Despite her extended hiatus, it looks as though she won't suffer 'Imbruglia-esque sophomore album failure due to absence.' Sales are massive, globally, though it is clear that if this were her debut album, it wouldn't perform anywhere near as well. Up! has endless appeal. Shania implements a clever use of alliteration in many of her songs which adds to the catchiness and likeability, also enhanced by the simple rhyming scheme.
The lyrics are simply magnificent as long as you can appreciate Shania's complex political satires. Lines such as "You're a fine piece of real estate, and I'm gonna get me some land" must have extensively deep meaning, otherwise I'd consider the lyrics ridiculous. Shania has tried hard for everyone to relate to her songs due to their arbitrary topics. Waiter! Bring Me Water! and Ka-Ching demonstrate this clearly.
Up! includes two discs in two pretty colors, but probably more importantly, one is country and the other has pop remixes. With this ingenious plan, Shania's Up! is guaranteed to succeed magnificently with its brash crossover appeal. Since Shania is blatantly, primarily country, the pop remix CD was obviously not her idea. The lyrics barely fit the synthesized pop beats and must have been created for twangy guitars. While she hasn't transitioned into the violent gangsta rapper we all hoped, the same formula used in her first album, still works.
Her versatility is fully encapsulated within the album package. It shows her ability to accomplish country and pop, but also amusing novelty songs, positive happy songs with a few slow songs thrown in for variety. Shania will probably never be able to accomplish any effectively deep work in her career unless she can somehow find the sinister side to sleeping with your socks on.
Definitely a top choice for pop/soft rock/country/contemporary/musak fans. As tempting as it is to say "That Don't Impress Me Much", I can't because that would be tacky and the album itself is deliriously fun.
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Shania Twain - Up!
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