Taylor Swift revealed the reason why she chose to re-record her sophomore album, Fearless, first instead of her self-titled debut record.
On Thursday (Feb. 11), Swift announced that she will be releasing her first re-recorded record. However, some fans were surprised to learn that her first re-release will be her sophomore album, not her self-titled debut record.
It turns out Swift's decision to re-release Fearless first was based on her own personal preference.
"Deciding on what album to re-record first was pretty easy for me,” the "Love Story" singer said in an interview with Republic Records via Just Jared Jr. "I always gravitated towards Fearless because I think that, as an album, it was a real coming-of-age. And I look back on that album and it fills me with such pride, and it was an album about hope, and lessons learned, and the effervescence of teenage youth and all that. What more fun than to go back and explore that?”
Swift added that she "tried to keep it as close to the original as possible, and the additional songs that I’ve added are songs that I think add insight into what the album almost was, because every time you make an album, you leave some songs off, and I think it’s really cool that the fans will get to have the full picture this time around."
Swift made the re-recording process even more meaningful by inviting members from her original band to rejoin her.
"One fun thing about re-recording ‘Love Story’ is that I really wanted my touring band to get a chance to play on this version, because you know a lot of them have spent years playing this song over and over again," she said in a press release. "So, it was really important to me to have my band, who I’ve toured with and shared a stage with for so many years playing on the record… I think it’s really, really great that it’s a combination of the originals and people who have been sweating on stages with me for over a decade."
In June 2019, Ithaca Holdings, led by Scooter Braun, purchased the rights to Swift's first six albums. Swift confirmed in an interview that beginning in November 2020, she could re-record and release her first five records. It is unknown when she can re-record and release her sixth and final album on Big Machine, Reputation.