Taylor Swift – Red 2xLP

By this point it’s no secret that I have an unhealthy obsession with Taylor Swift and her music. It’s a bit inexplicable since I am not a 14-year old girl. Instead, I’m an old and jaded hardcore punk rock metalhead. Weird huh?

So Swift put out a new album this year, Red, and as expected, it decimated all in sales and release week records. Sold a gazillion records already out of the gate and when tour dates were announced and tickets went on sale for next year, those sold out with the quickness as well. And yes, I will be hitting up one of the tour dates here in FloriDUH!

The vinyl version of Red was released a few months after the regular edition. The 16-song tracklisting requires this to be a 2xLP. Nicely done gatefold jacket with the lyrics and images printed on the inside. The vinyl itself is a solid heavyweight. It continues the trend of quality in the release as the Speak Now 2xLP. Only difference is that this sound a lot better.

A great opportunity was completely missed by the label and even Swift herself. This record begged to be pressed on red vinyl. Why wasn’t it? With the amount of importance that Swift made of the color red and how it fits into the theme of the album and its songs, red vinyl would have been a no-brainer for the release.

As for the music itself. Red is further moving along in Swift’s effort to expand her sound and veer away from any trappings of the pop-country she had a foothold on. The new songs are still all pop but a few flirt with indie rock and some more experimentation. There is even a hint of dubstep in there!

Recently, someone asked me why I am so hooked on Swift and her music. It was an easy question to answer: the fact that she writes her own music and lyrics (yes, she has some co-writing credit on some songs), is impressive enough and gets mad respect from me. Her music is catchy as all hell and I’m ok with it being mainstream and Top 40. I may have been weaned on hardcore, punk, and metal, but I still can appreciate and get hooked into a good pop song.

And don’t worry, I’ll regain some of my hardcore punk street cred when I get my hands on the new Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind 2xLp and post about it.