1989 (album)
1989 is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine Records. Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, Swift conceived 1989 to recalibrate her artistry to pop after critics disputed her status as a country musician when she released the cross-genre Red (2012) to country radio. She titled 1989 after her birth year as a symbolic artistic rebirth and enlisted Max Martin, who produced Red's electronic-influenced pop tracks, as co-executive producer.
For the 2023 re-recording, see 1989 (Taylor's Version). For other albums, see 1989 (disambiguation) § Albums.1989
October 27, 2014
- Conway Recording (Los Angeles)
- Jungle City (New York City)
- Lamby's House (Brooklyn)
- MXM (Stockholm)
- Pain in the Art (Nashville)
- Elevator Nobody (Göteborg)
- The Hideaway (London)
48:41
Swift recorded 1989 at studios across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden with an ensemble including Martin, Shellback, Jack Antonoff, Ryan Tedder, Nathan Chapman, and Imogen Heap. The synth-pop production is characterized by pulsing synthesizers, programmed drum machines, and processed backing vocals with electronic elements, a stark contrast to the acoustic arrangements of Swift's past albums. The songs expand on Swift's autobiographical songwriting and explore failed romance from a lighthearted perspective.
Swift and Big Machine promoted 1989 extensively through tie-ins and media endorsements but withheld the album from free streaming services, which prompted an industry discourse on the impact of streaming.[note 1] To support the album, Swift embarked on the 1989 World Tour, which was the highest-grossing tour of 2015. Among seven singles released, three peaked atop the US Billboard Hot 100: "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood". 1989 spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and was certified nine-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It has sold over 14 million copies worldwide and was certified multi-platinum in many countries.
When 1989 was first released, music critics generally complimented its production as catchy; they found an emotional engagement in its songwriting but some felt the synth-pop production eroded Swift's artistic integrity—a criticism that journalists and academics retrospectively regarded as rockist. 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards, and it was listed in all-time album rankings by Rolling Stone and Consequence. Critics and academics have considered 1989 an album that transformed Swift's status to a pop icon and promoted poptimism, but they also highlighted the media scrutiny that ensued. Following a 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded 1989 and released it as 1989 (Taylor's Version) on October 27, 2023.
Background
Taylor Swift had identified as a country musician until her fourth studio album, Red, which was released on October 22, 2012, by Big Machine Records.[2][3] The album incorporates eclectic styles of pop and rock in addition to country, and its two most commercially successful singles—"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble"[4]—are pop songs with electronic stylings.[5][6] The album's associated world tour, which from March 2013 to June 2014, was the all-time highest-grossing country tour when it completed.[7] Although Red was promoted to country radio and awards shows, its pop-leaning production sparked a media debate over Swift's status as a country artist.[8][9]
Swift's personal life was another aspect that attracted media attention.[10] Her serial romantic relationships, including a short-lived romance with the English singer Harry Styles, generated much tabloid coverage and blemished her "America's Sweetheart" image.[11][12] In March 2014, Swift relocated from Nashville to New York City;[13] she recounted that moving geographically while being unattached romantically prompted her to embrace new creative ideas,[10][14] as did the media scrutiny of her public image.[15]
Music and lyrics
Overview
The standard edition of 1989 includes 13 tracks; the deluxe edition includes six additional tracks—three original songs and three voice memos.[33][34] The album prominently incorporates synthesizers, programmed drum machines, pulsating basslines, and processed backing vocals—a stark contrast to the acoustic arrangements of Swift's past albums.[35][36] Because she aimed to recreate authentic 1980s pop, the album is devoid of contemporary hip hop or R&B crossover elements popular in mainstream music at the time.[37] Although Swift declared her move from country to pop on 1989, several reviewers, including The A.V. Club's Marah Eakin,[38] argued that Swift had always been more pop-oriented even on her early country songs.[3] The three voice memos on the deluxe edition contain Swift's discussions of the songwriting process and unfinished demos for three songs—"I Know Places", "I Wish You Would", and "Blank Space".[39] Myles McNutt, a professor in communications and arts, described the voice memos as Swift's effort to claim her authority over 1989, defying pop music's "gendered hierarchy" which had seen a dominance of male songwriters and producers.[34]
