1989 (Ryan Adams album)

Last updated

1989
RyanAdams1989cover.jpg
Studio album by
Ryan Adams
ReleasedSeptember 21, 2015
StudioPax-Am, Los Angeles
Genre
Length54:18
Label PAX AM
Producer
  • Ryan Adams
  • Charlie Stavish
Ryan Adams chronology
Ryan Adams
(2014)		1989
(2015)		 Prisoner
(2017)
Singles from 1989
  1. "Bad Blood"
    Released: September 3, 2015

1989 is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, released digitally through his own PAX AM record label on September 21, 2015. The album is a track-by-track cover of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's album of the same name. [1] It debuted at number 7 on the US Billboard 200 chart, one position ahead of Swift's own 1989, which was in its 48th week on the chart. [2]

Contents

Background

Adams first became interested in Taylor Swift's album while coping with the collapse of his marriage to Mandy Moore. [3] On what attracted him about Swift's album, Adams stated "There's just a joy to 1989," [3] describing the album as "its own alternate universe". [3] Adams initially described the album as being in the style of the Smiths. [4] When recording the album, Adams said he found a sound somewhere between Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and the Smiths' Meat Is Murder (1985). [5]

Taylor Swift's response

On the day that Adams announced the project, Swift responded enthusiastically from her Twitter account, writing, "Cool I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight or ever again and I'm going to celebrate today every year as a holiday". [6]

Two weeks later, an official statement was released via Entertainment Weekly , whereupon Swift expressed further excitement and anticipation:

"Ryan Adams is one of the artists who shaped my songwriting. My favorite part of his style of creating music is his ability to bleed aching vulnerability into it, and that's what he's done with his cover project of my album 1989. When I first heard that Ryan was going to be covering my entire album, I couldn't believe it. It's such an honor that he would want to take my stories and lyrics and give them a new life. He's gotten some of the best musicians together to record this album and if the clips he's released are any indication, this is going to be something really special".

— Taylor Swift, August 20, 2015 [7]

On September 21, a day after the album's release, Adams was on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show when Swift made a surprise appearance. Swift praised Adams' work, and described the ways in which his interpretation of the songs differed from her own. She stated that they were "not cover songs" but rather "reimaginings of my songs, and you can tell that he was in a very different place emotionally when he put his spin on them than I was when I wrote them. There's this beautiful aching sadness and longing in this album that doesn't exist in the original". [8] In the same interview, Swift also admitted that, after spending time listening to an advance copy of Adams' album, she had picked up some of Adams' melodies when performing her songs on tour. [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 69/100 [9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
American Songwriter Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
The A.V. Club A− [12]
The Boston Globe Positive [13]
Entertainment Weekly A− [14]
Los Angeles Times Positive [15]
Pitchfork 4/10 [16]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [17]
Sputnikmusic 3.9/5 [18]
The Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [19]

Adams's interpretation of 1989 received mostly positive feedback from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 from selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a metascore of 69 out of 100, based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [9]

Entertainment Weekly 's Leah Greenblatt praised the album, commenting "If turning the biggest, shiniest pop record of the past year into a survey course in classic rock economy sounds like a novelty, it is. But it's also the best kind –one that brings two divergent artists together in smart, unexpected ways, and somehow manages to reveal the best of both of them". [14] Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter also complimented the album, stating, "It is 1989 reimagined, with often startling results". [11] On a similar note, The A.V. Club 's Annie Zaleski said of the album in her review: "What his version of 1989 does best is illustrate the strength of the source material. With the radio-ready gloss stripped away, these songs compare to the best moments in Swift's back catalog". [12] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times , however, called the album, "a love letter from an indie idol to a pop queen," and considered Adams "not built for the songs". [20] In a similarly negative review, Mark Richardson of Pitchfork declared, "Adams has transformed [1989] into ... a run-of-the-mill Ryan Adams album". [16] Robert Christgau, writing for Vice , named "This Love" and "I Know Places" as highlights and summed up Adams' cover album with, "Chivalrous Nashville fellow traveler proves the superiority of younger fellow traveler by failing to top much less reinvent a single performance on her breakaway album, which he covers front-to-back like the gifted fanboy I guess he must be". [21]

