“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”: Track-by-Track Review
On April 9th, Taylor Swift released her fourth new album in the last 20 months — sort of. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the first of Swift’s re-recordings of her first six albums, a virtually unheard of endeavor that she embarked upon after being blocked from purchasing the master recordings of them. The album features 27 tracks and is a masterfully updated, deeply nostalgic trip that proves that these re-recordings are so much more than a cash grab.
The Fascinating Saga of Taylor Swift’s Master Recordings
The saga over the master recordings of Taylor Swift’s first six albums is an epic one that has played out very publicly. To make a very long and complicated story short, Swift — like countless artists — signed a record contract at the start of her career that gave ownership over the master recordings of her initial albums to her record company (in this case, Big Machine Records). When she skyrocketed to stardom, Swift tried to use her clout and ample financial resources to buy them back, but the record company reportedly set a price so high that even Swift herself couldn’t afford them.
On June 30, 2019, Big Machine Records was acquired by manager/executive/entrepreneur Scooter Braun, the mastermind behind the careers of hot young artists like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato. As part of…
