Come On Over is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain. Mercury Records in North America released it on November 4, 1997. Similar to her work on its predecessor, The Woman in Me (1995), Twain entirely collaborated with producer and then-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange. With both having busy schedules, they often wrote apart and later intertwined their ideas. Twain wanted to improve her songwriting skills and write a conversational album reflecting her personality and beliefs. The resulting songs explore themes of romance and female empowerment, addressed with humour.
Produced by Lange, Come On Over is a country pop album with pop and rock influences. The songs contain country instrumentation such as acoustic guitars, fiddles, and pedal steel, in addition to rock riffs and electric guitars. She released an international version on February 16, 1998, with a pop-oriented production that toned down the country instrumentation. Then Twain embarked on the Come On Over Tour, which ran from May 1998 to December 1999. The album spawned 12 singles, including three U.S. Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits—"You're Still the One", "From This Moment On" and "That Don't Impress Me Much—and the global top-ten "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!".
Come On Over received mixed reviews from music critics. Some appreciated the album's crossover appeal and country-pop experimentation, while others criticized the lyrics and questioned its country music categorization. At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999, Come On Over was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The album reached number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, while topping the charts in multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Come On Over is the best-selling studio album by a woman, the best-selling country album, and one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 40million copies worldwide. It was certified 20× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2004. Retrospectively, music journalists praised the album for revolutionizing country music, both musically and visually, and discussed its influence on subsequent country artists.
Background
Canadian singer Shania Twain signed to U.S. label Mercury Nashville Records in 1991, and released her eponymous debut studio album in April 1993. It was a commercial failure, reaching number 67 on the U.S. Top Country Albums chart and selling just over 100,000 copies. The Woman in Me spawned four number-one singles on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and won Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 31st Academy of Country Music Awards and the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, respectively. Despite the commercial success, Twain refused to embark on a tour to support it. Her risky decision sparked criticism and speculation from Nashville industry experts that she was a manufactured artist with no ability to perform live. Twain cited a lack of logistical support, her reluctance to sing cover songs due to not having enough powerful music, and also a desire to take time off and focus on writing songs for her next album. A concert tour, she suggested, would have distracted her from improving her songwriting. Conceiving Come On Over as a conversational album, Twain incorporated common phrases used in everyday language into her songwriting. As a result of the positive response to The Woman in Me, she also felt "freer and more comfortable" to continue writing songs that expressed her personal beliefs and attitudes. "People seemed to like hearing my perspective from a woman's point of view," she said, "and they seemed to like a sense of humour, so it seemed natural to continue on with that."
Production and recording
thumb|left|[[Mike Shipley used a SSL 9000 J console for mixing Come On Over.|alt=A recording console inside a studio.]]
Twain and Lange began the recording process for Come On Over in late 1996. Before recording, Lange called session drummer Paul Leim and played him every song, singing and accompanying himself on guitar. Wanting to capture "a real fun Motown feel," Lange had several conversations with audio engineer Jeff Balding, singing and detailing the musical direction. Balding added, "A lot of thought went into it before we came into the studio to do the tracks." All tracks were recorded over three weeks at Masterfonics Tracking Room in Nashville, Tennessee. Finding the right location to place the drum kit was one challenging task, and they tested several locations. Leim recorded the drums for most songs in a room with a stone floor, and walls made of reflective rock faces. He recorded the ballads in "small 'dead booths.'" Joe Chemay played electric and fretless bass, Biff Watson played acoustic and nylon-string guitar, and Twain sang scratch vocals. Steppenwolf member Larry Byrom played the slide guitar tracks, and then recorded them at the GBT Studio. Olle Romo programmed the music at Sven Studios in Mamaroneck, New York. Twain and Lange recorded the background vocals in Toronto at the Glenn Gould Studio, and later returned to Masterfonics for overdubs.
Whilst having a specific vision for the sound of the songs, Lange also left room for the musicians to come up with their own touches. Recalling the recording of "You've Got a Way," Chemay remarked: "The fretless bass allowed me to slide and make gradual note and pitch changes. I had quite a lot of input on that song." For the fiddle recording, both Twain and Lange were of the opinion that the instruments did not sound "big enough." Thus, Lange brought in four fiddle players: Rob Hajacos, Joe Spivey, Glen Duncan, and Aubrey Haynie.