Come On Over


Come On Over is the third studio album recorded by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997. It became the all-time best-selling country music album, best-selling studio album by a female act, and best selling album by a Canadian. It is eighth all-time best-selling album in the United States, and sixteenth best-selling album in the United Kingdom.
To date, the album has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, shipped over 20 million copies in the United States, with over 15.7 million copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan, and another 1.99 million through BMG Music Clubs. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and stayed there for 50 non-consecutive weeks. It stayed in the top ten for 151 weeks. Eleven of the sixteen songs hit top 30 of the Hot Country Songs chart, eight of which hit top 10, including three No. 1s. Twain promoted the album with television performances and interviews. It was further promoted with the successful Come On Over Tour, which visited North America, Oceania and Europe. Out of the album's sixteen tracks, twelve were released as singles, and most became Twain's biggest chart successes.
The album was nominated for six awards at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. "You're Still the One", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 2, was nominated for four awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, winning the latter two. The album received a further three nominations at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for "You've Got a Way", Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and Best Country Song for "Come On Over", winning the latter two.

History

After releasing and promoting her breakthrough album The Woman in Me, Come On Over saw Twain entirely collaborating with producer and then husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange on a variety of country pop numbers, mostly uptempo. Given much more creative freedom than for its predecessor, Twain and Lange sought to break the conventional country music formula on the album and explore the country pop genre to its fullest extent.
Twain decided not to tour off The Woman in Me partly because she felt she needed more powerful music to do a powerful show. Twain and her husband commenced songwriting material for the album as early as 1994, and often wrote apart to later intertwine their ideas. The recording process was intensive, with Lange dedicating overzealous time and patience to each individual track. Though the singer indicated her sonic preferences, she ultimately ceded all production to Lange. On the international version, Twain and Lange revisited tracks to strip them of country influences and increase the album's marketability beyond the US and Canada.
The album was a blockbuster success, becoming the biggest-selling studio album of all time by a female artist, the biggest-selling country music album ever, the biggest-selling album by a Canadian act and one of the biggest-selling albums in music history. Two different versions of the album were released, the original country version, released in 1997, and the revised pop/international version released in 1999. The album was also supported by an extensive world tour by Twain.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. AllMusic praised the album for successfully breaking free of traditional country stereotypes, while also praising Twain for crafting an album with just as much pop/rock appeal as country appeal. Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly praised the album for successfully incorporating a substantial rock influence without losing its country sensibilities.
The album was listed at number 21 in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200.

Commercial performance

Twain topped her own record with the release of Come On Over, beating out her previous Diamond selling album The Woman in Me, as the best-selling country music album ever released and the best-selling studio album ever released by a female artist in any genre. Debuting at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 with a moderate 172,000 copies, the album showed its consistency when it moved another 170,000 copies in its second week to stay at No. 2 again behind Barbra Streisand's Higher Ground. The RIAA certified Come on Over Gold, Platinum and 2× platinum on December 23, 1997. It sold more than 100,000 units in each of 62 weeks. During the Thanksgiving week of 1999, the Come On Over: International Version was released in conjunction to Shania's Thanksgiving CBS special, Come On Over that week earned the Billboard chart "Greatest Gainer" title, jumping 24-11 on the Billboard 200, a 246% increase in sales from a 57,000 the previous week to a 197,000 the week after. The album's best sales week was its 110th week, during which it sold 355,000 units to settle at number ten. The album stayed on the top 10 for 54 weeks, set a record for longest stay in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 of 112 weeks, and in top 40 for 127 consecutive weeks. Come On Over topped the Billboard Country album chart for a record 50 weeks, finishing second to Garth Brooks' Sevens in 1998, finishing first in 1999, and third in 2000 behind Dixie Chicks' Fly and Faith Hill's Breathe. It was certified diamond by the RIAA on April 7, 1999. Despite its considerable sales, the album never reached the top of the Billboard 200.
Come On Over was the first album to reach both 14 million and 15 million in sales in the US since 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales. It ranks as the second best-selling album of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the US, with over 15.73 million copies sold by October 2017, behind its nearest rival, Metallica's 1991 self-titled album. However, these figures do not include sales through such entities as BMG Music Club, where Come on Over has sold 1.99 million copies while Metallica has sold fewer than 298,000 copies.
The album topped the charts for 11 weeks in the UK. The album is one of the highest-selling albums ever in Australia, reaching 15 times platinum and spending 19 weeks at No. 1 and 165 weeks in the top 100. It is still the best-selling album of the 1990s in Australia. The album sat at the top spot of the Canadian country albums chart for over 110 weeks. Worldwide the album sold 3.4 million copies in 1997, 8.9 million in 1998 and over 15.2 million copies in 1999, standing strong in 2000 selling another 6.4 million copies worldwide. Over 40 million copies have been sold across the world.

Track listing

Original version

International version

The International version was remixed for a more pop and world feel. The only song that stayed the same on both versions was "Rock This Country!". Some issues of this album adhere to the original track-listing and feature Bryan White on "From This Moment On", while others feature the track as a solo recording.

Revised international version

The album was later re-released after the success of "That Don't Impress Me Much". This 'revised version' included The Right Mix of "From This Moment On", the Notting Hill Remix for "You've Got a Way" and the Dance Remix for "That Don't Impress Me Much". In most countries this mix is titled the "Dance Mix Edit" but for the UK, Netherlands and Germany it was titled the "UK Dance Mix". The Australian Tour Edition features the same changes but includes a 4:28 edit of the regular Dance Mix of "That Don't Impress Me Much" rather than the shorter UK edit, along with a bonus disc with 6 tracks. It was later reissued as a single disc with 3 of the tracks from the second disc added.
Some Asian versions featured a bonus VCD with three videos and an interview.
In the US, this version of the album was released, titled simply as the "International Version", to coincide with both international success and the fact that the original version of the album had maintained heavy chart success throughout the past two years.

Tour editions

A limited edition tour edition was released in Australia and Asia which contains a bonus disc with bonus mixes and live tracks. Also included was a list of tour dates.

Personnel

Musicians
Strings on "From This Moment On" arranged and performed by Carl Marsh and David Hamilton.
"Bow Bros." gang fiddles on tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 11, 13, and 15 performed by Rob Hajacos, Joe Spivey, Glen Duncan, and Aubrey Haynie.
Mixed by Mike Shipley, Olle Romo and Mutt Lange ; edited by Mike Shipley )

Charts

Weekly charts

Decade-end charts

Chart Position
US Billboard 200158

All-time charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Video release

In late 1999, the album's video counterpart, appropriately titled Come On Over: Video Collection, was released in VHS format. With the sole exceptions of "When", which was released exclusively to the United Kingdom, and "Rock This Country!", which at the time had not been filmed, the collection included all of Twain's music videos released in promotion for the album.

Track listing

Release history