Accolades

PublicationRankList
Diffuser8The 50 Best Albums of 2015 [22]
Entertainment Weekly 40The 40 Best Albums of 2015 [23]
NME 50NME's Albums of the Year 2015 [24]
Paste 40The 50 Best Albums of 2015 [25]
Rough Trade 99Albums of the Year 2015 [26]
Huffington Post 8Albums of the Year 2015 [27]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, earning 56,000 equivalent album units sales in its first week. [2]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Ryan Adams and Charlie Stavish.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Welcome to New York"
3:18
2."Blank Space"
3:21
3."Style"
2:44
4."Out of the Woods"
6:09
5."All You Had to Do Was Stay"
  • Swift
  • Martin
3:30
6."Shake It Off"
  • Swift
  • Martin
  • Shellback
4:06
7."I Wish You Would"
  • Swift
  • Antonoff
3:44
8."Bad Blood"
  • Swift
  • Martin
  • Shellback
3:55
9."Wildest Dreams"
  • Swift
  • Martin
  • Shellback
5:21
10."How You Get the Girl"
  • Swift
  • Martin
  • Shellback
3:50
11."This Love"Swift4:45
12."I Know Places"
  • Swift
  • Tedder
5:14
13."Clean"
4:23
Total length:54:18

Personnel

Credits are adapted from liner notes of 1989.

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [28] 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [29] 9
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [30] 9
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [31] 21
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [32] 28
Irish Albums (IRMA) [33] 15
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [34] 18
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [35] 21
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [36] 78
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [37] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [38] 58
UK Albums (OCC) [39] 19
US Billboard 200 [40] 7
US Folk Albums (Billboard) [41] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [42] 3
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard) [43] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [44] 192

Release history

DateRegionFormat(s)LabelRef.
September 21, 2015United States
 PAX AM [45]
November 6, 2015CD
December 11, 2015

Related Research Articles

<i>Raising Sand</i> 2007 studio album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Raising Sand is the first collaborative studio album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released in October 2007 by Rounder Records. Raising Sand won Album of the Year at the 2008 Americana Music Honors & Awards and at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

<i>Fearless</i> (Taylor Swift album) 2008 album by Taylor Swift

Fearless is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She wrote the majority of the album while touring in 2007–2008 and produced it with Nathan Chapman.

<i>Speak Now</i> 2010 studio album by Taylor Swift

Speak Now is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010, by Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the album entirely herself while touring in 2009–2010 to reflect on her transition from adolescence to adulthood.

<i>The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond</i> 2012 soundtrack album by Various artists

The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond is the soundtrack album to the 2012 film The Hunger Games. The score for the film was composed by James Newton Howard, but the companion album consists primarily of songs by various artists inspired by, but not heard in, the film. "Safe & Sound", by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars, was released as a promotional single for the soundtrack and is one of the three songs on the album used in the film, alongside "Abraham's Daughter" by Arcade Fire and "Kingdom Come", also by The Civil Wars. On February 13, 2012, "One Engine" by The Decemberists, was made available for download on iTunes. "Eyes Open", also by Swift, was released as the soundtrack's first official single on March 27, 2012. Swift performed the song live in Auckland, New Zealand on her Speak Now World Tour. The album debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and has also charted in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland.

<i>Red</i> (Taylor Swift album) 2012 studio album by Taylor Swift

Red is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 22, 2012, by Big Machine Records. Swift designated Red as a breakup album that portrays the complex and conflicting feelings ensuing from lost love.

<i>1989</i> (album) 2014 album by Taylor Swift

1989 is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine Records. Executive-produced by Swift and the Swedish producer Max Martin, it was Swift's effort to recalibrate her artistic identity from country to pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shake It Off</span> 2014 single by Taylor Swift

"Shake It Off" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her fifth studio album, 1989. She wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swift's public image, the lyrics are about her indifference to detractors and their negative remarks. An uptempo dance-pop song, it features a looping drum beat, a saxophone line, and a handclap–based bridge. Big Machine Records released "Shake It Off" on August 18, 2014, to market 1989 as Swift's first pop album after her previous country–styled sound.

