Come On Over: Альбом Шании Твейн

1997 studio album by Shania Twain

Come On Over is the third studio album by Canadian singer Shania Twain. Mercury Records in North America released it on November 4, 1997. Similar to her work on its predecessor, The Woman in Me (1995), Twain entirely collaborated with producer and then husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange. With both having busy schedules, they often wrote apart and later intertwined their ideas. Twain wanted to improve her songwriting skills and write a conversational album reflecting her personality and beliefs. The resulting songs explore themes of romance and female empowerment, addressed with humor. Produced by Lange, Come On Over is a country pop album with pop and rock influences. The songs contain country instrumentation such as acoustic guitars, fiddles, and pedal steel, in addition to rock riffs and electric guitars. She released an international version on February 16, 1998, with a pop oriented production that toned down the country instrumentation. Then Twain embarked on the Come On Over Tour, which ran from May 1998 to December 1999. The album spawned 12 singles, including three U. S. Billboard Hot 100 top ten hits: "You're Still the One", "From This Moment On" and "That Don't Impress Me Much." Come On Over received mixed reviews from music critics. Some appreciated the album's crossover appeal and country pop experimentation, while others criticized the lyrics and questioned its country music categorization. At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999, Come On Over was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The album reached number two on the U. S. Billboard 200 chart, while topping the charts in multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, and the UK. With sales of over 40 million copies worldwide, Come On Over was recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest selling studio album of all time by a solo female artist. It is the best selling country album in the U. S., and was certified 20× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2004. Retrospectively, music journalists praised the album for revolutionizing country music, both musically and visually, and discussed its influence on subsequent country artists.

Canadian singer Shania Twain signed to U. S. label Mercury Nashville Records in 1991, and released her eponymous debut studio album in April 1993. It was a commercial failure, reaching number 67 on the U. S. Top Country Albums chart and selling just over 100,000 copies. The Woman in Me spawned four number one singles on the U. S. Hot Country Songs chart and won Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 31st Academy of Country Music Awards and the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, respectively. Despite the commercial success, Twain refused to embark on a tour to support it. Her risky decision sparked criticism and speculation from Nashville industry experts that she was a manufactured artist with no ability to perform live. Twain cited a lack of logistical support, her reluctance to sing cover songs due to not having enough powerful music, and also a desire to take time off and focus on writing songs for her next album. A concert tour, she suggested, would have distracted her from improving her songwriting. Conceiving Come On Over as a conversational album, Twain incorporated common phrases used in everyday language into her songwriting. As a result of the positive response to The Woman in Me, she also felt "freer and more comfortable" to continue writing songs that expressed her personal beliefs and attitudes. "People seemed to like hearing my perspective from a woman's point of view," she said, "and they seemed to like a sense of humour, so it seemed natural to continue on with that."

Twain and Lange began the recording process for Come On Over in late 1996. Before recording, Lange called session drummer Paul Leim and played him every song, singing and accompanying himself on guitar. Wanting to capture "a real fun Motown feel," Lange had several conversations with audio engineer Jeff Balding, singing and detailing the musical direction. Balding added, "A lot of thought went into it before we came into the studio to do the tracks." All tracks were recorded over three weeks at Masterfonics Tracking Room in Nashville, Tennessee. Finding the right location to place the drum kit was one challenging task, and they tested several locations. Leim recorded the drums for most songs in a room with a stone floor, and walls made of reflective rock faces. He recorded the ballads in "small 'dead booths.'" Joe Chemay played electric and fretless bass, Biff Watson played acoustic and nylon string guitar, and Twain sang scratch vocals. Steppenwolf member Larry Byrom played the slide guitar tracks, and then recorded them at the GBT Studio. Olle Romo programmed the music at Sven Studios in Mamaroneck, New York. Twain and Lange recorded the background vocals in Toronto at the Glenn Gould Studio, and later returned to Masterfonics for overdubs. Whilst having a specific vision for the sound of the songs, Lange also left room for the musicians to come up with their own touches. Recalling the recording of "You've Got a Way," Chemay remarked: "The fretless bass allowed me to slide and make gradual note and pitch changes. I had quite a lot of input on that song." For the fiddle recording, both Twain and Lange were of the opinion that the instruments did not sound "big enough." Thus, Lange brought in four fiddle players: Rob Hajacos, Joe Spivey, Glen Duncan, and Aubrey Haynie. NoteTag|Credited as the "Bow Bros." in the liner notes of Come On Over. Glenn Meadows at Masterfonics mastered the album with a SADiE's Apogee UV22 plug in.

