1989 by Taylor Swift // 10 Year Anniversary Album Review
1989 is the album that truly changed everything. Not only is it pure pop perfection, but it also served as a reintroduction of Taylor Swift that fully solidified her as the superstar we all know her as today. At the time she was making this album, she was 24 years old, cut off her hair and moved to New York City in search of a new look, a new life, a new soundtrack, and a new beat that she (and it turns out the rest of us) would be dancing to forevermore.
Anyone that knows me knows how much I adore 1989, it has always been one of the most important albums for me, made up of sixteen songs that I have listened to probably more times than any other in my life. I could go on and on (and I will) about how much I love every single song from 1989. I have found endless inspiration in it at every stage of my life throughout the past nine years, whether it is through the lyrics, visual aesthetics or the messages of this music. I was fifteen when it was first released and now that I'm twenty-five, I truly feel like this album shaped so much of who I am today. It has soundtracked my life in every regard over the years.
This album is just as relevant today as it was the day it was first released in 2014. It's also really interesting to see the way history is repeating itself in a lot of ways. The echoes of 1989 are heard throughout every single album she has made from that point forward, whether it is sonically or lyrically referenced. Every time I listen to it, even after all these years, I am still finding new songs and new lyrics that I love. No other album has this run of hits that this one does.
"In the world we live in, much is said about when we are born and when we die. Our birthday is celebrated every year to commemorate the very instant we came into the world. And a funeral is held to mark the day we leave it. But lately I've been wondering... what can be said of all the moments in between our birth and our death? The moments when we are reborn," Taylor wrote in the album's liner notes in 2014. This album is obviously inspired by the decade in which she was born, with many of these songs referencing pop music of the 1980's with blaring synths and infectious choruses. She worked primarily on these songs with Max Martin and Shellback, a duo known for their ability to create timeless pop classics. She also worked for the first time with an artist that was relatively unknown at the time as a producer outside of his own work, Jack Antonoff. He has said many times that she was the first person to recognize him as a producer and kick the door open for him in that regard. Over the past ten years, the creative partnership that Taylor and Jack have built has come to be one of the most important in modern pop music. His music also changed my life in so many ways that I have written about countless times over the years, but it all started for me with this album! I loved getting to revisit 1989 now with the context of seeing what these early collaborations between them eventually turned into with every album they made hereafter.
The kaleidoscope of emotions and intensity that is explored throughout this album is especially prevalent on "Out of the Woods". It remains one of the brightest shining moments of this record, it's honestly one of the greatest songs ever. It was one of the first times she and Jack Antonoff worked together, which to this day it remains one of the strongest songs they have ever made collaboratively. They both helped usher in a new creative era for each other that is undeniable, this song is a perfect representation of that. It serves as such an important snapshot of this time in her life, which she tells with such precision and clarity. Her talent for storytelling through her music is on full display with "Out of the Woods", it is just so powerful and vivid in capturing the moments that inspired it.
Of course, we can't talk about 1989 without mentioning the massive influence of two of the biggest and most-recognizable songs of Taylor's entire career; "Blank Space" and "Shake It Off". They are the definition of timeless pop classics that showcase a level of self-awareness and self-deprecation that allowed her to take back the narrative on the media's perception of her. It's something she has done many times throughout her career, but with these songs in particular, she really plays into sort of a caricature of herself, with all of the magic, madness, heaven, and sin.
Above all, when looking at the original track list of 1989, "Clean" is truly an all-time career highlight, which she worked on with Imogen Heap. It is the perfect way to close the chapter on this album and all of the emotions that came along with it. It represents the end of a chapter, but also the start of a new one as well. Now I feel that it beautifully transcended the original meaning of which it was written a decade ago. The secret message of this song is a phrase that she centered the entire album around, "She lost him, but found herself, and somehow that was everything". That quote just feels so potent and beautifully describes all of the highs and lows depicted in this album. 1989 as a whole is about turning a hard situation into something so beautiful and meaningful that will be able to transcend place and time. It encapsulates all of the reasons why music is such a powerful medium.
The tenth anniversary of 1989 also means it marks exactly one year since Taylor released her re-recorded version of the album too! Now that we have four out of the six re-recorded albums, I would absolutely say that 1989 (Taylor's Version) is the closest match to the original thus far, any noticeable changes only further enhanced just how perfect the source material from 2014 is. That is what I was hoping for most of all with this album.
1989 (Taylor's Version) also featured five previously unreleased songs From the Vault. The vault tracks are always such a great bonus to the end of these re-rerecorded albums, it really lets you get a glimpse into what the album potentially could have ended up as, while also getting deeper insight into where she was at in her life at the time too. As always, the tracks From The Vault also get new life with updated, modern production - which is often closer to her current sound. For the first time all five of the vault tracks are produced with Jack Antonoff, who was perfect to bring these songs to life in such a fresh way. I am also the biggest fan of both of them, so I am always happy to hear anything they worked on together too. The updated sound of these five songs reminds me of a mix somewhere between the original 1989 and Midnights - which works so well stylistically. Songs like "Now That We Don't Talk" and "Is It Over Now?" very quickly became two of my favorite songs by Taylor ever, but every song on this album is truly immaculate from start to finish.
I have written about my love of 1989 in depth many times over the years, but I am especially really proud of the way my review for 1989 (Taylor's Version) turned out and would love for you to check it out if you are interested in reading all of my thoughts on every single song on the album.
