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COUNTRY MUSIC MAGZINE
RATING: 4 STARS
Foremost on most people's minds about UP!, Shania Twain's first album of new
material in five years, is whether it's country. From a marketing standpoint, the answer is yes and no. Twain and her record
company have seen to that by releasing two versions of the same album as a double CD. The "red" disc consists of 19 songs
recorded in an amped-up rock vein; the "green" disc includes different takes of the same tracks gussied up with fiddle, banjo,
mandolin, and steel guitar. (A third "blue" disc, which features eastern influences, is available as a high-priced import
or as a download at shaniatwain.com)
More important, though, is whether UP! actually *sounds* country. The green arrangements
are more akin to the roots-country of Trisha Yearwoods "Real Live Woman" than anything dreamt of in Faith Hill's diva philosophy.
The red disc is downright imperious--a smart, fun, adult-pop record, rich in hooks and beats that should play as well in SUVs
as it does on the dance floor.
All of the tracks on UP! convey a strong, positive woman's point of view, and Shania's
voice is more supple and commanding than ever. The arrangements of Twain's husband, Mutt Lange, brim with imagination and
playfulness, and his production is punchy and expansive. Lange doesn't just augment Shania's stadium-ripe twang with nods
to the likes of U2, ABBA, The Eagles, and TLC. The thudding beats and synth textures on a track like "Ka-Ching!" suggest that
he and Shania have been listening to records from such hip-hop mixmasters as Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
But again,
is UP! country? Absolutely. Much as Red Foley did when he expanded postwar country's palatte to include Bing Crosby-inspired
crooning and black gospel, or the architects of the Nashville Sound did a decade later with their Tin Pan Alley gloss and
champagne strings, UP! finds Shania boldly redefining country music. She also proves just how durable, elastic, and enthralling
the idiom can be.
THE WASHINGTON POST
The Expanding Country Of Shania Twain
By Bill Friskics-Warren
Special to
The Washington Post
Wednesday, November 27, 2002; Page C01
It's a shame that most discussions of Shania
Twain
revolve around whether her records
should be classified as country music. Not only
was 1997's "Come On Over" the best-selling
album
in the history of the idiom, but Twain's
rural, working-class values -- an ethos born of a
hard-knock childhood that's
the Canadian
equivalent of those of Dolly Parton and Loretta
Lynn -- are as down-home as country ham and
red-eye
gravy.
This isn't to deny, as she sang on one of the
tracks on "Come On Over," that Twain is out to
"rock this
country." Or that she doesn't relish
pushing the boundaries of country music. Writing
in the insert that accompanies
"Up!," Twain's
first album of new material in five years, she
confronts the issue head-on. "Having the variety
in
styles is reminiscent of my youth when I used
to listen to our local radio station and hear Stevie
Wonder, Dolly Parton,
Supertramp and the Bee
Gees all in the same hour."
That omnivorous musical appetite is writ large
on "Up!" --
a musical ecumenism that's as
impressive as Twain herself. The album contains
two CDs of the same songs sequenced
identically:
a "red" disc with a harder,
rock-leaning cast, and a "green" one garnished
with mandolin, fiddle, banjo and steel guitar.
(A
third set of "blue" mixes that bear a Middle
Eastern stamp is available as a free download on
the singer's Web
site, shaniatwain.com.)
In other words, "Up!" offers some Shania for
everyone; alongside her patented turbo-twang
are
hooks, riffs and harmonies that recall
records by Tom Petty, the Eagles, Buddy Holly,
the Carpenters, Abba, the Pointer
Sisters,
Madonna, TLC and a handful of other pop,
rock and soul hitmakers. The bumping backbeats
and acerbic washes of strings on a track like
"Ka-Ching!" even suggest that Twain and her
husband and producer, Robert John
"Mutt"
Lange, have been taking cues from
the thug
reveries of rappers Jay-Z and DMX.
