting story), falling in with the rest of the album tracks of “Speak Now.”
All in all, while “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” had its ups and down, I do believe that Swift has improved an already-strong album once again. The album will probably not be a cultural phenomenon like “Red (Taylor’s Version)” or “Midnights,” but “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” has done what it needed to do. Swift has shone a spotlight on a previously underappreciated album, and I look forward to seeing what she does with “Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version),” “1989 (Taylor’s Version,” and “reputation (Taylor’s Version).”
But for now, “Long Live” the “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” era.
4/5 Stars
