Is Shania Twain to Blame for Broken Promises on New Music, Or Mercury Nashville?
“It’s good to see all of you too. I hope to be seeing a lot more of you.” -Shania Twain after making a surprise appearance at the CMA Awards, November, 2008.
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Please don’t mistake this as clamoring for Shania Twain to re-emerge in country music. It has been a pleasant last 15 years to be virtually devoid of Shania and her pop songs and leopard-printed onesies aside from a few Vegas residencies and a 2015 tour, especially after her last record Up! set the table for the pop invasion in country music over the next decade by offering an exclusively pop version of the album to consumers on its way to selling some 11 million copies.
Of course if you go back and listen to those early Shania singles like “Any Man Of Mine” or “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” they sound like Earl Scruggs next to today’s radio fare, but that’s another story. At least the unretirement of Garth Brooks presented some interesting tentacles for how country music may respond, and before you cite how Garth’s new music has flown well under the radar in the grand scheme of things (and it has), just appreciate that Garth is currently the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year. So yes, his re-emergence had an effect.
But these Shania Twain fake-out’s about how new music is on the way, or surprise appearances that never occur, and the farewell tours or appearances have been going on for well over a decade now have finally got her fan base fed up. In November of 2008—nearly 10 years ago—when Shania surprised everyone at the CMA Awards to present the Entertainer of the Year trophy and said, “I hope to be seeing a lot more of you,” people took it as a sign that Shania was setting them up for a huge comeback.
Since then it has been one veiled reference and one broken promise after another. The latest was Tuesday evening (4-19) when Shania fans stayed up late and dutifully tuned into the terrible James Corden show on CBS after Shania tweeted Monday, “Looking forward to talking new music tomorrow…” And of course, like always, it didn’t happen. Instead Shania’s banter with James Corden was about her stage fright, leaving legions of Shania fans feeling gypped. In February, Shania told Rolling Stone that she would be releasing a new single in March, with a new album coming in May. March has come and passed, and May is fast approaching, yet no new single, and no official announcement of new music has been made.
And let’s not forget that right before the ACM Awards on April 2nd, the most highly-buzzed story heading into the presentation was how Shania Twain was going to make a surprise appearance. Trust me, when there’s that much buzz around a surprise appearance, it’s supposed to happen. But with Shania, it didn’t. There is always a surprise appearance from somebody at these award shows, but the 2017 ACM’s didn’t have one, possibly because it was supposed to be Shania but didn’t pan out.
Now amid damage control after the numerous fake-outs and fervor from her fan base about new music, the story from the Press-Enterprise is that new songs will emerge during Shania Twain’s set at the Stagecoach Festival on April 29th. Yeah, don’t hold your breath, though at this point Shania’s camp has cried wolf so many times, she pretty much has to deliver something.
But let’s not lay these new music shell games and surprise appearances and announcements that don’t pan out entirely at the feet of Shania Twain. In all liklihood she probably deserves the lion’s share of the credit for leading fans on for the last decade, but how many times have we seen some Music Row major label scuttle the highly-anticipated rollout of a new single, or a new album? Frankly, it happens all the time. It’s just that Shania Twain has built up ten years of bad will and head fakes with all the rumor milling that it’s hard not to heap the blame on her.
But who is Shania Twain’s record label? It’s none other than Mercury Nashville—the same culprit in the currently terrible, half-cocked semi-rollout ahead of Chris Stapleton’s new record due out May 5th, From A Room: Volume 1. In Stapleton’s case, even though we had a release date for months, it took until weeks ahead of the release to finally get confirmation on a title, and even longer to get a pre-order link, or be allowed to listen to the first song. Even now some two weeks until the release, radio still hasn’t received the record’s first single.
At the 2017 ACM Awards on April 2nd—the same event Shania was rumored to be the evening’s surprise guest and never showed—Chris Stapleton performed a new song called “Second To Know.” But unlike all the other evening’s performers who had their songs available for purchase or streaming, Stapleton fans had no way to follow through if they liked what they heard.
