Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), has made major waves for Taylor Swift. The record has entered the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, alongside three other Swift albums. The four albums on the chart mark a historic run for Swift, making her the first woman to have achieved that goal since 1963.
Videos by American Songwriter
Swift released the re-recorded version of her 2010 album earlier this month. The album quickly rose to No. 1 on the 200 chart, earning Swift the largest week for any album in 2023. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is joined by her latest original record, Midnights, at No. 5, Lover at No. 7, and Folklore at No. 10.
According to Billboard, the last living artist to have charted four albums at once was Herb Alpert in 1966. The milestone also sees Swift surpassing Barbra Streisand as the female artist with the most No. 1 albums in music history. Swift has secured 12 No. 1 albums over her tenure.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) previously broke two Spotify records. Soon after its release, Speak Now became the most streamed album in a single day so far in 2023. It also became the most-streamed country album in a single day in the streaming service’s history.
“I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20,” Swift wrote on Instagram when she announced the release. “The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions, and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing … and living to speak about it.”
The album includes many fan favorites, namely “Dear John,” “Enchanted,” and “Sparks Fly,” which has no doubt contributed to the unprecedented success of the re-recorded version. In addition to the original track list, Swift shared six “From the Vault” tracks.
“The re-recorded version of Speak Now is for the kid that found solace in the album back in 2010,” American Songwriter wrote in a review of the record. “The one that grew up alongside Swift and used her experiences to inform their own. Swift is not just a hitmaker, she’s a cultural purveyor who has made her name by finding a direct line to her fans’ souls.
“You don’t generate the kind of fervor the world is seeing on her current tour by having a few catchy songs,” the review continues. “Those fans who dedicated their year to seeing Swift on the road are doing so because she’s been a guiding force in their lives since they were teens learning to find their voice through the lens of Swift finding hers on Speak Now.”
(Photo by Tom Cooper/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
