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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
After a protracted fight, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) restores the singer’s ownership of her second album, both musically and legally.
100
The songs maintain the lovelorn essence of 2008 while syncing up tonally in a striking way with her two 2020 releases, folklore and evermore. It essentially makes Fearless (Taylor’s Version) the perfect retrospective follow-up for Swift.
83
This is probably just the latest interesting thing she’s done in music and business, but it’s worth our consideration since it’s been undertaken with such care and could pave the way for other artists.
80
After her masters were sold to an old foe, Swift’s re-recording project starts with her 2008 opus on the teen-girl experience – an apposite contrast to venal male industry executives.
80
‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ both celebrates and stays true to Swift’s ‘Fearless’-era.
80
Swift’s re-recorded versions of her 2008 album is a timely reminder of some of the best pop songs committed to record.
80
With her voice sounding far stronger than the original as it’s aged into her own unique blend of country, pop and indie, there’s something beautiful and important about hearing these songs sung again that really goes above opinions on the album.
80
An invitation to witness one of the greatest artists of all time breathing new life into a vital piece of her early work, and reintroducing it to a new generation of fans for the very first time.
80
Her thirty-something voice is richer, deeper and more sure of itself. She embodies her earlier country affectations, but only to a point.
80
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is both a power move and a poetic force.
80
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is both an art project executed serendipitously and a strategic move the industry will be poring over for some time.
80
Being able to hear the empowerment in Swift's voice and shift the meaning of these lyrics is a true testament to her power as a musician.
75
These versions are slightly more polished, like photos touched up on Instagram with a press of a button: the sound is brighter, the mix is clearer, each peal of guitar is sharper.
70
As Swift sings on Fifteen, “wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now.” By looking back, she’s looking forward.
60
Fearless remains encumbered by two significant liabilities: The technical aspects of Swift’s singing and an insular point of view that attempted to cast the then 18-year-old as the protagonist of not only her own life, but of everyone else’s. The now 31-year-old’s re-recording of the album resolves just one of those two issues.
60
Fearless (Taylor's Version) serves the purpose of offering new versions that could be substituted for the originals for licensing purposes. It's to Swift's credit that the album is an absorbing (if long) listen anyway.
I'm not biased....I SWEAR I'm not biased.
Before I start talking about the actual re-recording, I need to express once again my eternal love for Taylor Swift and her masterful music. I have been a swiftie since 2012, and back then I was a completely different person from who I am right now. I pretty much grew up listening to her songs, so to be hearing this album all over again with a Taylor that grew up just as much as me, is so fucking emotional. Lately I have been so sad about growing up ... read more
This new version of Fearless to me feels like a game remake...and I mean one of the good ones, it pretty much improves upon everything from the original while not taking away anything that made the original good in the first place, it helps the album stand the test of time more without making any drastic changes that might put off original fans of this, besides track order it's pretty much a 1:1 recreation of the original with slight improves that honestly really push the album into the ... read more
I feel like my bias towards this album is just immense because of how much of my childhood I religiously listened to it. That being said, I think it's just a great album and I really enjoy it all the way around. I guess it's still sonically country but I feel like it's written like a pop album which is what makes it so fun to listen to in my mind.
The songs sound fantastic, the production is great. Everything about this is well made. Gonna have to listen to the original soon and compare the two.
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Track List
Total Length: 1 hour, 46 minutes
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1y
Pitchfork tends to be on point with their scores, but their reviews are corny fodder at times lmao
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Added on: February 11, 2021