There is something so special about Taylor re-releasing her first six albums that allows the fans to get to relive some of the magic or even get to listen to them through a new lens for the first time. It's often a very emotional experience to hear these songs re-recorded again and have all the memories come back. Getting to live that era in real time and then to be able to do it all over again is such a special experience to have with this music. That has been a major inspiration for me wanting to go through the catalog of my other favorite artists and write in-depth anniversary reviews like this. I always try to listen to them again as if it were the first time, but also take into account all that we know now and put the music into context. I love writing reviews of new albums as well, but I also think it is so important to go back and re-examine the music we love because we often don't realize the significance an album until years and years later when we listen in hindsight. When looking back at this album, it is absolutely among the most influential records of the past decade that changed the landscape of pop music forever and is the blueprint in every regard.
For the tenth anniversary of 1989, I wanted to try something different and share a few of my personal favorite memories I have with this music over the past decade. I have so many amazing memories associated with this music that I will forever cherish. This album is incredibly nostalgic for me in a lot of ways, but also it has just aged so well that it still feels very current and relevant to who I am now too.
The Polaroid above was taken this day last year, October 27, 2023 - the day 1989 (Taylor's Version) was released! I'm holding both versions of 1989 on vinyl, which are two of my absolute favorite records in my entire collection. Also, a big reason I ever even got my first Polaroid camera was because of how much I loved this album cover and the aesthetic surrounding this era. I got my first film camera for my 16th birthday in 2015 and have since taken hundreds and hundreds of photos with it - I never go anywhere without it!
My original copy of 1989 was actually the second vinyl I ever had in my collection, which I bought sometime in 2015 I believe. That was also before I even had a turntable of my own! Since then, I played this record probably more than any other album in my collection. If I remember correctly, this was also the first album by Taylor that was ever pressed on vinyl. It was just before the big vinyl boom that we saw a few years later, so it was still relatively uncommon for new pop albums to be released on anything other than CD or iTunes.
I will always remember going to Target with my mom after school to pick up the new 1989 CD the day it came out. When I was 15 years old and religiously listened to this album literally every single day. Looking back at the albums that influenced me the most during my high school years, 1989 is at the very top of that list.
I also love the 1989 (Taylor's Version) vinyl and CDs I have too, which I featured many photos of throughout this post. When it comes to physical media, Taylor has always been the absolute best at translating her music into the designs of her CDs or vinyl. Even back in 2014, the original CD came with replica prints of the Polaroids taken during the album's photoshoot, a tradition she continued with the 2023 release too. All of the photos throughout this post give a glimpse at just how detailed her albums are in this format.
I took this photo in Times Square of my iPod Touch playing "Welcome To New York". It was taken in December 2014, if you look at the billboards in the back it's advertising the upcoming 2015 new year celebrations! It's kind of random, but it's one of those things that is just so of it's time and I love looking back on it now.
"Welcome To New York" is also a song that holds so many memories for me because every time my family and I visit New York City we always play this song on the way there as we are about to enter the Lincoln Tunnel, it's such a fun tradition! "I wrote about moving to the loudest and brightest city in the world, the city I had always been overwhelmed by... until now. I think you have to know who you are and what you want in order to take on New York and all its blaring truth," Taylor said in the album's liner notes in 2014. It's also the opening song of the album and one that perfectly sets the scene for where she is at physically and emotionally at this point in her life. The vibrancy of the city is undoubtedly one of the greatest influences on this record. New York City is my favorite place in the world and I have always loved the way she has been able to continuously capture the energy of the city in such a special way throughout her music.
Another section of the exhibit focused on a few of the most recognizable costumes from The 1989 World Tour. My favorite will always be the opening look from the tour for "Welcome To New York" - the sequined jacket and sparkly skirt is so iconic. The beige gown that she performed "Wildest Dreams" in and the piano she played for that part of the show were also on display, as well as one of the bodysuits she wore during "Shake It Off".
There were also several costumes worn in her music videos of that era, specifically "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood". Nothing will ever compare to masterpieces that were the 1989 era music videos, ever single one is such a classic and forever some of my favorites of all time. "Blank Space" is especially my favorite she has ever made, so I loved seeing the cute white and yellow sundress from the video up close!
Also on display was Taylor's original handwritten lyrics for "Welcome To New York", which she wrote with Ryan Tedder in 2013. I always love seeing artists share original handwritten versions of their music and the tiny details that may have changed from the first draft all the way to the final product.
It was incredible to be able to see all of this in person all those years ago, to this day it is still one of the best exhibits I have ever been to in New York City! Even though this exhibit has been closed for years at this point, maybe I'll one day write a full throwback post about it. It was filled with so many iconic pieces from her career pre-Reputation era that is so fun to look back on now.
In August 2017 when I visited Los Angeles for the first time, our first destination was The Grammy Museum in Downtown LA. It was one of my favorite places we went that trip and highly recommend checking it out if you're able to. Outside the museum on the sidewalk, they have their own version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but instead of stars, they have records commemorating the four biggest winners of each year - Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. It was so exciting to see the 1989's plaque on the ground from the 2016 ceremony when she won her second Album of the Year award. We didn't get a chance to go to the museum again when we went back to Los Angeles this year, but it's at the top of my list for the next time! I definitely need to see the new additions of her two Album of the Year wins for Folklore and Midnights - as well as many others from my favorite artists that have won since then!
The sparkly jumpsuit designed by Zuhair Murad from the 1989 World Tour is one of my all-time favorites from all of the tour outfits she has ever worn. Her performances of "Out Of The Woods" while wearing this bodysuit are so iconic. In 2016, I also saw the dark blue version of this bedazzled bodysuit that she wore to perform that song at The Grammy's which was so stunning too!
If you would like to see more from this exhibit, I wrote full review of everything on display here. I would love for check out if you're interested in seeing more!
It's hard to believe that so much time has passed since this incredible album was released, yet it still feels like just yesterday! I know that I will be getting down to this sick beat forevermore!
All photos are my own!
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