FEATURE:
You’re Still the One
Shaina Twain’s Come On Over at Twenty-Five
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I am continuing…
focusing on and documenting great albums celebrating big anniversaries soon. On 4th November, one of the biggest-selling albums ever is twenty-five. Shania Twain’s third studio album, Come On Over, seems almost like a greatest hits collection. With so many singles released, it is no wonder it sold so many copies and is considered a classic! Twain recently released the single, Waking Up Dreaming. I know she has talked about Come On Over in interviews to promote her latest single. Produced by the legendary Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange (who has worked with the likes of Def Leppard, AC/DC, and Muse), Come on Over has a great mix of harder-edged rockers, Country kickers, ballads, and terrific Pop cuts. It is such a varied album with incredible songwriting throughout. Although I cannot include all the singles, eleven of the sixteen tracks on Come on Over were released as singles! All tracks were written by Twain and Lange. Few albums have helped change and update a genre as much as Shania Twain’s Come On Over. Modernising and revolutionising Country music, Wikipedia provide the extraordinary facts and figures regarding Come On Over’s success and legacy:
“The album became the best-selling country album, the best selling album by a Canadian and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a solo female artist, and the best-selling album in the USA by a solo female artist. It is the ninth all-time best-selling album in the United States, and worldwide. It is also the sixteenth best-selling album in the United Kingdom.
As of 2020, Come On Over has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, shipped over 20 million copies in the United States, with over 15.7 million copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan, and another 1.99 million through BMG Music Clubs. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and stayed there for 50 non-consecutive weeks and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the album with the most weeks at No.1 on the US Top Country Albums chart. It stayed in the top ten for 151 weeks. Ten of the sixteen tracks hit the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs chart, eight of which hit top 10, including three No. 1s. Seven of the tracks also made the Top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Twain promoted the album with television performances and interviews. It was further promoted with the successful Come On Over Tour, which visited North America, Oceania and Europe. Out of the album's sixteen tracks, twelve were released as singles, including "Love Gets Me Every Time", "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)", "You're Still the One", "From This Moment On", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!". The album was also promoted with a succession of music videos for the singles. The fifth single, "When", was the only single from the album to not be released in the United States”.
I am going to get to some features and reviews about the remarkable and record-breaking Come On Over. The Young Folks dove deep into an album that I think transcends genres and borders. It is an hour of incredible songwriting and amazing performances from Shania Twain and her band:
“There are very few albums that you can say definitively changed the face of a genre. Shania Twain’s Come On Over is one of them.
Released in 1997, Come On Over was a massive success, selling over 15 million copies. The album featured twelve singles, most of which managed some form of radio play, and a few now iconic music videos. And, most importantly for the genre, Come On Over is one of the first examples of the country-pop genre to blow up on such a national scale. Twain takes the country music sensibilities of her previous album, The Woman in Me, and interjects top 40 stylings and arrangements, giving the songs near-pop perfection.
Arguably, the two songs most people would recognize off the album are its powerhouse singles: “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much”. Both songs are fun, bright, punchy girl power anthems that have become girls nights songs and almost obligatory karaoke jams. The girl power movement flourished in the late 1990s/early 2000s and “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” is a beautiful jam in that vein. A bright pump-you-up song, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” is about going out with the girls, having a good time, and just reveling and celebrating in utter femininity. Twain’s lower register is put on wonderful display here, as she belts, charms, and grins her way through the entire song.
“That Don’t Impress Me Much” is a brilliant take down of all the egomaniac men that every woman has had to deal with at some point. Twain’s dismissals are kind of cheesy, but in a short and pithy way, a beautiful kiss off to puncture egos: “Okay, so you’re Brad Pitt / that don’t impress me much.” The song is light-hearted and fun, as Twain dismisses all her potential suitors with a smile on her face and a laugh in her voice. Both songs also have equally iconic videos, from “Man’s” Robert Palmer riff to the leopard print bonanza of “Impress Me Much.”
Though Twain’s biggest songs off the album are arguably these sassy ‘we don’t need men’ songs, Come On Over gives her plenty of a chance to show off her softer side. The album features multiple love songs, slower and more tender ballads that would fit on adult contemporary radio or playing over the credits of a romcom. One of them actually did play over the credits of a romcom: “You’ve Got A Way”, featured in Notting Hill. That song, as well as others like “From This Moment On” and “You’re Still the One” show just how multifaceted Twain is as a performer and how she manages to sell the hell out of any song or mood.