The fact that Miranda Lambert saw sales jump for her current single “Tin Man” by 12,215% after her performance proves the economic stimulus a high-profile awards show appearance can stimulate. It wasn’t until Friday, April 13th, that a new song from Chris Stapleton was made available to consumers, and it wasn’t “Second To Know,” or “Either Way,” which has been announced as the first single from the album (yet still has not been sent to radio). It was “Broken Halos,” which has created even more confusion with the Mercury Nashville release.
The original rumor about Shania Twain’s surprise appearance at the April 2nd ACM Awards came from the Las Vegas Review- Journal (which has since pulled the story), and said that Shania would take the stage to debut a new single. Was that the plan, but Mercury Nashville didn’t have the new single ready to go? Did Shania refuse to perform if the new single wouldn’t be ready for download or streaming? Is Mercury Nashville attempting to juggle two releases from Chris Stapleton and Shania Twain at the same time, and that’s the reason for the disjointed releases for both?
Remember, Shania said back in February that her new album would be released in May—the same month Stapleton’s album is to be released. Most major label imprints release four, maybe five albums at the most all year. Planning two major releases for the same month is rarely heard of. This would tax the resources of any major label.
We will likely never have any answers to these questions because the doings of Mercury Nashville and other major labels is rarely disclosed to the public. Though Shania Twain fans have every right to be up in arms for having been misled by Shania and her camp about new music for the better part of a decade, they also have plenty of reasons to be leery of Mercury Nashville, who also happens to be busy promoting a new terrible single from Canaan Smith called “Like You That Way,” and just got finished pushing Lauren Alaina’s “Road Less Traveled” to #1.
Shania has been open about struggling to find her voice, and find her way musically after the separation from her long-time producer, writing partner, and husband “Mutt” Lange. But Mercury Nashville also appears to deserve some credit for leaving Shania Twain in the lurch. Maybe Shania Twain did want to make a surprise appearance at the ACM Awards, and speak about new music on James Corden. Why would Shania be on a late night show otherwise? And what would be the point of the Shania ACM rumor? Perhaps all of these things were true on Shania’s end, but Mercury Nashville just wasn’t ready. They certainly weren’t ready with Chris Stapleton.
Honky
April 19, 2017 @ 6:36 pm
I don’t care who’s to blame. As long as she doesn’t release anything, I’ll be happy.
Trigger
April 19, 2017 @ 8:15 pm
Saving Country Music was founded upon the principle that every artist had a right to creative expression, and the timely release and respectful handling of their music. This is the fundamental problem that has affected musicians from the very beginning of the genre, and remains one of the most important issues facing country music today. It is not my job to discriminate against any artist’s music when it comes to these matters. Whether it’s Hank3, Merle Haggard, Chris Stapleton, Tim McGraw, or Shania Twain, they all have a right to free expression. Whether that music is any good or not is another matter.
Megan
April 19, 2017 @ 9:00 pm
This, if isn’t already, should be quoted at the top of the about page of Saving Country Music.
Adrian
April 19, 2017 @ 10:27 pm
You know, I’m not very surprised by the recent developments involving Shania. She had little commercial success either before she started recording with Mutt Lange, or after they separated. Which suggests to me that a big part of the secret sauce in 1995-1999 was Mutt’s work. And the careers of female singers who are sex symbols often don’t age well as they get into their 40s and 50s.
