Forever & Always: Original vs. Piano Version

[Taylor.]

Regular version:


Piano version:


Well? I like both but I think I prefer the piano version. It's much more emotional.

[ClevelandRox]

Maybe because I'm so burnt out on the original, but I voted for the piano version!

[Stephen]

Piano by a ridiculous margin.

[Gravity.]

It depends on my mood. I love them both.

One of them (don't care which) should be the next pop single.

[Stephen]

The only drawback of the piano version is that at times her voiced sounds REALLY processed. It sucks because when she sings like this (at the piano with no other accompaniment), her smaller voice fits better. It sounds beautiful. The processing was unnecessary.

[Taylor.]

Oct 26, 2009 21:17:38 GMT -5 Stephen said:

The only drawback of the piano version is that at times her voiced sounds REALLY processed. It sucks because when she sings like this (at the piano with no other accompaniment), her smaller voice fits better. It sounds beautiful. The processing was unnecessary.

Really? What parts? I don't hear any processing, but I haven't really been listening for it.

[aTunes]

Definitely the original version. The musical arrangement of the original is a big part of what makes this song so likeable, and when you strip it away, the song becomes very boring. Furthermore, the piano version just proves to me that Taylor's voice isn't strong enough to carry an acoustic song. She needs the instruments and snappy tempos in her songs to hide her vocal shortcomings. I'm sure the piano version is just winning cause it's new. In a month most of you guys will probably be sick of it and back to the regular version.

[Eloqueen™]

We must be listening to two different songs because Taylor's vocals sound pretty damn good on the piano version of Forever & Always (better than the original in fact).

[Gabe]

Piano version!

[yosafbridge]

Oct 27, 2009 13:33:06 GMT -5 aTunes said:

Definitely the original version. The musical arrangement of the original is a big part of what makes this song so likeable, and when you strip it away, the song becomes very boring. Furthermore, the piano version just proves to me that Taylor's voice isn't strong enough to carry an acoustic song. She needs the instruments and snappy tempos in her songs to hide her vocal shortcomings. I'm sure the piano version is just winning cause it's new. In a month most of you guys will probably be sick of it and back to the regular version.

Funny you say that since I have the completely opposite opinion--I think Taylor's emotive voice is her strong point and an acoustic arrangement showcases her strengths.

In fact, her burgeoning popularity in 2006-2007 grew in part due to her constant touring of radio stations and her playing small gigs where it was just Taylor and her guitar playing for the radio DJ/small bars.

Trawl any Taylor forum and hands down its her acoustic stripped down performances which are the fan-favorites...

[Pulse]

Yeah, some parts sound kind of off.

[nsfb17]

Oct 27, 2009 13:33:06 GMT -5 aTunes said:

Definitely the original version. The musical arrangement of the original is a big part of what makes this song so likeable, and when you strip it away, the song becomes very boring.

This.

[Haley]

It sounds much better on Piano. I always thought the song didn't sound as good extremely upbeat anyway.

[aTunes]

Oct 27, 2009 14:26:43 GMT -5 Eloqueen™ said:

We must be listening to two different songs because Taylor's vocals sound pretty damn good on the piano version of Forever & Always (better than the original in fact).

They sound very off pitch to me, as they always do when her vocals are put in the forefront. Also the sharpness in her voice when she goes out of her range, which she does quite a few times in there. She needs to avoid showcasing her vocals as much as possible. Like White Horse, an amazing song, brought down several notches by the fact that it's a song that needs a strong voice to adequately perform it. I do think her strong point vocally is her emoting ability, but her technical shortcomings are too great for any amount of emoting to compensate for, imo.

[Stephen]

Oct 27, 2009 21:48:15 GMT -5 aTunes said:

Oct 27, 2009 14:26:43 GMT -5 Eloqueen™ said:

We must be listening to two different songs because Taylor's vocals sound pretty damn good on the piano version of Forever & Always (better than the original in fact).

They sound very off pitch to me, as they always do when her vocals are put in the forefront. Also the sharpness in her voice when she goes out of her range, which she does quite a few times in there. She needs to avoid showcasing her vocals as much as possible. Like White Horse, an amazing song, brought down several notches by the fact that it's a song that needs a strong voice to adequately perform it. I do think her strong point vocally is her emoting ability, but her technical shortcomings are too great for any amount of emoting to compensate for, imo.

I think Taylor sounds her best here, but I notice some autotuning done on a few more powered notes. It's like her singing regularly in the background and they autotune her voice in the foreground layers. Still, she sounds really, really strong.