twaintrain
12-30-2002, 9:37pm
Album Review:
Shania Twain - Up!
Mercury Nashville
I'm gonna getcha real good, announces Shania Twain on the first hit from her wildly anticipated fourth album, and she means it.
In fact, Shania is so determined to "getcha that's she's packed UP! with 19 songs, each one as timely, reliable and carefully constructed as a Swiss watch. All Shania's familiar charms -- catchy, radio-ready choruses, thumping beats, sassy attitude - are present and accounted for in each tune. It's hard to imagine any of the 34 million people worldwide who bought COME ON OVER -- Shania's previous album, released a patience-testing five years ago -- coming away from her new one unsatisfied.
Opening with the surprisingly down-sounding title cut, UP! charges full-throttle through the woman-power anthems "She's Not Just A Pretty Face" and "Juanita," the reggae-tinged "Ain't No Particular Way," the ABBA-ish "C'est La Vie," and too many more to mention, pausing only for a couple of ballads along the way. A lone sour note is struck by the anti-shopping "Ka-Ching!" -- does she really want you to feel guilty for buying the album?
That stumble is soon forgotten, and after 19 songs in 74 minutes, you're only getting started. UP! is divided into two halves --the first, "red" disc is fully electrified, while the other, "green" disc offers more acoustic-leaning versions of the same songs. (Rumor had it that UP! would be Shania's plunge into pop, but rest assured that's not the case.)
Two and a half hours of tuneful, eager-to-please, state-of-the-art country? What more can one woman do to getcha to get UP!?
--Chris Neal
Quote of the Week:
"I'd rather clean my toilet than go to a show-business party."
--Shania Twain
Worth The Wait
The biggest comeback was Shania Twain. Five years after releasing the 19-million-selling COME ON OVER, we got UP! -- a two-CD epic featuring two versions each of 19 songs. Shania returned with guns blazing, armed with a million-dollar video for the Top 10 hit "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!"
After spending months on end pleasing audiences on tour in 1998 and 1999, Shania was due for some time off -- and then came the announcement of her pregnancy, which pushed work to the back burner. In August 2001 she and husband/collaborator Robert John "Mutt" Lange welcomed their first child, Eja, and now that he's up and around, she is, too. "It's great to be back," she says. "It's been a long time now, I realize that."
Shania Twain - Up!
Mercury Nashville
I'm gonna getcha real good, announces Shania Twain on the first hit from her wildly anticipated fourth album, and she means it.
In fact, Shania is so determined to "getcha that's she's packed UP! with 19 songs, each one as timely, reliable and carefully constructed as a Swiss watch. All Shania's familiar charms -- catchy, radio-ready choruses, thumping beats, sassy attitude - are present and accounted for in each tune. It's hard to imagine any of the 34 million people worldwide who bought COME ON OVER -- Shania's previous album, released a patience-testing five years ago -- coming away from her new one unsatisfied.
Opening with the surprisingly down-sounding title cut, UP! charges full-throttle through the woman-power anthems "She's Not Just A Pretty Face" and "Juanita," the reggae-tinged "Ain't No Particular Way," the ABBA-ish "C'est La Vie," and too many more to mention, pausing only for a couple of ballads along the way. A lone sour note is struck by the anti-shopping "Ka-Ching!" -- does she really want you to feel guilty for buying the album?
That stumble is soon forgotten, and after 19 songs in 74 minutes, you're only getting started. UP! is divided into two halves --the first, "red" disc is fully electrified, while the other, "green" disc offers more acoustic-leaning versions of the same songs. (Rumor had it that UP! would be Shania's plunge into pop, but rest assured that's not the case.)
Two and a half hours of tuneful, eager-to-please, state-of-the-art country? What more can one woman do to getcha to get UP!?
--Chris Neal
Quote of the Week:
"I'd rather clean my toilet than go to a show-business party."
--Shania Twain
Worth The Wait
The biggest comeback was Shania Twain. Five years after releasing the 19-million-selling COME ON OVER, we got UP! -- a two-CD epic featuring two versions each of 19 songs. Shania returned with guns blazing, armed with a million-dollar video for the Top 10 hit "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!"
After spending months on end pleasing audiences on tour in 1998 and 1999, Shania was due for some time off -- and then came the announcement of her pregnancy, which pushed work to the back burner. In August 2001 she and husband/collaborator Robert John "Mutt" Lange welcomed their first child, Eja, and now that he's up and around, she is, too. "It's great to be back," she says. "It's been a long time now, I realize that."