Shania’s songwriter role was hyped up back in the 1990s. But frankly I thought much of her songwriting was quite weak (and in spite of my dislike of the music of both artists, I would put her writing skills well below Taylor Swift’s). What she was good at was marketing gimmicks. Hot sexy tongue in cheek feminist is a marketing gimmick. There are only so many times the same gimmick will work. And a big part of the reason why “Any Man of Mine” was a huge hit was her sex appeal – let’s be honest with ourselves, the song would not have had packed nearly the same commercial punch if Wynonna Judd had recorded it. I thought, and still believe that Shania was a marketing wiz – that’s 20th century marketing, not 21st century marketing. Her strength was catchy, conventional mass marketing, from the pre-millennial days where celebrities were not expected to feign authenticity convincingly to their fans a la Taylor Swift. As I recall Shania seemed to have a rather transactional relationship with her fans. Many of Shania’s songs rhymed like advertising slogans, just as Alka Seltzer ingrained itself into the minds of Baby Boomers with “pop pop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is”. She (and Mutt) might simply have run out of new ideas with big commercial potential in the first decade of the 21st century.
Here’s another theory. What if she’s just not that motivated to release another album? Is it possible that she’s talking about working on a new album, in the same way that Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and many establishment Republicans have been talking about repealing Obamacare and reducing the deficit for the last 6+ years? Methinks deep down they don’t want it that badly, though they know they’re expected to talk about it. Might it be possible that Shania owes Mercury one more album, and feels some pressure to at least talk about it once a while?
Anyway, I hope her numerous fake outs and lack of meaningful artistic and commercial achievements in the post Mutt era have exposed her limitations as an artist sufficiently that she will never be seriously considered for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
albert
April 20, 2017 @ 12:12 am
nailed it on all counts adrian
Trigger
April 20, 2017 @ 9:18 am
Good stuff Adrian,
One thing though is we do know there is a new record in the can, and a new single in the pipeline. Whether it will be worthy of attention now that Mutt is no longer in the picture will just have to be seen.
Adrian
April 20, 2017 @ 9:38 am
A song from her pre Mutt, pre Nashville days got some airplay on my local country station around the turn of the century (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8_1-4D9u5A). I’d say it ain’t country.
Scotty J
April 20, 2017 @ 4:44 pm
Her only two charting singles from her pre Mutt Lange album ‘What Made You Say That’ and ‘Dance With The One That Brought You’ both peaked at #55 on the country chart. I would say they were both standard, catchy, 90s era country pop and if I remember correctly Mutt Lange first contacted her after seeing the ‘What Made You Say That’ video. ‘Dance With The One That Brought You’ also had a video featuring the great veteran character actor Charles Durning so I would say the label was pretty supportive of her from the start.
Adrian
April 21, 2017 @ 9:06 am
I don’t think the label is the main reason why she has not released a full album of new material since “Up!”. As you said it sounds like the label was supportive of her from her first album. And I cannot believe that the label would not allow someone who had three blockbuster albums not to release a new album for 10-15 years. And a singer with her level of commercial success in the early 2000s, if she were someone who loved making music for its own sake, would have found a way to release a new album within a few years of her previous album.
By the way, the song I linked to was from the Limelight Sessions which was recorded before she was signed to Mercury, and I thought was later released without her label’s approval. It got airplay on my local country station because her fans had gotten impatient during the 5 years that went by between Come On Over and Up. I think her music output went down drastically after she had more money than she will ever need, and more fame than she would ever want.
Trigger
April 21, 2017 @ 9:33 am
I don’t think Mercury Nashville is the reason Shania hasn’t released an album in years. I’m just saying I think it’s the reason Shania keeps telling folks new music is on the way and tune into this specific event to see me premier a song, and then it doesn’t happen over the last few months.
Doug
April 21, 2017 @ 9:36 am
“I thought, and still believe that Shania was a marketing wiz.” Right on. Which is why she represented the worst of what too often passes for country music these days.
Bear
April 25, 2017 @ 10:10 am
I agree with the whole slogan angle. And the song tittles with over punctuation got old real fast for me.
Honky
April 20, 2017 @ 6:00 am
Trigger,
If it makes you feel good to take that position, then by all means, take it.
As for me, anything that prevents people like Shania Twain from releasing music, is fine by me.
In fact, I think Country music needs a fascist dictator. I nominate yours truly.
