"Red" is the 4th album by country pop sensation Taylor Swift. Originally released in 2012, fast forward 9 years to 2021 and she is re-releasing it as "Taylor's version". This is the second album to get this treatment with her second album "Fearless" being the first back in April 2021. Interestingly she didn't release any singles off "Red" in the run up to the release. Like she did for "Fearless" when she released "Mr Perfectly Fine". But what she did release in the run up was "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" which is on "1989" which I saw as I very strange decision. I think it was down to fan demand, but you would have thought she would release something off the album which was due out first.
I'm not going to lie, athough I am a big Taylor Swift fan and have been for a long time. When Taylor's version of "Fearless" came out it was exciting to get all these tracks that I hadn't heard from before. And don't get me wrong when this release came out, I was again looking forward to all the new tracks again. But at the same time, I am getting a wee bit more sceptical of the whole thing. I get that she fell out with her old label and is doing this, so she has all the master recordings of the tracks. But what this could mean in the future doesn't seem good for the music industry in general. What if all the big acts start re-releasing their albums every 6 months. It would make it harder and harder for new acts to breakthrough as big acts stay at the top by giving people slightly different versions of what they are familiar with. And we all know these fans can be very loyal to big artists.
It's not just that though, Taylor is getting appearances on TV shows and all over the music press for this album. Again, she is getting all this attention for an album that has gotten all this attention already 9 years ago. All this press she is getting could have been for artists who are bringing out new music now. And the thing is Taylor still has 7 albums which could give this treatment to. There is something about it which doesn't seem fair. But I guess from a TV/music press point of view they see dollar signs with whatever Taylor does and it is in the public interest.
In a way it may be slightly unfair to single Taylor out. It's not her fault she is that big an artist. And I know there are plenty of artists who re-release albums and celebrate anniversaries for albums. For me it just seems unfair to take attention away from artists who are bringing out albums now.
But what about this album. For me the re-recordings need a bit of over analysis to compare them and it's not the way I like to listen to music. I don't listen to one version of a song then listen to the other and detail the differences. I just don't see the point. The point for me is that the core of these songs feels the same. And whatever the intricate differences are "Red" is still a great album and was always a great album.
The extra tracks "From the vault", like the "Fearless" additions" are tracks I am glad she released, there are more country style tracks than I would expect as, after all, "Red" really was Taylor's pop album. But there are still a few upbeat pop numbers which would have fit quite nicely on to album if it wasn't slammed with hits already. "Message in a bottle" is my favourite track at the moment.
But in terms of what track has taken all the headlines from this re-release is "All Too Well" 10 minute version. When I found out there would be a 10 minute version of this song on the album I have to admit I was hoping for a winding guitar solo or a nice piano section. Afterall bands which do songs of this length that is what you usually get. But Taylor is not your usual artist. Taylor has transformed this song and added more versus and extended the outro. But there are no long instrumental sections, far from it, this is Taylor going into more detail with a story. With what we found out on "folklore" and "evermore", it's what she does best.
I think what makes the 10 minute version so good as that new versus fit into the song so well and so easily. It's no surprised that this is Taylor's top song on Spotify and has had over 75 million streams, compared to the second highest streaming off this version of red which is "Red" itself with 25 million streams. I do hope that this has knocked down barriers with pop artists who will be encouraged to write longer songs now with seeing the success of this track. Coldplay also did one of similar length with their latest album and it was also epic.
Overall, "Red" to me, will always be a classic album. What she has done to it here has not changed my mind. I refuse to analyse the differences and take it on the surface. It is essentially the same album with tweaks that don't alter it enough to force my opinion to change. The extra tracks are most welcome and the 10 minute version of "All too Well" is the cherry on top. In hindsight I wonder if she wishes she was brave enough to put the 10 minute version on the actual album in the first place. Instead, now it’s basically listened to as a standalone track. But I suppose it’s better that than not to see the light of day at all.
