At the time “1989” was originally unleashed, it was Taylor Swift’s first time attempting to invite a unique sound into her established career, which had been in the chokeholds of country music for years. Swift did a solid job of portraying growth and change throughout the project. The album was honestly what mainstream pop needed. It’s not perfect, but it shows the emotional maturation that highly benefitted her career. She became more than just a household name, but an international superstar.

In the Long Play for the album, Swift talks about the ways that her past relationships adapted her into who she is as a person today. She reminisces on the vibes the relationship set throughout, but she thankfully indicated that without treating her ex-partners like Marvel supervillains. I appreciate most how the album shapes the use of electronic elements in pop music, becoming more polished in modern times, thanks to the help of Jack Antonoff. That incorporation has become influential as her usage of it has shaped other famous artists of today like Olivia Rodrigo or Conan Gray.

Swift’s imagery in her songwriting carries out her intentions nicely and flows like a storybook, without sounding dull and blatant. The best instances of imagery come from “Out of the Woods” and especially “This Love” by creating a comprehensible yet intriguing metaphor of ocean waves compared to the up and down emotions of a relationship. “How You Get the Girl” is the best song with its infectious beat drop and the electronic elements are best here.

I think “Shake It Off” and “Bad Blood” shouldn’t be on the album because they don’t reflect the album’s intent, even though Kendrick’s verse on the remix is fire and worth the listen. This album isn’t about petty high school drama between two stars. “New Romantics” does what “Shake It Off” wanted to do. I would also prefer “Welcome to New York” not to be a part of the project, as this song’s putrid attempt at a tribute is tedious and fails to be unique. Some instants of this album sound like a teen high school drama soundtrack if it were to be a parody of Lana Del Rey’s melodramatic releases during this time.

All of the songs I just mentioned are almost ten years old, and with Swift being on a roll with the re-recordings of her previous albums that were released under her old label, it was a matter of time before “1989” was republished to the world with added tracks. I think it is time to look at these vaulted songs and if they hold up to what Swift started back in 2014.

The beginning of the vaulted tracks opens with “Slut!” The mellow 80s-esque song is a theatrical description of Swift’s approval of the image she’s portrayed by the media following her numerous public relationships, as long as she’s dating someone she cherishes. While the message is in good favor, the track does nothing to intrigue me or provide anything fresh for this album. “Say Don’t Go” is another sad track in lyrical nature but has an upbeat boost in production at the chorus, giving me a sense of disconnect. This album is an hour and 21 minutes, including the vaulted songs, and everything starts to blend in after a while. I will say it’s pretty fun to catch when she alludes to Harry Styles being the topic of discussion, but it gets repetitive after a while.

Sometimes, I detect fascinating lyrics like, “You’d be more than a chapter in my old diary,” featured on “Suburban Legends,” painting a picture of the chokehold this man had on Swift and this time of her life. Or even, “you part the crowd like the Red Sea” on the track “Now That We Don’t Talk” sounds like something I would expect a corny Soundcloud rapper to say. The last vault piece, “Is It Over Now?” is the best one as everything from top to bottom is powerful and worth investing in, from the painful story to the vocal performance and background music.

In a nutshell, Taylor Swift’s “1989” marked a pivotal shift in her career from country to mainstream pop, showcasing her development and emotional maturation. The album effectively explored her past relationships without vilifying her ex-partners and introduced electronic elements to pop music, influencing other contemporary artists. Swift’s adept use of imagery in songwriting added depth to the narrative.

While some tracks felt out of place and the album ran a bit too long, there are tracks like “Is It Over Now?” and “How You Get the Girl” that provided powerful additions beyond the hugely popular Billboard hits that helped make this album a classic in many eyes. Overall, “1989” and the re-release, “1989(Taylor’s Version),” remains a significant moment in Swift’s career and the whole music industry, allowing her to become more successful as she solidified her status as an international superstar and pop music influencer.