Jtrpdx
April 19, 2017 @ 9:10 pm
Well said Trigg. Seems like the old Honky is back. I think we would all be best served to ignore his frequent “that sucks”, or “what crap”, or “that ain’t country” comments. He is obviously just looking to get people worked up.
Scotty J
April 19, 2017 @ 6:41 pm
What I don’t understand is who is making the decisions at this label? Whether or not a project will be successful is one thing but the actual setup shouldn’t be that complicated really.
Scotty J
April 19, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
She was 37 when she released her last studio album and she is now almost 52. Kind of wild to think of major star going that long without new music. Historically those would be the peak career years for a mainstream country performer.
Tezca
April 19, 2017 @ 7:10 pm
I used to listen to Shania way back when, been years though. Also never really did have a good experience on a Shania related forum too.
I would pick Terri Clark to listen too over Shania if I had to choose.
albert
April 20, 2017 @ 12:15 am
”I would pick Terri Clark to listen too over Shania if I had to choose”
absolutely …Terri is the REAL deal …great voice and great choice of songs on her albums .
Shania is just another ‘ commodity ‘ …she could have as easily been launched POP ..it was HER they were selling …NOT her weak weak material .
Kevin Davis
April 19, 2017 @ 7:41 pm
I am curious what Shania may offer us in the current environment. But we can never forget, as Trigger alludes, that Shania is heavily responsible for this environment.
She had one album that was fairly good: 1995’s ‘The Woman in Me’. Then she poisoned the genre with her two follow-up albums, and the lust of Nashville fat cats continues to be unsatiated, where Chris Lane, Sam Hunt, Brett Young, etc., are the current incarnations of Shania Twain…with a desperate hope that they may crossover and bring wealth to the label. I don’t trust Shania to give us any meaningful music, for the simple reason that she has scarcely proven herself capable of doing so. And she repeatedly proved herself capable of proving the opposite. Thus, I hope Mercury Nashville botches the whole thing as much as possible.
Adrian
April 19, 2017 @ 11:55 pm
The VIDEO for the song “The Woman in Me” was quite good. Which is to say that it was pretty smoking hot without being trashy at all. That might be her only piece of work that could be considered a classic (mainly for the videography, not the music). However I didn’t care much for the music on that album either, even if some of the songs checked the country box. I thought “Any Man of Mine” was too gimmicky.
Justin C
April 19, 2017 @ 8:06 pm
On a side note, she is still pretty dang hot!
The Goddess of Country Rock
April 20, 2017 @ 4:02 pm
She is beyond gorgeous and always has been (inside and out–she seems like a nice person in general, too). Mutt Lange was a FOOL to let her get away!
Garth
April 26, 2017 @ 8:05 am
Schwing!
The Goddess of Country Rock
April 19, 2017 @ 8:33 pm
Yeah, this whole saga is very strange to me, too. I know people sometimes scrap songs or even whole albums if they feel like something isn’t working, but this has been going on for far too long.
I do have a soft spot for her music, though. Not every song of hers, but I’m a fan. I’m all for more traditional sounding country, but I love her voice and her energy. Should she ever put something new out, I’ll check it out. 🙂
Adrian
April 19, 2017 @ 11:37 pm
It’s kind of funny that Trigger wrote about the frustrations of her fan base, because I had almost forgotten that she still has a fan base. I don’t hear any Shania songs on my local mainstream country station any more (they still plays some 1990s songs by other artists). The only radio presence she has around here is with a couple of romantic ballads from “Come On Over” which still get played on AC stations, presumably for the benefit of a declining number of middle aged women who probably had those songs played at their weddings 20 years ago and still haven’t gotten them out of their head. Anyway I think her productivity as a music artist is long time gone and might not be coming back.