Purists will no doubt balk at the expansive
musical palette that Twain and Lange
relied on to make "Up!" Yet Twain's influences
are hardly that different from those
evident
in the music of such unassailably
country stars as Garth Brooks and Tim
McGraw -- or, for that matter, crossover
records by Parton or Reba McEntire. More
to the point, the bulk of the 19 tracks
on
both discs of "Up!" -- everything from
electro-beat romps to sweeping ballads
arranged and sung with imagination and
command -- are, to invoke the title of an
old hits package by the Who -- "meaty,
beaty, big and bouncy."
Granted, the ubiquitous exclamation points
that Twain appends to her song titles can
be grating, and her lyrics hardly run deep.
Yet neither do those of Petty,
Jay-Z or, for
that matter, Vince Gill -- male stars who are
rarely taken to task for their lightweight
lyrics. And Twain's writing isn't so much
insubstantial as accessible, if at times a
little cliched. That said, she's also
pro-woman
("She's Not Just a Pretty Face"), pro-intimacy
("Wanna Get to Know You That Good!"), pro-
commitment ("Forever and for Always") and
pro-self-determination ("In My Car
I'll Be
the Driver"). Only when she decries
materialism
and the marketing of beauty does she come
off as somewhat disingenuous.
Steve
Earle once called Twain the highest-paid
lap dancer in Nashville. Highest-paid,
perhaps,
but no lap dancer, not by half. A woman in
command of her art, image and career
is more
like it. Well nigh unstoppable, too.
THE TENNESSEAN
What's 'Up!'? Well, let me tell you
Perhaps the title is short for up-tempo.
A
private front-to-back preview of Shania Twain's new album, due in stores Nov. 19, revealed a 73-minute, 19-song collection
with scarcely a ballad on it. The final tune, When You Kiss Me, is a soft ''I-think-I'm-in-love'' song that's more intimate
than power-ballad. But leading up to that, it's all signature Shania sizzle with only a few subtle new directions.
The
country mix (''green'' vs. ''red'' in the parlance of the album, which will offer two mixes of the same music for the price
of one) is pretty darn country, with nice weaving of fiddle, mandolin, banjo and the amazing pedal steel of Paul Franklin.
That's all blended with the thick-as-a-brick drums and hard-edged electric guitar you're used to from Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
and other hits.
Most every song on Up! sounds like a potential country radio hit, which doesn't mean they're all really
good, just that they sort of define the formula now. There are highlights however.
She's Not Just a Pretty Face is
a slick woman-power song you'll probably hear on the airwaves, and Forever and for Always is a lush and complex mid-tempo
love song that grabs. One other highlight that sounded great the first time through: I Ain't Goin' Down, which is a rare story
song from Shania, about a struggling single mom. The song has almost a classic country sound to it. Go figure.
PEOPLE MAGAZINE
Reviewed by Ralph Novak
"Even my skin is acting weird/ I wish that I could
grow a beard." Those inane lines, from the title tune of this excessive follow-up to 1997's 19-million-selling Come On Over,
were written by Twain and her producer husband, Robert "Mutt" Lange, as were the 18 other songs on Up! To appease both Nashville
and crossover contingents, the two-disc set includes one CD with country versions and another with pop takes on the same tunes.
Either way, though, most of these songs just don't cut it.
"She's Not Just a Pretty Face" is the dopiest feminist anthem
since Helen Reddy was in roaring mode, while "C'est La Vie" rhymes "Monday" and "dumb day." "Thank You Baby! (For Makin' Someday
Come So Soon)" -- featuring a busy, string-heavy arrangement in both versions -- is as overwrought as its title. We waited
five years for this?
BOTTOM LINE: Shania messes Up!
