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Topic: CD Review -- Shania Twain's "UP!" |
Michael Holland
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 10:05 am |
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It's a 'thumbs up' for Shania's new CD 'UP!'. This full length (19 songs!) CD has much more feel and soul than her recent offerings. Gone are the 'hospital sterile' guitars of Dann Huff, and the album isn't all slamming drums and pounding bass (though the 'singles' aren't hard to pick out). Paul Franklin's pedal steel is featured on MOST of the tunes and is mixed out front and he's playing some really tasty stuff as usual. Brilliant slide guitar work is turned in by Michael Thompson, who is excellent on a roomful of other stringed instruments as well.
It's a double CD, but not like any you've ever seen. From Ms. Twain's liner notes:
"Since I've always been comfortable writing and singing many styles of music from the earliest age, I wanted this CD to reflect that versatility. I didn't feel I could express and have all that fun in less than 19 songs and with only one CD. So, that's why there are 2 CD's included.
When I listen to the music, depending on what mood I'm in , I might put on the RED CD to hear the songs with an electric, rockier-edged sound, and if I want to hear them with a more acoustic, down-home feel, I listen to the GREEN CD."
That's right, the two CD's each contain the same 19 songs, with different mixes of each. In addition, the liner notes include "...there are also some BLUE mixes you can download for free off my website. They are more rhythmic with an Eastern influence."
Will this album appeal to country music traditionalists? Probably not. But this is much more than a rock album with some steel and fiddle. Shania's honesty as a writer and performer come through as never before, and with the GREEN CD, Lange's production is much more 'organic'.
Michael Holland
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Fessenden SD10 - Mesa/Boogie amps
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John Macy
From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 10:58 am
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| Picked it up yesterday, and I agree 100%. Nicely said... |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 12:07 pm
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| Hmmm... |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 12:45 pm
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Like her or not..this sounds very leading edge to me..two CD's with the same songs recorded differently ? I've got to admit, it's an incredible concept..and I'm fairly certain most artists would not be able to push that past the record company execs either..
tp |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 4:39 pm
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| Quote: |
| two CD's with the same songs recorded differently |
Actually there are 3 CD's, the songs on the third one are mixed as "world music" and it is available with the standard disc, instead of the country disc, outside of the US. The implications are kind of obvious....[This message was edited by chas smith on 21 November 2002 at 04:42 PM.] |
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ajm
From:
Los Angeles
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 7:09 pm
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I've got to admit the thought of doing something like this had flashed through my mind before, but I'd never given it much serious thought. I'm impressed to see that somebody finally did it, for whatever reason.
If I understand correctly, there are 19 songs on EACH CD. It's just that each CD has a different version of each song. I guess that it's not really any different than all of the "unplugged" CDs that have been released in the last few years. They're all the same songs done a different way. I also seem to recall someone saying that it's only about a dollar more than a regular single CD.
Granted, the songs are probably not all "classics" (in fact, these days you'd be lucky to find one classic in the whole bunch). Granted, she's had a couple of years off to write new material. But if she wrote 19 songs worthy of putting on an album by herself (or with hubby) that's fairly impressive. And when is the last time that you bought even a regular 2 CD set that had 19 complete songs on it?
Maybe it is a marketing ploy to get people to buy the record. What isn't? IMHO she's far from the greatest singer/songwriter in the world. I probably wouldn't like all of the songs, although I do like both rock and country and don't really find most of her stuff all that objectionable. But if the review is true, I'm tempted to buy this thing anyway. I think that it's a cool idea to do a CD this way.
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Artie McEwan
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Smiley Roberts
From:
Hendersonville,Tn. 37075
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Posted 21 Nov 2002 10:39 pm
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RE: Shania Twain's "UP"
"UP" what? "UP" yours,?"UP" mine? "UP" hers? "UP" his? "UP" theirs?  