TwangBob
April 20, 2017 @ 4:26 am
Prime Country on Sirius/XM still spins a couple few of Shania’s more popular songs, like “Whose Boots,” “Feel Like A Woman” and “Still the One.” You’re correct that her music doesn’t seem to get aired on local (terrestrial) country radio stations. As for any new music from Shania, it will be interesting to see if it clicks with current country radio. Methinks not, just like recent new songs from Alan Jackson and George Strait aren’t played on country radio. Who knows… we’ll see…
Adrian
April 20, 2017 @ 9:11 am
I had read her autobiography a few years ago just to see different perspectives. If I recall, I thought she started a career in country music because she was a poor struggling singer and the first recording contract she was offered came from a country label. She started touring in the early 1990s and found some of the traditions of country artists to be strange. More importantly I don’t remember that she said anything about the impact of her work on the direction of mainstream country. It seemed that her relationship with country music was transactional, a path from rags to riches for her, rather than driven by a passion for country music itself.
I would be surprised if she releases something that clicks with country radio. In her book she described how she suddenly had a big fan base in the 1990s and how it felt strange to see crowds of people at concerts wearing t-shirts with her picture on them. It was as if she didn’t know what to do with her fan base or how to nurture it (ok, this was before the age of social media). Then she moved to Europe. When she released “Up!” in 2002 I thought her music had changed, perhaps influenced by her living in Europe. What struck me with the new music was that she seemed to have lost track of the pulse of middle America. Most of the songs from “Up!” did not do very well on country radio. Many years later (after 2010?) she released a new single and it flopped, no surprise there.
Gtrman86
April 20, 2017 @ 5:36 am
Being a Canadian, Shania is as much of an embarrassment to Canada as our fruity Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I honestly do believe her earlier work was very good and honest, but she also led the way and set up the industry for a complete pop invasion and helped turn things to the awful state they are currently in. Unless she is getting back to her roots and bringing back some of the early spirited good music I could care less if I ever hear anything else from her.
seak05
April 20, 2017 @ 6:30 am
According to someone at the taping she did mention two new songs, and was also reportedly very upset afterwards that she didn’t get to talk about her stuff. Doing late night interviews well, making sure you get what you want across (as an artist) is a skill. Also she is scheduled to be the big celebrity advisor on the Voice this coming week. I would expect that also comes with a performance slot at some point if she wants it.
Speaking of Chri, in a BB article on Sam Hunt (same label group) they mentioned that the single would be released to radio at the same time as the album dropping. It also sounded like the person handling Chris’ rollout was also the one managing Sam.
Trigger
April 20, 2017 @ 9:11 am
All the appearances and opportunities are lined up for Shania to be promoting new music right now. The only thing missing is the new music.
Sam Cody
April 20, 2017 @ 6:31 am
“Is Shania Twain to
BlameTHANK for Broken Promises on New Music, Or Mercury Nashville?”Acca Dacca
April 20, 2017 @ 6:37 am
I’m starting to think Mercury is perhaps less confused and more just going through some issues. Maybe they’re having some major shakeups behind the scenes (a la Sony) but it’s just not been made public? As I said about Stapleton’s new album, part of me refuses to accept that people who do this for a living would act so poorly in their own self-interest. There has to be some other element, whether it be major or minor. And that element could very well be that they’re just idiots, but I’m not convinced.
Side note, but I find it sadly intriguing that the biggest male and biggest female country star of the ’90s both had high-profile dalliances with pure pop AND took early retirements (though Shania’s was never official like Garth’s was, at least not to my knowledge). I don’t like Twain, but at the very least I don’t have to feel much sympathy for her even though I’m inclined to — she’s made three times as much money as the average artist that is bungled by Music Row, so she’ll be fine either way.
Joe
April 20, 2017 @ 6:40 am
Any thought that maybe it was also Lauren Alaina’s success that threw a curveball to Mercury Nashville? I’m guessing they spent way more time on that song than they thought they would considering its unexpected success. Maybe that took them away from the album projects?
