Album Review: Come On Over by Shania Twain

Album Review: Come On Over by Shania Twain

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PART 1
Name of Artist:           Shania Twain
Name of Album:         Come On Over
Date of Release:          November 4, 1997
Recorded:                    1996−1997
Genre:                         Country Music, Rock, Pop
Record Label:             Mercury Records
Producer/s:                  Robert John Lange

Musicians/Personnel:   Come On Over was a successful solo album recording apart from the 5^th single From This Moment On that features Bryan White. Shania Twain’s Come On Over crew consisted of:

Larry Byrom: Slide guitarist
Paul Franklin, John Hughey, and Bruce Bouton: Steel guitarists

Joe Chemay: Bass guitarist
Dann Huff: Electric guitar rhythm and riffs, talkbox guitar, and the Hammond
Brent Mason: Electric guitar licks

Lary Franklin, Stuart Duncan, and Rob Hajacos: Fiddlers

JohnHobbs, Arthur Stead, Michael Omartian, and John Barlow Jarvis: Pianists

Eric Silver: Mandolinist

Joey Miskulin: Accordionist
Arthur Stead: Audio synthesizer

David Hamilton and Carl Marsh: String’s arrangers &performers From This Moment On
Robert John “Mutt” Lange: Audio producer and background vocalist
Olle Romo: Pro-Tools programmer and editor

Bjorn Thornsrud: Audio programmer (pre-production)

James Somberg and Jay Alvarez: Assistant audio programmers (post-production)

Mike Shipley:  Audio mixing
Track Listing:

Album Chart Ratings: Upon release, Come On Over became the best-selling Country Album on Billboard charts in Canada. The album stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for more than a year. During the 41st annual Grammy Awards, Come On Over got nominated in six different categories, including The Song of the Year, Album of the Year, The Best Artist of the Year, and among other award classifications. AllMusic rated Come On Over the 8^th best-selling album in the US and the 16^th best-selling album in the entire music history.

PART 2

Importance of the Album 

The success of Shania Twain’s Come On Over album was important for the country music genre, her fans and society, and to herself. Firstly, being a cross-over artist, the global success of the Come On Over album helped to popularize the country music genre around the world. Currently ranked the 4^th best-selling album of all time, it is evident that Come On Over made pop music lovers appreciate Country music. It is no wonder that the song You’re Still the One is currently ranked the most-streamed audio on Pandora.

Secondly, the success of Shania Twain’s Come On Over album gave her the confidence to extend her boundaries by exploring her vocal ability, songwriting capability, and experimenting with different sounds. For instance, with the help of crew members like Lary Franklin, Stuart Duncan, and Rob Hajacos−Fiddlers, Eric Silver−Mandolinist, and Joey Miskulin−Accordionist, Shania Twain paved the way for the current artists to synthesize unconventional music sounds into pop music. Moreover, Come On Over had some unique background sounds and voices. The casual listener hardly notices these background happenings. Nonetheless, they are the most attractive aspects of pop-country music. The slow and upbeat tempo of the album made it outstanding from other pop-country artists. Thus, it challenged the conventional styles of curating both pop and country music. Consequently, the album sold up to more than 170,000 copies amounting to over 14 million in sales

Finally, in the album preceding Come On Over, Shania Twain expressed that she felt she needed to “explore the woman in her,” although she lacked the best approach in doing so. Her then-husband-cum-producer, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, gave her the freedom to express herself musically, enabling her fans to resonate with her music. Thus, Come On Over album gave her creative liberation to explore the woman within her and to advocate against societal ills. For instance, the song You’re Still the One was evidently sung from the heart−after more than 20 years since its debut, it is still a popular wedding song as well as the most-streamed audio Pandora. Additionally, Come On Over advocated for harassment and assault against women. Shania Twain creatively and boldly confronts these societal ills through songs like If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask Her! and Black Eyes, Blue Tears.

PART 3

Composition, recording, and production of pop-country music were done rigidly. However, the “Come on Over” album is seen as a new approach in the country music. Countless times, the country music artists were seen as very conservative in their ways of reaching out to their audience, particularly to the message conveyed to the audience. The traditional country music was surrounded by a lot of restrictions that limited the ability of most artists. One of the most common stereotypes around the country music was the musical brevity. The choice of words and the language used by the artists got restricted for fear of public uproar. However, the “Come on Over” album went against these restrictions, positioning itself as breaking the stringency in the industry.

I am especially pleased with the freedom in which the album was done. Shania Twain never economized her words for fear of receiving massive out clash from people. Revolution in country music has been championed for by different artists, and this album brings out that kind of sudden change in making music, thus meeting my expectations.

Groove is another musical aspect well illustrated in the album, thus meeting expectations of any listener. In the album, there is an unnoticeable background piano hook up heard in repeatedly in a particular rhythm in most Shania’s songs. This attribute makes the songs interesting, thus attracting non-attentive listeners who are not keen on the words of the song.

Impression is an essential musical element that is not only considered by the producers but also by the audience. One of the songs in this album that gave a stronger impression than all of them is “Man! I feel like a Woman”. First, the title of the song is catchy, thus making any person who comes across to have the desire to listen to it. Moreover, the quality of instrumental applied made the music as a bubbly pop country music. The perfect solo guitar played within the songs creates the best musical impression, thus creating ideal enjoyment. The solo guitar and the background piano is an ideal illustration of timbre, a powerful musical element.

As the music specialists claim, production should be done in a more refined manner to ensure a perfect result. The album “Come on Over” contained well-orchestrated writing, composition, and seamless content delivery to the audience. Having taken more than two years working on the album, Shania Twain ensured that her music content got edited to remove any form of shortcomings. The fact that her producer, Robert Lange, gave her the freedom to express herself in all the songs depict spectacular production skills. Moreover, the sound quality represented in the songs shows that Robert Lange must have done a commendable job in the album. In conclusion, the album has different musical elements such as groove, timbre, and production, thus bringing out the supreme quality. The freedom given by the artist to move away from traditional pop country music makes me convinced and pleased that a lot had been put in place to bring out the content to the audience.

References

Leeuw, T. ., Groot, R. ., & Taylor, S. (2005). Music of the twentieth century: A study of its elements and structure. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Twain, S. (2005). Come on over. Milwaukee, Wisc: Hal Leonard.

Williams, D. (2007). Shania Twain: On my way. Toronto: ECW Press.