![]() ![]() Who hasn’t wished they could revisit the scene of a life-changing breakup and explain themselves more fully, delivering the zingers they weren’t able to articulate in the moment? “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” is unwieldy and messy at points, but so are broken hearts, and Taylor Swift has perhaps never sounded more like herself than she does here.What do you think of when you read: ‘Bristol drum & bass’? Distorted low-end? Punchy two-step breaks? An inexplicable combo of simplicity and depth?Īlong with his Sofa Sound label, James Rowbotham AKA DLR has owned and propelled this sound for over a decade now. ![]() You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would have been fine, and that made me want to die, she tells the older man who broke her heart. With five extra minutes of running time, Swift is able to explain herself more fully, going beyond the details of the original-a couple dancing in the kitchen at night, bathed in the glow of the open refrigerator door an ex-lover’s scarf that still smells like the person who once wore it-to include several lines that truly cut to the bone. The emotional centerpiece of Red (Taylor’s Version), this is a breakup anthem of epic proportions, stuffed to the brim with cinematic storytelling and raw, righteous heartache. ![]() Super-fans might take issue with the electronic-sounding “reh-eh-eh-ed” refrain, which is quieter than before, but the move also makes “Red” sound less dated.ġ0 minutes! That’s like Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” with a third guitar solo, or Don McLean’s “American Pie” with an extra verse. The guitars and banjos have been given sharply-defined edges that make those instruments pop rather than blend into the background, and Taylor’s voice delivers a knockout punch on the high notes. The title track to Red (Taylor’s Version) is noticeably crisper than its predecessor. ![]() We Mazda3 drivers still can’t empathize with Taylor when she compares a short-lived relationship to “driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street,” but she sings those lines so convincingly that we get the drift. “Treacherous” tried to split the difference between those camps, but the initial performance of the song pales in comparison to “Treacherous (Taylor’s Version).” What might’ve sounded like a Nashville-friendly power ballad during the early 2010s now sounds like a female-fronted U2 in the 2020s, with a middle-eight ( I will get you, get you alone) that hits just as hard as the chorus itself. Swift hadn’t fully committed herself to the stadium-sized pop music she’d make as the decade progressed, but she didn’t sound comfortable limiting herself to contemporary country, either. On the original release of Red, “Treacherous” sounded like a song in limbo. Maybe Swift was too close to the canvas when she wrote “ Fifteen.” Can anyone really deliver a retrospective about their teenage years when they’re still in them? The version on Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is a different story altogether, sung by a grown-up Swift in a voice that’s warm, woozy, and wistful. “ Out of the Woods” has always relied heavily on its production to evoke the forested landscape of Swift’s lyrics that scenery springs to life a little faster on the 2023 version than it does on the original. The re-recording keeps that throwback spirit alive, but there’s more muscle this time around, as well as tighter harmonies and longer reverb trails. There’s always been something tribal and nostalgic about “Out of the Woods,” like a long-lost song from The Lion King soundtrack reborn as one of Annie Lennox’s synth-pop hits. We’ve sifted through the various Taylor’s Version records to find six songs that are noticeably better than the originals. ![]()
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