#300 Shania Twain, 'Come on Over' (1997)

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The massive ‘Come On Over’ by Shania Twain. I listened to the original version, not the ‘International Version.’ Is there a dfference? There certainly is. I didn’t realise it until ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much.’ As the first guitar line in the song came in my thoughts were “I don’t remember this being so country.” And then I relistened and it was obvious. The original version IS so country. The ‘International Version’ was remixed for a more pop/commercial sound. Did it work? Sure did. This album is one of the biggest of all time. It remains the biggest selling album by a female artist, the best selling Country album, the best-selling album by a Canadian and is the 9th biggest-selling record of all time in the US. ‘Come On Over’ has shipped 40 million albums worldwide, with half of those coming from the States. Think about that. This has sold more albums than there are people living in Australia. Twain stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Eagles, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac.

I didn’t mind this record. It’s pleasant enough, easy enough to listen to. Not too twangy and not overly poppy. The right level of inoffensive. I had forgotten how massive Shania Twain was, to be honest. Once I started reading, the facts came flooding back. Of the sixteen tracks, twelve were singles, and of those we had massive songs such as ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman!,’ ‘From This Moment On’ (another song that stood out as sounding different on the original), ‘You’re Still The One’ and the aforementioned ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ which features one of the coolest lyrics (and the most ‘90s lyrics) of all time: “Okay, so you're Brad Pitt/That don't impress me much.”

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