Music critics debated the album's genre. Most categorized Come On Over as country pop. Attributed to AllMusic, NPR, and Time. Christopher O'Connor of MTV News and Miriam Longino of The Atlanta Constitution remarked that the songs combined country music instruments, such as fiddles, pedal steel, and acoustic guitars, with radio friendly pop hooks. Pitchforks Allison Hussey stated that "fiddles are the key element in transmitting Come On Overs country core," but the "smeared edges of [Twain and Lange's] production [ ] master the illusion of genre." The News & Observer, and the Courier Journal. Many critics noted rock influences in the album's instrumentation. Described as a "country pop metal mix," "Honey, I'm Home" is an uptempo country rock track The Baltimore Sun, Some critics described other tracks with more uptempo productions, such as "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)" and "That Don't Impress Me Much," as dance able country pop numbers. In addition to an electronic Caribbean beat, the mandolin and accordion led Latin percussion on the title track create a Cajun sound. The piano based "You're Still the One" features breathy vocals and instrumentation from guitar, organ, and mandolin. The closing track "You've Got a Way" is a Spanish guitar driven ballad with "gentle" drums.

Thematically and lyrically, Twain and Lange focused on accentuating the positive. Thus, Twain omitted personal details and focused on entertaining her listeners. "People ask me, 'What do you want people to get from your music?' And I say, 'I want them to be entertained.' That's really the bottom line. I'm not sending out some subliminal message or trying to change the consciousness of people." The songs on Come On Over reflect Twain's concerns, interests, and day to day preoccupations. Twain said it was her favorite song lyrically: "I love the whole concept. It's a neat way of saying 'never' about a relationship. Like saying 'when hell freezes over' without saying that." In "You're Still the One," she celebrates a successful relationship that has prevailed despite turmoil, hardships, and criticism. "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" is a self celebratory song about female empowerment, hedonism, and women's liberty. "If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask!" explores themes of sexual consent and respecting a woman's personal space. Twain said the song was inspired by awkward feelings she experienced in her adolescence due to her physical development. However, she decided to write it from a positive perspective and sing about how to sensitively approach a woman. Twain narrates the role reversal song "Honey, I'm Home" from the perspective of a working woman coming home after a difficult day and demanding that her partner take care of her. The song drew some comparisons to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" (1980). She released the album in North America on November 4, 1997, through Mercury Records. With 16 songs and a running time of slightly over an hour, Come On Over distinguished itself by deviating from the traditional standard of "cheap, short" country albums, typically consisting of only 10 12 tracks and a duration of under 35 40 minutes. When the album was complete, Lange spent four months remixing it for international release. He removed country elements from the songs to achieve a "universal" pop oriented sound. He made the snare drums, fiddles, and pedal steel more subtle, and replaced them with pop beats, drum loops, keyboards, and synthesizers. 15 songs underwent sonic changes, with the exception of "Rock This Country!" which remained in its original version. Twain and Lange released the international version of Come On Over in continental Europe on February 16, 1998, with a different track order and new artwork. In Japan, they released a limited edition 10 days earlier. It featured both a radio edit and the album version of "You're Still the One," as well as a "Mach 3 remix" of "Love Gets Me Every Time."

Mercury implemented an extensive promotional campaign for Come On Over. To market it, Twain performed "Love Gets Me Every Time" at the 1997 Country Music Association Awards She appeared on a series of American television shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Late Night with David Letterman, and Good Morning America. For the international release in Europe, she conducted press interviews and performed "You're Still the One" on The National Lottery Live in the U. K. On February 26, 1998, Twain appeared on TNN's Prime Time Country. She sang songs from both The Woman In Me and Come On Over, and then Gary Chapman interviewed her. In March 1998, Twain embarked on a promotional tour in Australia. She appeared on Midday, Hey Hey It's Saturday Night, and performed at the Australian Grand Prix concert in Melbourne. In September 1998, Twain became the first female country singer to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine since Dolly Parton in 1980. She also performed at award shows, including the Canadian Country Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards, and Billboard Music Awards. Promotion continued throughout 1999, with Twain appearing again on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Prime Time Country. On February 24, 1999, Twain sang "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" at the 41st Grammy Awards ceremony. She returned to the U. K. in July and September 1999 to perform at Capital Radio's Party in the Park and Top of the Pops, respectively. At the 1999 Country Music Association Awards, Twain performed "Come On Over." In the U. K., a Top of the Pops 2 special aired on BBC Two on December 8, 1999, where Twain sang "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "That Don't Impress Me Much,” among other songs.