BILLBOARD
This double-CD follow-up to Shania Twain's previous two multiplatinum efforts features
both "pop" and "more pop" versions of 19 new Twain/Lange compositions. Both discs boast a signature
Lange sound—crisp, punchy, multi-layered, with hooks for days. It's also quintessential Shania, light as vapor, sweet
as sugar, rendered with personality and undeniable charisma. Twain works hard on such bouncy fare as the title cut, the swirling
debut single "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!," and such interchangeable girl-power anthems as "She's Not Just
a Pretty Face," "Nah!," "In My Car (I'll be the Driver)," and Latin-tinged "Juanita." The breezy "Forever and for Always"
shows impressive range, and Twain infuses "I Ain't Goin' Down" with some passion. It's hard to stay UP!
over the course of 19 cuts (never mind 38), and Twain's trademark vocal tricks do get repetitive. All the better for her fans,
though; expect precious metal.—RW
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BLENDER MAGAZINE
With a fizzy new record
of not-really-country music, Nashville’s crossover queen wants to take you Up! Really!
Release date: November 19,
2002
By RJ Smith
No pop star has ever been as crazy about punctuation as Shania Twain is. Although the Canadian-born
singer has put exclamation points in song titles before, this time she’s fizzier than a high-school girl with a Sharpie
and a yearbook. Of the 19 songs on Up!, nine shout their feelings for emphasis, and “Waiter! Bring Me Water!”
has two exclamations. OK already! You’re back! Feeling great! Looking good! Only three ballads! Your songs aren’t
just catchy; the high spirits positively conquer all!
Her last album, 1997’s Come on Over, skyrocketed into the
best-selling album ever by a female singer. She was the fierce ruling diva of the age, but a lot has happened since. Dixie
Chicks, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes laid low, then returned with huge records aiming to knock Twain’s block off. They
no longer try to cross over to pop from a country-music base; following Twain’s lead, they start from a premise that
they can be their twanging, suburban selves and an audience will follow.
Still, nobody does it better than Twain. As
Up! shows, she doesn’t so much cross genres as render them pointless, because her personality trumps all. Up! is packed
with, well, uplifting love songs and self-esteem anthems that speak primarily but not only to women. She’s one of the
most-imitated icons among drag queens, and she also wins over some more unlikely allies: Even alt-country smart aleck Robbie
Fulks recently paid her an odd tribute when he put on a dress at a concert and sang Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like
a Woman!”
People once debated whether all her “We Will Rock You” beats and Joan Jett shout-alongs
meant Twain couldn’t possibly be country. But the last three years have made that argument sound as old as Johnny Cash.
In the wake of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and the success of young bands like Nickel Creek, bluegrass is suddenly
the new hip-hop, a mandolin as good a way as any to prove that you’re keeping it real.
Twain keeps it twice as
real, giving listeners two CDs for the price of one: the “Red” disc features rock guitars and arena hip-hop beats;
the “Green” disc remixes the same songs with banjos and fiddles. Her producer-husband, Mutt Lange, supposedly
has hundreds of versions tweaked for the specific tastes of markets around the world; presumably Rwandans like their Twain
different than Québécois do.
There are even “Blue” versions, and in the liner notes Twain gives a Web
address where you can hear them. (Dream on, cowpoke — these aren’t X-rated takes; they’re “more rhythmic
with an Eastern influence. Way fun!” she says.) Up! is music crafted for maximum market penetration, but what’s
amazing is how specific it usually feels, how much human feeling is at the center.
On “Waiter! Bring Me Water!”
she sings about being in a restaurant with her man, whose attention is hijacked by a pretty young thing tossing her hair.
Twain freaks, can’t believe he’d want a taste of that. Without explicitly saying so in the lyrics, the singer
seems to be asking the waiter for water so she can douse her man’s wet dreams. Twain herself is carefully competitive,
and in the past she has compared herself to Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Alanis Morissette. In musical terms, the competition
Twain has her eye on seems to be Pink.
Many of Up!’s songs have Pink’s breathy, edgy singing style and
hip-hop–influenced beats. “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!” sounds like a cross between “Get the Party
Started” and Supertramp — in a really good way. Give Twain credit for spotting young diva greatness; she’ll
never cavort with psychodrama the way Pink does, but her slyly feminist songs seem to have gotten a jolt from the younger
singer’s similarly self-reliant themes.