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©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.
www.ntsga.com |
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Tony Harris
From:
England
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Posted 22 Nov 2002 8:14 am
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| You're lucky - over here in England we get the Pop/World versions. I'm having to order the "North American" version on import to get the country mixes. Sounds like it'll be worth the wait though if Paul Franklin and Brent Mason are on it.... |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 22 Nov 2002 9:51 am
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| Quote: |
| "UP" what? "UP" yours,?"UP" mine? "UP" hers? "UP" his? "UP" theirs? |
It might just be a command to get it Up... |
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Kenneth Kotsay
From:
Davie/Ft Lauderdale, Florida
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Posted 22 Nov 2002 5:01 pm
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O.K WHAT'S UP!!! I JUST SPENT $9.86 FOR BOTH CDs AT K-MART.
AT THIS PRICE THIS GIRL IS GOING TO SELL BILLIONS OF HER LATEST CD, NO NEED TO POP IT INTO A CDRW WHICH I HAVE NEVER DONE IN MY LIFE INCLUDING CASSETTES, I TRIED ONCE TO COPY A CD BY USING CARBON PAPER, THE CD TURNED BLUE, DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG. MY WIFE TELLS ME TO TRY COPYING A CD BY USING AN OFFICE COPIER MACHINE, HEY I CAN SPIN OUT HUNDREDS OF CDS EVEN IN COLOR. CAN I STAPLE THE CDS TOGTHER????
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Frank Estes
From:
Huntsville, AL
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Posted 23 Nov 2002 6:54 am
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| Interesting, Mr. Holland. You are one the few guys I would listen to closely on such an "endorsement." I mean that. |
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Bill Crook
From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
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Posted 24 Nov 2002 11:47 am
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Ms. Snot Twain doing the same 19 songs twice to cover all venues........ Gimme a break !!!!
The ONLY song she has ever done worth listening to was the one in the "Twister" movie. All the rest is junk/rap/hiphop/rock crap.
I wouldn't download the mess if it were free.
(BTY, A lot of it is out there)
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Jeff Evans
From:
Cowtown and The Bill Cox Outfit
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Posted 24 Nov 2002 11:59 am
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But back to the material...
This is excerpted from a 22 November review, "'Up!" is a downer" by Star-Telegram pop music critic Dave Ferman.
quote:
...as the old saying goes, you can put earrings on a pig, and it's still a pig, and
that definitely applies here: Twain's voice remains workmanlike at best and annoyingly
thin at worst. And she and her husband/producer, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, wrote all
the songs, and they're vapid.
She basically has three types of songs: romantic ballads; I'm-Everywoman empowerment anthems; and sassy let's-cut-that-jerk-down-to-size man-bashers. It's hard to say which of the three is most annoying, but all pander completely to lowest-common-denominator sensibilities and reveal a yawning lack of depth.
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No matter how they're presented, these are weak, formulaic, brainless songs...
Ouch.
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 24 Nov 2002 4:02 pm
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| "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."...Menken |
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John Steele (deceased)
From:
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 9:54 am
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"but all pander completely to lowest-common-denominator sensibilities and reveal a yawning lack of depth."
At the risk of sounding negative, I agree with this reviewer. The whole female-empowerment thing has pretty well run it's course and become lame and annoying... followed closely by "When daddy let me drive his _______ " (Insert truck, boat, snowmobile, tractor, rotorooter here)
Shania did the halftime show at the Grey Cup game yesterday. It was a cold day, which probably accounted for the whole band constantly leaping up and down like mexican jumping beans through the whole set.
The importance (dominance) of visual stimulation was underlined by the actual instruments they played. Without exception the instruments were bizzare looking things, from white electric fiddles to flying Z-like guitars. Shania herself pointed out a shortcoming in Canadian winter wear; Nobody has yet developed a cellophane parka, therefore rendering sub-zero navel gazing impossible.
Quel dommage.
-John
p.s. What in heck are those keyboard-like things they wear strapped around their necks ? And what do they do with their left hands ? |
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 12:34 pm
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Hmm, I see here both positive reactions and negative reactions, some of both kinds being from people who I know and greatly respect. I suppose I am not a Shania fan, not having any of her music in my collection. But I really see no reason for the personal attacks on her, the name-calling and all that. It makes me sad to see it. It is possible to review someone's work, even very critically, and still not call them nasty names.