As with Swift's past albums, 1989 is primarily about the emotions and reflections resulting from past romantic relationships.[35][40][41] Swift's songwriting retained its storytelling which had been nurtured by her country-music background,[42][43] but it is more ambiguous and embraces pop-music songwriting prioritizing emotional intensity and general ideas over intricate details.[44] Swift's characters in the 1989 songs cease to vilify ex-lovers and failed relationships like those on her past songs did[45][46] and instead look at them through a wistful perspective.[18] She attributed this change of attitude to her realization of "more complex relationships", in which she was also responsible for the downfall instead of completely putting the blame on the other.[16] For USA Today's Brian Mansfield, even though the songs were inspired by Swift's personal life, they resonated with a wide audience who found themselves and their situations represented in her songs.[46] The album's liner notes, which include a one-sentence hidden message for each of the 13 songs, collectively tell a story of a girl's tangled relationship. Ultimately, she finds that, "She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything."[47]
Title and artwork
Swift named 1989 after her birth year and said it signified a symbolic rebirth of her image and artistry.[20][70] As creative director for the album's packaging,[23] Swift included pictures taken with a Polaroid instant camera—a photographic method popular in the 1980s.[71][72] The cover is a Polaroid portrait of Swift's face cut off at the eyes, which Swift said would bring about a sense of mystery: "I didn't want people to know the emotional DNA of this album. I didn't want them to see a smiling picture on the cover and think this was a happy album, or see a sad-looking facial expression and think, oh, this is another breakup record."[73][74] She is wearing red lipstick and a lavender sweatshirt embroidered with flying seagulls.[71][75] Her initials are written with black marker on the bottom left, and the title 1989 on the bottom right.[72][74]
Each CD copy of 1989 includes a packet, one of five available sets, of 13 random Polaroid pictures, made up from 65 different pictures.[76] The pictures portray Swift in different settings such as backdrops of New York City and recording sessions with the producers.[77] The photos are out-of-focus, off-framed, with a sepia-tinged treatment, and feature the 1989 songs' lyrics written with black marker on the bottom.[72] Polaroid Corporation chief executive Scott Hardy reported that the 1989 Polaroid concept propelled a revival in instant film, especially among the hipster subculture who valued the "nostalgia and retro element of what [their] company stands for".[78] Billboard in 2022 ranked the cover of 1989 as one of the 50 greatest album covers of all time.[79]
Commercial performance
US music-industry publications were fond of predicting 1989's sales performance;[81] the music industry had seen declining record sales brought by digital download and streaming platforms,[116] but Swift had established herself as a best-selling album artist in the digital era: her last two albums, Speak Now (2010) and Red (2012), each sold over one million copies within one week.[80] Many industry personnel questioned whether Swift abandoning country music and withdrawing from streaming would impact the album's sales.[80] During one week leading to 1989's release, publications predicted the album would sell short of one million copies in its debut week, with estimations from 600,000 to 750,000[116] to 800,000–900,000.[117] After 1989 was released, Billboard closely monitored its sales and raised the first-week prediction from 900,000[118] to one million within 24 hours,[119] 1.2 million within 48 hours,[120] and 1.3 million after six days of tracking.[121]
Through November 2, 2014, 1989 debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.287 million copies, according to data compiled by Billboard for the chart dated November 15, 2014. Swift became the first artist to have three albums each sell one million copies within the first week, and 1989 was the first album released in 2014 to exceed one million copies.[122] 1989 topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks[123] and spent the first full year after its release in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.[124] By August 2022, the album had spent 400 weeks on the chart.[125][126] 1989 exceeded sales of five million copies in US sales by July 2015, the fastest-selling album since 2004 up to that point.[note 3] With 6.215 million copies sold by the end of 2019, the album was the third-best-selling album of the 2010s decade in the United States.[129] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album nine-times platinum, which denotes nine million album-equivalent units.[130] As of August 2023, 1989 had accumulated 12.3 million album-equivalent units in the United States.[131]