Trigger
April 20, 2017 @ 9:09 am
You know, when you have passion, you can do more than one thing at a time. You stay late some nights. You come in on the weekends. You do your job right no matter what the costs, or at least you plan better to make sure that you can. Delaying an album release is better than doing it wrong, and that might be what Mercury Nashville is doing here with Shania.
Joe
April 20, 2017 @ 9:45 am
Since when did anyone in charge of Music Row have passion for country music?
Jack
April 20, 2017 @ 7:06 am
Whilst I certainly agree that Shania’s best material is from her earlier albums (if you doubt her country credibility, check out the song “Leaving Is The Only Way Out” from her second album which is my favourite song of hers) I am curious to see what new material she’s produced as in all this time away, she must’ve written at least a few good songs. I don’t understand why Mercury seems to be having such issues with its artists though. You’d think they’d be able to get the release of a superstar (Stapleton) right and at least resurrect some of Twain’s fans.
Derek Sullivan
April 20, 2017 @ 9:56 am
Shania will never make it alone. Outside of maybe Reba, what aging female star has thrived. Most kind of disappear. If she wants a real shot at being a touring act, she needs to find someone to do a duet with. If she could team with Kenny Chesney and then open for him on his tour that might get her some radio play and buzz.
Outside of that, I really think radio is not interested in aging female singers.
I’m guessing some hard core fans on here will bring up names to prove me wrong, but as a run-of-the-mill county fan who comes out here because I like Trigger’s takes, the fact that I struggle to think of a female act in her 50s that still plays arenas says a lot.
MJBods
April 20, 2017 @ 10:27 am
Speaking of new music promised nut not yet delivered. Holly William’s new album, when on Earth will that be released??
MARK
April 20, 2017 @ 2:53 pm
Shania is an embarrassment to Canada? LOL!
Shania hate is thick here.
“Still the one I love” is a beautiful tune. So is “keeping you forever and for always”
If you can’t hear the beauty in those songs…..
Shania was/is very good looking, so what? Is that supposed to mean she can’t make good music?
Pretty silly point of view. A lot of women admired Shanis I think because she was a superstar in a man’s domain, country music. Think people her know how hard that is to accomplish.
Last thought…..Shania did a concert live with Allison Kraus and Union station.
I would suggest people who think she can’t sing go find it and listen to it,
albert
April 20, 2017 @ 5:35 pm
” A lot of women admired Shania I think because she was a superstar in a man’s domain, country music.”
You may be right ,Mark . But it would be WAYYYYY more right to be able to say that a lot of women admired her cuz she’s a great writer and was an amazing singer ( Dolly Parton ). She is neither of those things , unfortunately . She is a beautiful model who sold trite pop songs to country music .
Mike2
April 20, 2017 @ 4:55 pm
Speaking of Chris Stapleton, does anyone know of a way to pre-orden the album CD but not a t-shirt? All that’s available on his website appears to be t-shirt bundles.
Dave
April 21, 2017 @ 9:42 am
You can pre-order on Amazon.
Patrick
April 20, 2017 @ 7:45 pm
Dang, I love me some Shania. She’s the one who actually brought me into loving country music when I was a teenager. She sings simple tunes which some are definitely fluff (e.g., That Don’t Impress Me Much), but catchy as hell. In addition, she has decent “serious” songs such as “You’re Still the One” and “I Ain’t Going Down”. She has a very soft and relaxing voice and she sticks to her range, what’s wrong with that? Not everyone has the range of Carrie Underwood or Miranda Lambert. Doesn’t mean she cannot be a great country pop artist. I’m fairly certain Shania never thought of herself to be a traditional country artist, in fact she was recording pop/rock songs before her country career. Nothing wrong with liking two different genres of music enough to pursue a career in either one. Anyways, I get it. She’s not traditional at all (although her first two albums could be considered country nowadays), but I think her music is very enjoyable. Lastly, she was the sole writer of “Leaving Is The Only Way Out” from The Woman In Me album. Take a listen and hopefully this is the kind of songs she’s been writing for the past 15 years.
