FEARLESS & GODZILLA VS. KONG

Taylor Swift releases “Fearless: (Taylor’s Version)” after losing rights to original “Fearless” album

BY ROSALIE DEGENHART assistant editor

Taylor Swift has been knocking out album after album since the summer of 2020; it is safe to say that no one saw it coming, but, when she began hinting to upcoming album releases, fans began to thrive off of the anticipation. Swift released “folklore” last July and its sister album “evermore” last December. “Fearless: (Taylor’s Version),” a rerecording of her 2008 album “Fearless,” was released this April.

Taylor’s motive to rerecord “Fearless” came upon in 2019 after Scooter Braun, the big music manager for stars such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, obtained the rights to Swift’s old recording company, Big Machine Label, and with it Swift’s first six master albums.

To Swift, this was a shock and an extreme let down, for she left Big Machine Label in late 2018 and knew her music would be sold, but not to the bully of the music industry.

Therefore, since November of 2020, Swift has been allowed under her contract to rerecord these albums, only having to wait five years after their original release to begin the production process.

This rerecording of “Fearless” has given her fans high doses of nostalgia and astonishment; being a major Taylor Swift fan from the beginning, myself and other fans included can hear how Swift’s voice has matured over the years. Songs like “White Horse” and “Love Story” sound even more magical than before. No longer sung with a naive southern twang, Swift’s voice is smooth and complete as she narrates stories, fairy tales and young love.

Other artistic changes in this rerecording can be heard in the beginning of the song “The Way I Loved You.” In the 2008 version, listeners can hear a strumming guitar keeping the tempo, but, in the most recent version, the beat is kept with a drum, giving the song a more compelling, electrifying sound.

Another artistic shift can be heard in the song “Fearless.” In the 2008 version, the song is sweet with delicate instrumentals. However, in the rerecorded version Swift doesn’t hold back instrumentally or vocally; she truly was fearless when rerecording this song to its fullest potential.

These subtle artistic changes may not mean much to the average person, but to fans who have been listening to her music since the beginning, it makes these original songs so much more meaningful than before. The changes Swift made in her musicality only highlights the talent young Swift had all those years ago, and, after years of self discovery and vocal growth, Swift had the opportunity to transform these songs into “Taylor’s Version,” an opportunity she took boldly and fearlessly.

Recently prone to surprising her fans with music drops, Taylor Swift included six, never before heard songs on “Fearless: (Taylor’s Version).” These songs were intended to make it on the original Fearless album, but they never made it on, and they are listed as being from “The Vault.”

“Mr. Perfectly Fine” is an upbeat song from “The Vault” with lyrics that capture the inner indignation and boggling of one’s mind after a break up. In lyrics like, “Hello, Mr. perfectly fine/ How’s your heart after breaking mine?/ Mr. always at the right place at the wrong time/ Hello, Mr. casually cruel/ Mr. everything revolves around you/ I’ve been Miss misery since your goodbye,” the word play with “Mr.” is clever and catchy, but the lyrics are profound and real. “You All Over Me” and “That’s When” are both simple but beautiful songs also featured on “The Vault,” and they both feature musicians like Maren Morris and Keith Urban. Swift dug into her country roots it seems like in these songs, but, nevertheless, the lyrics and melodies are a Swift signature.

Taylor Swift is deemed as one of the most revolutionary and talented artists of this generation. From country, to pop, to alternative, she has done it all, and has award winning albums to prove it.

Reviving “Fearless” to make it even more outstanding than before takes patience and ambition, and Swift achieved just this, as well as harboring love and nostalgia from her fans.

Highly anticipated “Godzilla Vs. Kong” meets fans’ expectations

BY NOLAN CHASE co-editor-in-chief

“Godzilla Vs. Kong” is just about everything you would expect from a two hour monster movie crossover with a fun surprise near the end. While the story in this one is tolerable and gets the job done, we really watch these types of movies for the clash between the monsters.

While I haven’t seen the first two “Godzilla” movies such as “Godzilla: King of The Monsters,” I have seen “Kong: Skull Island,” which I really enjoyed. The movie spells out what is going on enough to where I wasn’t confused by what was happening even though I haven’t seen those movies.

There are some callbacks to plot points from those movies such as Millie Bobby Brown’s character so those would probably work more for someone watching “Godzilla Vs. Kong” if you have seen the previous movies. The actors also get the job done well, but that really isn’t saying much. I really didn’t care too much about any of the lead human characters but that is how these movies usually go. The main characters just talk nonsense about the monsters and explain what is going on but that is typical for a movie like this. The actors are there to take up screen time until the big monsters decide it is time to fight, which was okay with me. I probably won’t rewatch “Godzilla Vs. Kong” anytime soon because of the exposition slog at the beginning, but that is fine because that is what these movies are and the action sequences more than make up for it.

Speaking of the action sequences, they really do deliver with them in this movie. The action sequences are the only thing that I really cared about in this movie. If the movie was just a 30 minute action scene that cut out all of the unnecessary filler, I would still watch. The special effects are great and the action is engaging and exciting.

Personally, I was rooting for Kong to win because I liked the movie he came from, and I don’t like lizards. Treating it like a spectator sport made this movie feel more like an event than a movie but it was a very fun watch once the action got rolling. This is the kind of movie that would be fun to watch with friends at the movie theatre. I opted to watch it on HBO Max, but I can definitely see it being a fun theatre experience.

Although seeing these types of movies with friends is awesome, It is equally cool to have new movies like this streaming from your home the second they release. I would like to see movies release like this even after COVID-19.

In the end, “Godzilla Vs. Kong” is a fun experience that definitely isn’t for everyone, but I think people who like these types of movies will get a lot of enjoyment out of it if they can look past all of the exposition.

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