Taylor Swift by Taylor Swift // Rare 2018 Record Store Day Crystal Clear & Turquoise Vinyl + 7" single collection // 20 Year Anniversary Debut Album Review
Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years? To celebrate the massive anniversary milestone of Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album being released, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite vinyl in my collection alongside the full album review I also shared. This is such a special album in Taylor's catalog, as it really is the foundation that all of it is built upon. It is such an underrated gem of her earliest work and showcases some of the earliest sparks of the generational talent she would go onto shape and refine with each subsequent release.
My vinyl copy of Taylor Swift is the rarest and most valuable record in my collection, which I somehow managed to get not only for face value, but also completely by chance one day while randomly browsing online. I purchased it online sometime in late 2018 or early 2019 from Turntable Lab in New York City, alongside the gold Fearless Record Store Day pressing, which is another cherished piece in my collection.
This edition was pressed on crystal clear and turquoise vinyl and was limited to just 5,000 copies worldwide. Of those, 3,750 individually numbered copies were sold in the United States, while the remaining 1,250 copies were made available throughout Europe exclusively at independent record stores. This pressing captures the aesthetic of the album so perfectly and is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful Taylor Swift records I own.
She has released several other Record Store Day vinyl through the years, but this was the first time her music was featured as a part of the semi-annual event. Her first five albums were released for the first time ever on color vinyl for the event, which are currently the only times these first five albums have ever been released on anything other than standard black variants. They are all some of the rarest records she has ever released and Taylor Swift in particular is very much a coveted pressing from this RSD collection.
The resale prices for this vinyl are consistently around the $2,000 range or more, which is truly insane to think about - I am very lucky to have been able to get this in my collection! The price a record goes for is never the reason why I buy vinyl, but it is crazy to think about how much this particular release has appreciated in value through the years.
It was released right before the big vinyl boom that happened during COVID, so this pressing and Taylor's other Record Store Day releases have all skyrocketed in both value and rarity. There has also been renewed interest in Taylor's earliest work building through the years, especially in the lead-up to and during The Eras Tour, which also majorly contributed to the increasing demand and scarcity surrounding these releases.
It has been a well-documented fact that I love collecting Taylor' music on vinyl, and I have amassed such a special collection through the years. While the monetary value of this record is certainly impressive, what makes it most special to me is its connection to an album that means so much to me and so many other fans as the one that truly started it all!
This also felt like the perfect time to highlight three of the 7" vinyl singles I have from some of my favorite songs of the debut era. These are also three of my favorite songs from the album, so it is especially exciting to have them on this format.
There were five singles released sporadically throughout 2019 and 2020 through Big Machine Records. I have three of them: a lavender pressing of "Our Song", a smoky gray pressing of "Picture to Burn", and a white pressing of "Should've Said No". All of these were purchased through Amazon, which is where they were primarily sold at the time.
They are all hand-numbered pressings that were limited to just 4,000 copies each, making them some of the most limited vinyl releases Taylor has ever released. The only two I do not have in my collection are the "Tim McGraw" and "Teardrops On My Guitar" singles, which were the first two released and are among the rarest as well.
All of these singles really do such a great job of capturing the specific aesthetics of each song. I love the way these 7" singles feature special live versions on the B sides, all of which were recorded around the time of the release of her debut album between 2006 and 2007. The single artwork that Taylor incorporated into these releases is all so well-designed and representative of the individual songs, so I would love to see those visuals incorporated into future physical releases. I especially miss the individualized photoshoots from her early work, where each single had its own distinct imagery and identity that reflected the song itself.
Much like the Record Store Day pressing of Taylor's debut album, these singles have also surprisingly become very valuable through the years. It's so interesting because, at the time, they were not particularly sought after and were actually quite easy to find. Looking back now, record collecting as a whole has changed significantly and it's wild to see how many vinyl releases pre-2020 have become increasingly scarce, limited, and highly sought after. These singles are a perfect example of that shift, transforming from very affordable and accessible collector's items into some of the most desirable pieces from Taylor's vinyl catalog.
I was hoping they would have continued releasing 7" singles for every era Taylor released under Big Machine, but for the time being, it started and ended with the debut era as the only time they produced singles like this for her back catalog. Now that Taylor has bought back her masters, I really hope she releases more special variants and singles from her past work one day.
Thanks for reading! I also wrote an in-depth review about the rest of Taylor's debut album, but I wanted to commemorate this special anniversary with more than one post, and this vinyl is special enough to warrant an entirely separate post of its own. I said this in my review of the full album, but I will echo this sentiment again here: it really is so surreal to think that Taylor's music has been such a pivotal part of my life for longer than it hasn't. Her music has impacted my life in immeasurable ways, and this is just one small piece of a collection that reflects that ongoing journey. 🦋
All photos are my own!
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