I really can’t overstate just how much of a cultural juggernaut this album was and how it effortlessly launched Shania Twain into the public consciousness. I doubt her 2003 Super Bowl performance would have happened had it not been for the masterpiece that was Come On Over. And even today, twenty years later, the impact of Come On Over is still felt. From HAIM covering “That Don’t Impress Me Much” to various album-themed jokes Twain made during her appearance on Broad City, Come On Over still holds a tight grip on the public consciousness and a firm place in the music loving world’s mind”.
Although there are some mixed or negative reviews – ignorance and snobby attitudes towards and album that is quite commercial -, many reviews acknowledged the importance and sheer quality running throughout Come On Over. I wanted to quote Holler. and their review of 2021. Shania Twain released something incredible and progressive in 1997. An album that updated Country and introduced a genre to a whole new audience:
“To say that Shania Twain’s 1997 album Come On Over was ahead of its time would be a massive understatement.
Packed solidly with a dozen original singles - plus four more to give the listener an “hour of music” - this landmark record propelled Shania from a shy Canadian cowgirl into a global icon – transforming the very landscape of country music in the process.
She crossed over into the heart of the mainstream in one giant stride, as her producer, co-writer and then-husband Mutt Lange brought his big beats and pop-rock sensibilities to the party.
1997 was dominated by the class of Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, and Toby Keith; with Faith, Reba, LeAnn and Martina trying to leave their mark in-between.
It was the year of Tarantino and Titanic; of Gianni Versace’s murder, Mike Tyson biting his opponent’s ear and the death of Diana. Madeline Albright became the first female US Secretary of State, as the country ranked 52nd in the world for female representation in government.
Into this hotbed of toxic masculinity and ongoing pushback for women stepped accidental feminist Shania Twain, who was, crucially, in charge of her own image and music.
She brought millions of new fans to an ageing sound, while bringing fresh sounds to old fans – speaking directly to these followers through her music and videos, long before the age of social media.
Many labelled Shania as too ambitious (as if striving for the top is bad), as a square peg in a round hole (is she pop or country), as not belonging (being Canadian), and not being responsible for her achievements (despite writing and co-writing her songs).
If it wasn’t already obvious that the industry was misogynistic, that didn’t impress her much. Having opened the door for creative freedom with '95's Woman in Me, Shania smashed it off its hinges with Come On Over.
First, she ripped up the rulebook by releasing it in three different versions; the original country album – complete with mandolin, fiddles and pedal steel– followed by revised pop and international club versions.
Shania would not bend or break in the face of Nashville antipathy and critical hostility. She stuck to her guns, forcing the industry to play by her rule book. She couldn’t join them, so she beat them.
Hauled over the coals for blending genres, sidestepping Nashville’s endless supply of songwriters by writing her own material and collaborating with hard rock producer Lange, she shrugged and went back to business.
“The very thing that I get criticized for,” she said, “- being different, original and doing my own thing – is the very thing that's making me successful.”
When the New York Times labelled Shania a rebel who “sings about taking charge and about unabashed lust; she bares her navel”, her reply was clear.
“I refuse to play down the way I look in order to be taken seriously as an artist," she said. "I’m aware there’s this mentality that you’re not allowed to be intelligent and good-looking, or that you’re not credible if you wear your hair like this or your shirt like that. But I will not accept that. It’s not right”.
Cue the lusty female empowerment anthem, ‘Man I Feel Like a Woman’, which won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Inspired by seeing drag performers back in Ontario, this song started with the title before “writing itself”.
With a music video role-reversing Robert Palmer's ‘Addicted to Love’, Shania stands in front of a group of men, all dressed alike, wearing a long coat and veiled top hat, before stripping down to a black corset and mini skirt. When she sings “I ain't gonna act politically correct / I only wanna have a good time”, you know she means every word.
She says much of her material has a “feminine, female perspective, but a powerful one. It's not only girl power, its gay power. I think that song really stands for both”.
The title track also deservedly won a Grammy for Best Country Song, with its irrepressible beats and bouncy, zydeco flavour making the most of Joey Miskulin’s accordion. Of course, the message of being a supportive, dependable friend is universal.
