Taylor Swift - Fearless (Taylor's version)

 

Fearless was the second album by country/pop singer songwriter Taylor Swift.  The album sold 12 million copies worldwide after being released way back in late 2008. Fast forward 13 years and now Taylor has re-released it in order to own the master recordings of her own catalogue. So that means she has re-recorded the whole album.  But along with the original 13 songs that made up the album we are getting 7 tracks which were included in the platinum edition of the album and a further 6 tracks which were previously unreleased from that era.

I remember back to 2008 and hearing "Love Story" and being instantly captivated by Taylor. When the album was released, I listened to it most days for the best part a year and had it on in some form wherever I went be it the CD in the car or on my MP3 player while commuting to work.  Basically, I loved the album. To me it was an all-time classic.  One thing I didn't have was the platinum edition of the album so when the re-released album came out a few days ago it wasn't just the 6 unreleased songs that were new to me, it was the extra 13 songs.

In terms of the re-recorded version of the actual album minus the extra tracks the recording does have a certain freshness about it. But at the same time the core of the songs is the same.  Different production is probably the reason for this, and I have heard from various people that Taylor's voice has changed over the years giving the album that updated sound.  I think though I have listened to this album so much over the years that I won't be listening to the original album as much as I used to. Especially considering I listen to so much music by other artists as well now which is something I didn't do as much when this album came out.

But I tell you what I am glad she re-released this with all the extra tracks as these are tracks which shouldn't be locked away, never to be heard.  Particular favourites include "Today was a fairy tale", "Mr Perfectly fine" and "Superstar".  But all the extra tracks deserve their place.   "My Perfectly fine" on paper sounds like a track where Taylor has found a man, she thinks is perfect.  But no this is your standard Taylor rant track about a guy who breaks her heart and who thinks he is totally above her.  It just wouldn't be a Taylor album without a track like this. 

Overall, Taylor had every right to re-release this. It remains a classic album and the extra tracks are the icing on the cake.  It must have been a hard decision to leave some of these off the actual album as some stand shoulder to shoulder with those that made it on to the album.  This is just the first of the re-recordings as well as Taylor is planning to do this with another 5 of her albums.  Hopefully, that will unearth some gems just like this one did.