So she appears (at least to most of us grumpy old steel players)to be a pop singer. Does that justify the name-calling? She has come a long way from Timmins(a small mining city in Northern Ontario), and I don't doubt the hard work and perserverence that went into her career. How many of us have the stamina to make something like that happen? On that score alone, and whether or not I care for someone's music, I am inclined to say more power to her.
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 1:40 pm
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| Quote: |
| She has come a long way from Timmins(a small mining city in Northern Ontario), and I don't doubt the hard work and perserverence that went into her career. How many of us have the stamina to make something like that happen? On that score alone, and whether or not I care for someone's music, I am inclined to say more power to her. |
I think the issue is not so much who she is and whether or not she worked hard to get to where she is, but rather that she has become a very visible symbol of the malaise of 'pop' music and in turn, 'pop' culture, where substance has been superseded by appearance and marketing.
By the same token, Madonna, who's musical skills were pretty marginal, was able to capitolize on her strengths and disguise her weaknesses by having great producers. That's a woman who truly understood her medium and knew how to work it. |
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Bill Crook
From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 2:14 pm
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| well said.Chas ... |
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 3:17 pm
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Hmm,
I'm inclined to say more power to her also!
I think Shania's "UP!" is referring to I hope your "UP!" TO IT?
Perhaps some of you aren't. Hey,You can't please everyone.
 Theresa[This message was edited by Theresa Galbraith on 25 November 2002 at 03:18 PM.] |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 3:42 pm
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If Ms. Twain stuck to straight country shuffles, Patsy Cline-type Ballads, etc, and did a wonderful job on them, in a traditional way, do you think you would have ever heard of her?
I don't.
I can think of a few who have chosen that route. They never broke even. You might hear their recordings on rare occasions and say, "Wow, who is that?" , but a month later you don't even remember where you heard them.
It seems to me success is picked on far too often. This reminds me of the Garth and Toby bashing threads we've had here.
I'm glad she included Steel on her new CD, and chose one of our best players to show to the world. Good for you, Shania!
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 6:15 pm
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Chas, I don't doubt that the issue as you see it is the general malaise afflicting pop music, or that the Shania Twains of this world open themselves up to that kind of critique when they become symbols the way she has. That is fair comment. I don't believe that particular malaise that you refer to is anything particularly new, or that over the years it has been entirely absent from the country music genre that most of us cherish (boy, along with the great stuff, we have had some insipid, superficial dumbed-down country hits over the years, and not just in the last decade or so).
I just took exception to what I saw as an unpleasant and unnecessary personal attack on someone who has worked hard and been demonstrably successful. We don't have to call people names to make a point. And I'm not sure everyone was making the same point that you were.[This message was edited by Bob Blair on 25 November 2002 at 06:16 PM.] |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 25 Nov 2002 7:54 pm
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Ain't it a shame to think that, in this video age, the next big name in country may be working in a Nashville strip joint?
But you know what? There's three or four active threads on this Forum, right now, about good-looking women(read "Shania")their goofy-looking bands and/or instruments, or their semi-naughty videos. It's like somebody said,"The only bad publicity is no publicity."
Anybody got any numbers on Ernest Tubb's total sales? I love Ernest, but it's all about money these days. You look good in the video, you'll sell more records at Wal-Mart.
It ain't right, there ain't a thing right about it. But it IS true. |
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Greg Simmons
From:
where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave
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Ricky0ne1
From:
West Peoria, IL, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2002 3:02 am
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Not that I need a label to put on this or any other 'artist's' music... but I'm having a time (and a laugh or two) thinking of Shania Twain as anything but a writer and singer of catchy little pop tunes (she misses 'country' by a country mile.. or two).. nothing wrong with that, if you like that sort of music.. BUT, and this is a serious BUT... I don't hear anything about momma, prisons, trains, drinkin, or pickup trucks.. and you don't have to call me darlin, darlin..
2 cents, Rick |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2002 11:54 am
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Bob, I completely agree. I tend to ignore the name calling, it minimizes unnecessary confrontations in my life, although, sometimes it is humorous like Barf Gooks and I think that calling men names is one thing, calling women names is something entirely different.
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| 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 think it's interesting that the colors chosen are also the colors of the Bloods and Crips or visa versa. |
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