Adrian
April 20, 2017 @ 9:49 pm
It was Shania’s attitude towards the country genre that annoyed me the most, even more than her music. I have seen little evidence – based on her decisions as a music artist as well as her autobiography – that she appreciates country music or respects its fans besides as a source of revenue. The concept of “Up!”, where she recorded lots of lousy pop songs and then re-recorded the same songs with occasional bits of fiddle to pass them off as country songs, was frankly quite insulting to country music fans. To me there is a big difference between Shania vs someone like Carrie who has also recorded many crappy pop songs, but who relates to small town America and appreciates country music.
Batool Abbasi
April 21, 2017 @ 9:00 pm
lol Miranda Lambert? what range does she have? she has a decent country discography but thats about it. Not an exceptional guitar player or writer (most of her stuff has been written by others pre-Platinum and the songs she does write have a lot of credits, exception being bathroom sink, and tin man), and minimal vocalist.
The reason miranda is successful or even acclaimed is because she is a country artist in a now pop world (Nashville).
Adrian
April 21, 2017 @ 10:48 pm
Batool, I partly agree. Miranda is acclaimed in part because most of the other mainstream Nashville artists have gone so far in the pop direction that she has mainstream female country music almost to herself. I think there is also a perception that she is more willing to take risks, which has led to the perception that she is authentic. She’s not working with Max Martin like Taylor, and she doesn’t appear to be doing what she is told to do like Carrie. She has at least created the appearance that she is in control of her own artistic identity. And while appearances do not always reflect reality, I think the agency that Miranda at least appears to have in setting the direction of her music career is worth something.
Patrick
April 24, 2017 @ 11:22 am
Batool, she does not have the range of Carrie for sure or Martina, but she does have a decent range. Whoa, pre-Platinum? She wrote or co-wrote the majority of her songs on pretty much all of her albums except Four the Record (which she still co-wrote a bunch of songs). She solely wrote the majority of her Kerosene record, one of my favorite of hers. Ha, so I’ll take your comments about Miranda with a grain of salt. However, she admits she’s not the greatest guitar player. I’m pretty sure Keith Urban and Brad Paisley are the only exceptional guitar players in country music nowadays, so you’re ostracizing 99% of artists then. Anyways this is a Shania thread and I cannot wait for the new album and will love reading over all the hateful comments about how it sucks and isn’t country.
Orgirl1
April 20, 2017 @ 8:34 pm
Usually an advisor on the Voice has a tour coming up, new music, or both. If she doesn’t perform a new song on the Voice this year that’s pretty weird.
AT
April 21, 2017 @ 10:19 am
Whether it’s Mercury or Shania herself to blame, the publicity plan would have aligned nicely with new music. With appearances on TV, plus her upcoming exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame scheduled to open, it will be interesting to see if she has any radio or album success. Her tour two years ago played large arenas and was majorly successful. Reading interviews from Shania throughout the years, you realize how much she desires privacy and a quiet life, and how she is content with only creating music when she aspires to. 20 years ago, a country artist could have a pop crossover hit, as well as an adult contemporary hit. I feel like the adult contemporary genre is the only place where acts like Shania, Celine Dion, Sheryl Crow, etc. actually have the opportunity to get their new music exposed on the radio to the masses, since other genres tend to spin younger acts on radio. So, if there was radio support, I’d expect it to be AC, not country. But I can imagine the country genre will continue to try to get Shania at award shows etc. for ratings.
CountryKnight
April 21, 2017 @ 2:25 pm
If she never releases another song, country music will be the better for it.
albert
April 22, 2017 @ 12:56 am
Aside from marketing herself …( her looks ….not her ” talents”) , the one thing that Shania had going for her and which radio LOVED was that big , clean , in- your- face rock production on her stuff .