Another that’s stood the test of time, much like its subject, is the evergreen ‘You’re Still the One'. The mandolin and rousing singalong chorus underpin her tribute to longevity and durability in marriage against the odds – initially for her husband and musical partner Mutt Lange, and of late focusing on her late mother and stepfather
This would, of course, also win Grammys; for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance respectively.
There’s welcome wit in the cheekiness of ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’, which lists the kind of suitors she’s wary of: “you're a rocket scientist”, “you're Brad Pitt”, “you've got a car”, when all she really wants is a man who can keep her “warm in the middle of the night”.
Twain’s cultural impact from this point was undeniable – amassing cultural kudos from two more hits: ‘Rock This Country’ was used by both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton in their respective presidential campaigns, while ‘You’ve Got A Way’ appeared on the soundtrack for the mega-hit of a British Rom-Com Notting Hill.
But, perhaps most importantly, Come On Over feels way ahead of its time in tackling sensitive subjects.
Somehow anticipating the rise of movements like #MeToo in the three decades after, there’s a trio of key songs that talk directly to female listeners and their other halves. ‘Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)’ is about a partner’s excessive control and oppressive jealousy.
While the music video features Riverdance-style Irish dancers, the lyrics speak of her man looking over her shoulder as she reads her mail and suspecting ulterior motives when she paints her nails.
‘If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask'’s motion for consent is explicitly stated, as she adds further advice: “If you wanna get to know her / Really get inside her mind / If you wanna move in closer / Take it slow, yeah take your time” all culminating in that key line.
‘Black Eyes, Blue Tears’, approaches escaping domestic abuse in very frank terms. Again, it has a pop sheen, with lovely wah-wah guitar from Dan Huff, but that doesn’t undo its uncompromising sentiment; “I'd rather die standing / Than live on my knees / Begging please – no more”.
You can sense the urgency and personal experience coursing right through Come On Over. While Shania went on to perform at arenas, stadiums, Super Bowls and rule the global charts, she always knew her fans. She walked the walk and talked the talk, saying; “it's important to give it all you have, while you have the chance”.
Come On Over nudged country music into the 21st Century while busting the business wide open. It also showed Shania wasn’t going to be a one-hit-wonder, but a bona fide icon and mould-breaker. Man, it feels like a landmark.
8/10”.
I want to end, like I often do, with a review from AllMusic. It is interesting what they say about Come On Over and how it drastically altered from most Country albums and the impression we have of the genre. Although there is a Rock leaning, though at the core is a mix of Country and Pop. Shaina Twain, in terms of her image, definitely is a lot different to what many people associate with Country:
“Shania Twain's second record, The Woman in Me, became a blockbuster, appealing as much to a pop audience as it did to the country audience. Part of the reason for its success was how producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange -- best-known for his work with Def Leppard, the Cars, and AC/DC -- steered Twain toward the big choruses and instrumentation that always was a signature of his speciality, AOR radio. Come on Over, the sequel to The Woman in Me, continues that approach, breaking from contemporary country conventions in a number of ways. Not only does the music lean toward rock, but its 16 songs and, as the cover proudly claims, "Hour of Music," break from the country tradition of cheap, short albums of ten songs that last about a half-hour. Furthermore, all 16 songs and Lange-Twain originals and Shania's sleek, sexy photos suggest a New York fashion model, not a honky tonker. And there isn't any honky tonk here, which is just as well, since the fiddles are processed to sound like synthesizers and talk boxes never sound good on down-home, gritty rave-ups. No, Shania sticks to what she does best, which is countrified mainstream pop. Purists will complain that there's little country here, and there really isn't. However, what is here is professionally crafted country-pop -- even the filler (which there is, unfortunately, too much of) sounds good -- which is delivered with conviction, if not style, by Shania, and that is enough to make it a thoroughly successful follow-up to one of the most successful country albums by a female in history”.
On 4th November, Come On Over is twenty-five. Because of its versatility and production, the album still sounds so engrossing and fresh. Its songs are played on radio and, because Shaina Twain has been promoting her new music, she has also reflected on the success of Come On Over. Maybe we did not know it in 1997, but the incredible Come On Over would soon…
GO down in music history.