1989 also reached number one on the record charts of various European and Oceanic countries, including Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.[132] The album received multi-platinum certifications in many countries, such as Australia (eleven-times platinum),[133] Austria (triple platinum),[134] Belgium (four-times platinum),[135] New Zealand (nine-times platinum),[136] and Norway (triple platinum).[137] In Canada, it was certified six-times platinum by Music Canada (MC)[138] and sold 542,000 copies to become the decade's fifth-best-selling album.[139] It was the fastest-selling album by a female artist of 2014 in the United Kingdom,[140] where it earned a five-times platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[141] In the Asia-Pacific markets, 1989 was certified platinum in Japan and Singapore,[142][143] and it sold over one million units as of August 2019 to become one of the best-selling digital albums in China.[144] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 1989 was the second-best-selling album of 2014 and third-best-selling of 2015.[145][146] By 2022, the album was Swift's best-selling and had sold 14 million copies worldwide.[147]
After Swift embarked on her sixth headlining world tour, the Eras Tour, in March 2023, sales and streams of Swift's discography resurged.[148] 1989 reached new peaks on the albums charts in Greece (number one),[149] Austria (number four),[150] Sweden (number 17).[151] It appeared on new albums charts of Argentina (number one),[152] Uruguay (number seven),[153] and Iceland (number 25).[154]
Awards and rankings
1989 won industry awards, including Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the American Music Awards[163] and Album of the Year (Western) at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in 2015,[164] and Album of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2016.[165] It also earned nominations for Best International Pop/Rock Album at the Echo Music Prize,[166] International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards,[167] and Best International Album at the Los Premios 40 Principales in 2015.[168] At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.[169] Swift became the first female solo artist to win Album of the Year twice—her first win was for Fearless (2008) in 2010.[170]
Many publications ranked 1989 among the best albums of 2014. Those who placed the album within their top 10 included Billboard (first),[171] American Songwriter (4th),[172] Time (4th),[173] The Daily Telegraph (5th),[174] The Music (5th),[175] Drowned in Sound (6th),[176] Complex (8th),[177] and Rolling Stone (10th).[178] Other publications that featured 1989 in their lists were The Guardian,[179] The A.V. Club,[180] PopMatters,[181] Pitchfork,[182] and MusicOMH.[183] The album ranked 7th on The Village Voice's 2014 Pazz & Jop mass critics' poll[184] and featured in individual critics' lists by Jon Caramanica for The New York Times (7th),[185] Ken Tucker for NPR (3rd),[186] and Brian Mansfield for USA Today (1st).[187]
Legacy
Cultural influence
1989 transformed Swift's image from a country singer to a pop icon.[188][189] According to Time's Raisa Bruner, "1989 changed the music industry forever and cemented Swift's place as not only an artist with longevity, but a star who would make music on her own terms."[190] It was the second album to spawn five or more US top-10 singles in the 2010s decade,[note 4] and made Swift the second woman to have two albums each score five US top-10 hits.[note 5] Its singles received heavy rotation on US radio over a year and a half following its release, which Billboard noted as "a kind of cultural omnipresence" that was rare for a 2010s album.[193] Shaun Cullen, an academic specializing in the humanities, described Swift as a figure "at the cutting edge of postmillennial pop".[194] Swift continued to incorporate the 1980s pop sound of 1989 to her next albums such as Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), and Midnights (2022).[112][195] Antonoff continued working with Swift on those albums and collaborated with other musicians to commercial success, and he credited Swift as the "first person" who recognized him a producer.[195]
Adapted from the liner notes of 1989[23]