Out of the album's 16 songs, 12 were released as singles. In North America, promoters pushed Come On Over as a country album, while internationally categorizing it as pop. Promoters serviced the first two singles, "Love Gets Me Every Time" and "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)," only to country radio stations The former was a five week number one on the Hot Country Songs charts, while the latter was a top ten hit on the same. "You're Still the One" had a crossover release to U. S. pop radio on January 13, 1998, and was the first single the team released in Europe on February 2, 1998. In addition to reaching number one in Australia and on the U. S. Hot Country Songs chart, the song peaked at number two on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100, and at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. Mercury relied on a crossover marketing strategy for the following singles, sending songs to pop stations only after they achieved success on country stations. They later serviced it to U. S. pop stations on August 25, 1998, and it peaked within the top 10 in Australia, the U. K., and the U. S.

"When" had a limited release in Europe on June 1, 1998. Twain released the original version of "That Don't Impress Me Much" to U. S. country stations on December 7, 1998, and released a dance remixNoteTag|Labeled as the "UK dance mix" on the revised international edition. It was the album's most successful single internationally, topping the charts in Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. It achieved top 10 positions in other territories, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, the U. K., and peaked at numbers 49 and 23 respectively on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100. "Come On Over" (September 7, 1999), "Rock This Country!" (January 10, 2000), and "I'm Holdin' On to Love (To Save My Life)" (July 2000). All songs peaked within the top 30 of the U. S. Hot Country Songs chart, with "Honey, I'm Home" at number one and "Come On Over" at number six.

To further promote the album, Twain embarked on the Come On Over Tour, her first as a headliner. It kicked off in Sudbury, Northern Ontario, on May 29, 1998, and concluded in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 5, 1999. Outside North America, the Come On Over Tour visited Australia, Ireland, and the U. K. It grossed over $70 million from 165 shows and received generally positive reviews. Music critics appreciated Twain's energetic performances as she refuted those earlier accusations of being unable to sing live, and they praised the show's production. The tour visited Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, on September 12, 1998, and DirecTV broadcast it live. A CBS TV special titled Shania Twain's Winter Break premiered on March 3, 1999. Filmmakers documented the tour on January 15 and 16, 1999, at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami, Florida.

As noted earlier, Come On Over received mixed reviews from music critics. Those who were complimentary applauded it for exploring the limits of country music. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic remarked that Come On Over transcended boundaries due to its rock oriented production, The Tennessean's Tom Roland added that the array of rock references hardly made the album sound country. and touted Lange's production. Other reviews from The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Austin American Statesman, the New York Daily News, and Q were negative, dismissing the album as "unforgivably bland," forgettable, and uninspired. Twain's lyrical content drew criticism for lacking depth, Hussey opined that Twain avoided controversy and was "the first to insist that her songs are meant to be fun, and it is OK to enjoy them on those terms alone." The Sydney Morning Heralds Mary Tartaglione and The Guardian's Adam Sweeting were critical, deeming the international version's production "overly polished" and "manufactured."

At the 1998 Canadian Country Music Association Awards, Come On Over won Album of the Year and was declared the Top Selling Album. the 1998 Country Music Association Awards, and the 1998 Juno Awards. The album received further nominations for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Country Album at the 26th American Music Awards. At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999, Come On Over was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and its single "You're Still the One" won Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. The following year, at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" won Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and "Come On Over" won Best Country Song.

In 2015, Guinness World Records recognized Come On Over as the biggest selling studio album by a female solo artist, with over 40 million copies sold worldwide. It remains the best selling country album, the best selling album by a Canadian artist, and the world's eighth best selling album of all time.