Speak Now (Taylor's Version)

再録シリーズ第3弾は、作詞・作曲のすべてを自作した2010年のカントリー・ポップ作のリメイク。さらにアーロン・デスナー、ジャック・アントノフと制作したフォール・アウト・ボーイ、ヘイリー・ウィリアムス参加の6曲を追加収録している。ロック/パンク的要素も見え隠れするが、相変わらずの優等生ぶり。と思っていたら新曲"I Can See You"の妖艶な歌にドッキリ。
bounce (C)村上ひさし

テイラー・スウィフトがこれまでの楽曲を再レコーディングするプロジェクトから、『スピーク・ナウ』(テイラーズ・ヴァージョン)のリリースが決定!
2CD全22曲収録。6曲は未発表楽曲。
新規アートワーク。ジュエルケース仕様。
ブックレットには歌詞と初公開となるフォト掲載。

Speak Now, the third of Taylor Swifts albums shes re-recorded in their entirety, belongs among her earliest work -- the last of the three albums Swift made while still in her teens, her last to be aimed primarily at a country audience. These distinctions are lost, or at least softened, on Speak Now (Taylors Version), which pairs a re-recording of the original 14-track album with two re-cut bonus tracks and six new tunes excavated "From the Vault." Much of the shift is due to Swift revisiting these songs when shes a woman in her early thirties. Maturation has brought a hint of a grain to her voice, and shes gained control as a vocalist, two elements that give Speak Now (Taylors Version) an appealing sense of distance; she sings as an observer, commenting on the emotions of the songs instead of inhabiting them. Its a subtle difference but its especially notable on such songs as "Mine," "The Story of Us," and "Dear John," which benefit from the slight sense of increased gravity. Apart from a lyrical change on "Better Than Revenge," the primary change on the 2023 version of Speak Now is Swifts vocals -- the arrangements are generally the same -- which means the main attraction is the six new songs added to the end. Swift brings in Fall Out Boys Patrick Stump and Paramores Hayley Williams to duet on two separate songs, cameos that help push the album as a whole closer to pop than country, a shift that the ballad "When Emma Falls in Love," the sprightly radio-ready "I Can See You," and bubbling adult contemporary tune "Foolish One" underscore. This understated makeover casts Speak Now not as the final Taylor country record but as the first pop album from the singer/songwriter, a revision that offers its own gentle revisions. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

初めて全曲をテイラー自身が書いたからといって、前2作と路線は同じ。モロにエヴァネッセンスな"Haunted"や元気いっぱいのパワー・ポップ"Story Of Us"でメリハリを出しながら得意のポップ・カントリーを次々と披露していて、その安定感たるや尋常じゃないです。で、全米チャートも余裕で制覇済み。声が個性的なわけでもなく、声量があるでも、声域が広いでもなく、ついでに取り立てて美人というわけでもないのに、なぜか惹かれてしまうというか、だからこそ妙に親近感を覚えてしまうというか。だって、男を巡るキャットファイトやカニエ騒動、イタイ失恋話など自身のゴシップを歌詞のネタにしようとも、イヤラシく感じるどころか逆に応援したくなっちゃうんだもの。ズルイくらい追い風吹いてます!
bounce (C)山西絵美