<i>Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance</i> 2015 studio album by Belle and Sebastian

Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is the ninth studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian, released on 19 January 2015. It was the first album by the group to be distributed by Matador Records worldwide. The album was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2014, and marked the first time the band worked with producer Ben H. Allen III. "The Party Line" was announced as the first single from the album on 29 October 2014, with its first airplay on BBC 6 Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Out of the Woods</span> 2016 single by Taylor Swift

"Out of the Woods" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff. With lyrics inspired by a failed relationship and the ensuing anxieties that Swift experienced, "Out of the Woods" is a synth-pop song with elements of Eurodance and indietronica and features heavy synthesizers, looping drums, and layered background vocals.

"Welcome to New York" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Written by Swift and Ryan Tedder, the song was inspired by Swift's relocation to New York City in April 2014. Its lyrics explore a newfound freedom in the city and a lighthearted attitude towards past heartbreaks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blank Space</span> 2014 single by Taylor Swift

"Blank Space" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swift's love life that affected her girl-next-door reputation, "Blank Space" portrays a flirtatious woman with multiple romantic attachments. It is an electropop track with a minimal arrangement consisting of synthesizers, hip hop-influenced beats, and layered vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Style (Taylor Swift song)</span> 2015 single by Taylor Swift

"Style" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the third single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). She wrote the track with its producers Max Martin, Shellback, and Ali Payami. An incorporation of pop, funk, disco, and electronic styles, "Style" is built on an electric guitar riff, pulsing synthesizers, and dense vocal reverb. The lyrics are about a couple who could not escape from an unhealthy relationship because they are never "out of style". Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records released the song to US radio on February 9, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Blood (Taylor Swift song)</span> 2015 single by Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar

"Bad Blood" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). She wrote the song with the Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback. It is a pop song using keyboards and hip hop–inspired drum beats, and the lyrics are about betrayal by a close friend. A remix featuring the American rapper Kendrick Lamar, with additional lyrics by Lamar and production by the Swedish musician Ilya, was released to radio as 1989's fourth single on May 17, 2015, by Big Machine and Republic Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildest Dreams</span> 2015 single by Taylor Swift

"Wildest Dreams" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is the fifth single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote the song with its producers Max Martin and Shellback. "Wildest Dreams" has an atmospheric, balladic production incorporating programmed drums, Mellotron–generated and live strings, and synthesizers; the rhythm interpolates Swift's heartbeat. Critics described it as synth-pop, dream pop, and electropop. The lyrics feature Swift pleading with a lover to remember her even after their relationship ends. Big Machine Records in partnership with Republic Records released "Wildest Dreams" to radio on August 31, 2015.

<i>Star Wars</i> (Wilco album) 2015 studio album by Wilco

Star Wars is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Wilco. It was self-released for free on July 16, 2015, through wilcoworld.net. It is the second Wilco album that was released on their own label dBpm. A CD version of the album was released on August 21 and a vinyl version was released on October 13. The album emerged from Wilco recording sessions at The Loft that also resulted in their 2016 album Schmilco.

<i>Divers</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Joanna Newsom

Divers is the fourth studio album by American musician Joanna Newsom, released on October 23, 2015 via Drag City.

<i>Prisoner</i> (Ryan Adams album) 2017 studio album by Ryan Adams

Prisoner is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams. It was released on February 17, 2017. The album is Adams' first album of original material since his 2014 album, Ryan Adams, and was preceded by the singles "Do You Still Love Me?", "To Be Without You", and "Doomsday".

<i>Reputation</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Taylor Swift

Reputation is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on November 10, 2017, as her last album with Big Machine Records. She conceived Reputation as a response to the media scrutiny on her private life and public image after her previous album, 1989 (2014), propelled her toward global stardom.

<i>Lover</i> (album) 2019 studio album by Taylor Swift

Lover is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on August 23, 2019, by Republic Records. It is her first album after her departure from Big Machine Records, which caused a public dispute over the ownership of Swift's past albums.

