Taylor Swift D.L.X. Deluxe Edition(1989) 2014Target Exclusive Okay, here's an update with the time I've spent with
1989. As you know, like my boy
Mac, I check out albums from my
Library so that I can check them out and make a determination if it's something I want to add to my personal music library. I already knew this was definitely a must-buy for me. Getting back to the copy I had checked out from the
Library, I am able to keep it for 3 weeks before I have to return it if there is anyone on the wait list for the album. I literally listened to the album non-stop for 3 weeks and around the 2 week mark, I started searching out my CD copy from
eBay. There are a few different versions floating around. I settled on getting the
Deluxe Edition (Target Exclusive) Brand New at a steal for $10 bucks. Still shrinked wrapped. I was very skeptical that the
Deluxe Edition with the bonus tracks would be anywhere near the level of the other songs that I have been listening to for the past 3 weeks. Figured they were going to be throwaway songs and were cut from the album for a reason. Boy, was I ever wrong. I will never doubt
Taylor Swift again.
The
3 bonus tracks (Wonderland, You Are In Love and New Romantics) are probably my favorite songs right now. They are definitely songs that could and should be released as singles. On top of the bonus tracks we also get
3 Songwriting Voice Memos which break down her songwriting process. Each of the 3 memos is preceded with
Taylor actually talking about how she approaches that particular song. Very cool stuff. It's a mini tutorial walk-through. The last bonus swag that comes with the
Deluxe Edition is a pack of Polaroids. All cool stuff. So, based on the content of the music, I have to amend my rating to reflect 10 Stars. Her lyrics are very clever and the arrangements are damn good. The more I've listened to the album, I have picked up more influences that were derived from the late 90's to early 2000's. I've picked up stuff from
The Tubes to
Nelly Furtado to
Timbaland to
Avril Lavigne to
Philip Steir to
Falco. The stuff is subtle but unmistakable. There are actually a bunch of things I'm hearing from song to song that I know from somewhere else. I've just not been able to place them...yet. It will come to me eventually.