1989

by Taylor Swift

Overview

When she announced 1989 a few months prior to its October 2014 release, Taylor Swift called her fifth record her first "documented, official" pop album, explicitly severing herself from her country roots. Truth be told, Swift already made the leap from country to pop with 2012's Red, a nominally country LP distinguished by three songs co-written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback, a team that returns for twice that number on 1989 (Martin has one additional non-Shellback co-write with Swift). Taylor is rarely without co-writers here: only "This Love" belongs to her alone, with the other major collaborators being OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, fun.'s Jack Antonoff, and Imogen Heap. This busy kitchen is typical of modern pop albums, as is the incessant gleam of 1989's steely productions, every element of which blinds when caught in the sun. Swift claims she patterned the album's sound after the MTV-ready sound of the year 1989, and while some cuts are conceivably anchored in the era of Debbie Gibson and George Michael -- "Shake It Off" is giddy on the momentum of its own pom-poms, the bonus track "New Romantics" effectively conjures the ghost of 1983 new wave, "Out of the Woods" veers into territory previously pioneered by one-video wonder T'Pau (their big hit "Heart and Soul" arrived in 1987, two years before Taylor's year zero) -- this is a modern album through and through. The heavy presence of Martin, who wound up producing all the vocals along with half the record, is something of a feint. Swift tailored 1989 after Tedder's patterns, constructing nearly every one of the album's 13 tracks as an imposing skyscraper that deliberately casts its shadow upon on its predecessor. Considering that this album begins with the fanfare of "Welcome to New York," that progressive escalation in size is something to behold. 1989 emphasizes its reflective surfaces, the hyperactive rhythm tracks -- dance by definition but rarely danceable in practice (the effervescent "How You Get the Girl" is an exception) -- functioning as an aural accent to the surging synthesizers and vocals. Underneath the digital clatter lie some sturdy songs because, at her core, Swift is a canny songsmith, but 1989 isn't a record about songs, it's all about sonic style. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/29/2014
Label:	Imports
UPC:	4988005858559

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Taylor Swift   Primary Artist,Shouts,Vocals,Percussion,Handclapping,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Jonas Thander   Saxophone
Niklas Ljungfelt   Guitar
Mattman & Robin   Bass,Drums,Guitar,Keyboards,Percussion
Imogen Heap   Drums,Keyboards,Percussion,Vibraphone,Maracas Mbira,Vocals (Background)
Jack Antonoff   Bass,Drums,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Max Martin   Vocals (Background),Piano,Shouts,Keyboards,Handclapping
Noel Zancanella   Bass,Synthesizer
Shellback   Bass,Drums,Noise,Guitar,Shouts,Stomping,Keyboards,Knee Slaps,Percussion,Handclapping,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Nathan Chapman   Bass,Drums,Keyboards,Guitar (Electric)
Greg Kurstin   Keyboards
Magnus Wiklund   Trombone
Ryan Tedder   Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background),Juno,Piano
Ali Payami   Keyboards
Jonas Lindeborg   Trumpet

Technical Credits

Jack Antonoff   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Laura Sisk   Engineer
Brendan Morawski   Assistant Engineer
Peter Carlsson   Pro-Tools
Amy Fucci   Design
Matthew Tryba   Assistant Engineer
Stephen Schofield   Photography
Mattman & Robin   Producer,Programming
Becca Walls   Interviewer
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Imogen Heap   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Taylor Swift   Composer,Producer,Creative Director,Executive Producer
Noel Zancanella   Producer,Programming,Drum Programming
Mattias Bylund   Editing,String Engineer,String Arrangements
Eric Eylands   Assistant Engineer
Shellback   Composer,Producer,Programming
Nathan Chapman   Engineer,Producer
Greg Kurstin   Producer,Additional Production
Sarah Barlow   Photography
Bethany Newman   Art Direction
Jason Campbell   Production Coordination
Austin Hale   Design
Cory Bice   Assistant Engineer
Ryan Tedder   Programming,Drum Programming,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Max Martin   Composer,Producer,Programming,Vocal Producer,Executive Producer
Ali Payami   Composer,Producer,Programming
Tom Coyne   Mastering
Smith Carlson   Engineer
Josh Newman   Art Direction
Sam Holland   Engineer
John Hanes   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Michael Ilbert   Engineer