<i>Midnights</i> 2022 studio album by Taylor Swift

Midnights is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. Swift conceived it as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepless nights. The autobiographical songwriting explores broad emotions such as regrets, self-criticism, fantasies, heartbreak, and infatuation, using confessional yet cryptic lyrics that allude to her personal life and public image.

References

  1. ↑ Stutz, Colin (August 25, 2015). "Ryan Adams Says Taylor Swift '1989' Cover Album Will Be Finished This Week". Billboard . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (September 27, 2015). "Both Taylor Swift and Ryan Adams' '1989' Albums Are in Top 10 of Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard . Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Donnell, Kevin (September 21, 2015). "Ryan Adams opens up about his Taylor Swift 1989 cover album". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ Crucchiola, Jordan. "The Complete History (So Far) of Ryan Adams' Taylor Swift Cover Project". Wired. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Story Behind Ryan Adams's '1989′ Homage to Taylor Swift". WSJ Blogs – Speakeasy. September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  6. ↑ "@TheRyanAdams Cool I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight or ever again and I'm going to celebrate today every year as a holiday. I'M CALM". Twitter. August 6, 2015. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Taylor Swift says Ryan Adams' 1989 cover album is 'such an honor'". Entertainment Weekly. August 20, 2015. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Taylor Swift Surprised Ryan Adams on a Radio Show to Talk About 1989". TIME. September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Reviews for 1989 by Ryan Adams". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  10. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "1989 – Ryan Adams". AllMusic . All Media Network. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Beviglia, Jim (September 21, 2015). "Ryan Adams: 1989". American Songwriter . Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Annie Zaleski (September 21, 2015). "Ryan Adams transforms Taylor Swift's 1989 into a melancholy masterpiece". The A.V. Club . The Onion. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  13. ↑ Reed, James (September 22, 2015). "Ryan Adams turns Taylor Swift's '1989' into mellow gold". The Boston Globe . John W. Henry. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Greenblatt, Leah (September 21, 2015). "1989 by Ryan Adams: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  15. ↑ Wood, Mikael (September 21, 2015). "Ryan Adams turns to Taylor Swift for help on his version of '1989'". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  16. 1 2 Richardson, Mark (September 25, 2015). "Ryan Adams, 1989". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Slant review". Slant Magazine . October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  18. ↑ K., Rudy (September 22, 2015). "Review: Ryan Adams – 1989". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  19. ↑ McCormick, Neil (September 22, 2015). "Ryan Adams, 1989, review: 'beautifully evokes the ghosts in Taylor Swift's pop machine'". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  20. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (September 22, 2015). "Teaming Up, Together (Drake and Future) or Apart (Ryan Adams and Taylor Swift)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  21. ↑ Christgau, Robert (October 20, 2017). "Reinvention and Reclamation: Robert Christgau on a Batch of Cover Albums". Vice . Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  22. ↑ Diffuser Staff (December 8, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Diffuser. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  23. ↑ EW Staff (December 9, 2015). "The 40 Best Albums of 2015". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 12, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  24. ↑ NME Staff (December 2, 2015). "NME's Albums of the Year 2015". NME. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  25. ↑ Paste Staff (December 2, 2015). "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Paste. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  26. ↑ Rough Trade Staff. "Albums of the Year 2015". Rough Trade. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  27. ↑ Kristi York Wooten. "The Best Albums of 2015 2015". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Ryan Adams – 1989". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ryan Adams – 1989" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Ryan Adams Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ryan Adams – 1989" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Ryan Adams: 1989" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  33. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 39, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Charts.nz – Ryan Adams – 1989". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  35. ↑ "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 41, 2015". Lista.vg.no. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  36. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Ryan Adams – 1989". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Ryan Adams – 1989". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Ryan Adams – 1989". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  39. ↑ 26, 2015/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  40. ↑ "Ryan Adams Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Ryan Adams Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Ryan Adams Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Vinyl Albums : Jan 02, 2016". Billboard. December 9, 2014. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  44. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2016: Albums" Archived December 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch). Ultartop Flanders. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  45. ↑ "Ryan Adams: 1989: Music". ASIN   B015I145OC. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.