“I Ain’t Goin’ Down” cheers on a 15-year-old
single mom; “In My Car (I’ll Be the Driver)” all but rolls its eyes at the man who thinks he’s in
charge. Twain’s songs are never deep — Lange’s production makes a religion out of gloss and surfaces —
but they have hooks tattooed on their skin and harmonies that glow like bar lights. Subliminal late-’70s references
abound — “C’est la Vie” sounds a lot like “Dancing Queen,” and the soft-pop hit “Magnet
and Steel” seems something of a touchstone. Even if it doesn’t sell 19 million copies, Up! will be on the radio
for a long, long time. And more than a few guys are going to be putting on dresses and singing its songs.
CMT
As any keen-eared observer of the country music scene will testify, Shania Twain
has been working for some time to achieve the goal she now has apparently reached with the release of her new CD Up!. And
that is: world domination.
Twain has created a free-floating, non-generic world music that is simultaneously country
and pop and neither. For the past few decades, pop and country have jousted back and forth for control of the great middle
ground of music audiences. Anytime there has been a vacuum in pop and rock, country has rushed in to fill the void, whether
it has been the Nashville Sound, the Urban Cowboy movement, Outlaw Music, the O Brother phenomenon or Garth Brooks.
Now
Shania has decreed that there will be no more pop music vacuums -- she will be all music to all audiences. Unlike ZZ Top --
who declared themselves "bad and nationwide" -- Shania is good and worldwide. With her three versions of Up! she is trying
to cover the whole world.
My modest suggestion in this space recently to color-code country music albums either red
or blue (for the red and blue national audiences suggested from the last presidential election) appears to have borne fruit.
I'm
happy to see that Twain took my color-coding idea seriously. She of course has adopted the more global approach of coding,
releasing three different versions of the album in three different colors -- pop (red), country (green) and blue (global).
And her marketing idea is working, especially by grouping the red and green versions in one low-price package in the domestic
release. Early sales figures indicated at press time that Up! would sell close to a million copies in its first week of release,
in the U.S. alone.
Marketing genius aside, there are of course the odd nagging, critical questions left dangling in
Shania's dust. Such as: does just plugging banjo, fiddle or steel guitar into nonspecific songs somehow transform them into
country songs? Does aping the infectious sound of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" in the song "C'est La Vie" suggest that the Twain
melody machine is running a tad thin on ideas? And, even though she and husband and producer Mutt Lange recorded the three
different versions of the album, in reality the three don't really sound so different.
Traditionally, country songs
draw from personal experience, transforming the personal into the universal. Shania, like most pop writers, is attempting
to do the reverse. She's trying to convert universal sentiments (I'm strong, life can be unfair, things will be all right,
love is everywhere) into personal experience. Shania's virtual country here is much more sterile than even her recent works.
She does approach some of her earlier gritty moments here in "I Ain't Goin' Down," a song with a backbone, about being a 15-year-old
mother. And she's still expressive with a love song, as with "Forever and for Always" and especially "When You Kiss Me." Mostly,
however, the album lives in its own spic-and-span world where ideas are perky and bright and are no more than surface-deep.
I
hear from industry scuttlebutt that Lange actually started this project with the drum tracks from Shania's last album Come
On Over and just re-configured them in the computer to create tracks for the new songs. That's certainly conceivable. There's
no doubt that Lange is a genius at conjuring up sound. There have been only two major modern developments in the sound of
country music: producer and label president Jimmy Bowen's converting Nashville's studio sound from analog to digital and Mutt
Lange's transforming that sound from literal country to virtual country -- with the considerable aid of his singer and wife.
Bowen's revolution was purely technical and audiences didn't necessarily discern it; Lange's and Twain's revolution is cultural
and hits audiences bigtime. Country music will never again be the same.
Science-fiction never contemplated the future
of country music. Shania Twain has done it instead. This is the first country album that truly will be played -- in its different
incarnations worldwide.
COUNTRY WEEKLY
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 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 for only 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!?
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