It was engineered , produced and mixed better than most radio stuff in its day- and it kicked . The success of Shania lies with Mutt Lange when it came to producing her stuff …..and with her own undeniably marketable appearance . The songs were trite , shitty , throw-away pop songs ….BUT the production and her looks sold them . By seamlessly incorporating trad country instrumentation with the conviction of a rock production , Lange hit a nerve . That’s why so much of that stuff translates to a live setting …it is agressive , high energy stuff whose weakest link is the non-rock , non-agressive , soul-less vocal performance of the model ” singing” that stuff . Shit songs dressed to the nines to cater to the pop market ….but introduced , like Taylor Swift , FGL , and most non-country acts today , in the country market CLAIMING to be ‘ country ‘ .
What kept Shania in the spotlight was her preying on women with her ” he left me for another female ” story and her ” I can’t sing anymore cuz of the trauma ” and the balnket coverage ( including queen Oprah’s ‘ scoop ‘ ) it all got . She preyed on the sympathies of women who may or may not have been fans but felt for her circumstance . Marketing ploys….all of it . Her music is among the worst crap pumped out in that era .
Adrian
April 22, 2017 @ 9:48 am
Albert, I think you articulated the main reasons for her commercial success, it was a marriage of her looks and Mutt’s rock production skills.
Basically I think Shania is a mercenary. I suppose that was understandable considering that she came from a poor upbringing, and following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs she first had to find a path out of poverty. That would explain why her most of her music has no soul. It would also explain why she moved to Europe around the turn of the century. I find it hard to imagine that a Nashville artist who loves the music for its own sake would choose to move out of the country at the peak of her career, but it fits with someone who was motivated primarily by the money.
I do not know what went down in Shania and Mutt’s divorce. One theory that hasn’t been talked about much in the media is that perhaps she lost interest in recording new music after Up, and thus there was less reason for her and Mutt to stay together (and her second husband is more attractive anyway). The breakup also gave her a convenient excuse to postpone putting out a new album. I thought the way she shamelessly played the victim in her first “comeback” attempt in 2010-2011 was cringeworthy and embarrassing. It was as if she were a participant in the Special Olympics, who overcame great adversity and crippling disabilities, and the audience was supposed to give a standing ovation once poor Eilleen finally sang a song. Now it all seems very phony to me, many country singers get divorced and it doesn’t stop them from cranking out new songs and albums. But at the time Oprah was launching her TV network and a photogenic celebrity who could star in her own little soap opera with her sob story fit the bill. But it is interesting how long Shania has been able to use her supposed victimhood as an excuse to talk about working on a new album without delivering. What I don’t quite understand is considering that she and Mutt were so rich, if she had lost interest in releasing new music, why couldn’t they buy out what was left of her contract so that the label would let her off the hook for that last album?
albert
April 22, 2017 @ 10:33 am
Let’s not forget that there are only about a gazillion GREAT songs just waiting to be recorded and Shania would have had the CREAM of the cream of the crop ( as any A-listers do ) if she’d seriously wanted to stay in the game and not trade it all in for a the ” oldies” circuit or a Vegas stay . ” Mercenary” is probably the right term . She ‘s been cashing in on a handful of underwritten , overplayed shit and her looks for over two decades now . What serious ” artist” settles for THAT when they have the world at their feet in terms of producers , players , writers and , possibly , labels lined up at your door and at your disposal ?? Mutt was the mastermind material-wise and , likely , marketing-wise . Shania is a sham and should be ashamed for stringing along her legions of fans for so long with NO new material and her lame excuses . Then again , if her fans are foolish enough to follow , they’re getting exactly what they deserve.
Don’t get me wrong ….I’ve heard enough Shania to last several lifetimes ….I could care less whether she released anything ever again . It would only be trend-chasing trite ditties at best as she ‘s had YEARS to compile a GREAT album of GREAT material and hasn’t . This poor little rich girl was NEVER an artist , could NEVER sing REAL country and she couldn’t get ONE chair turn from the VOICE or any other talent show if they hadn’t seen her first . Patty Loveless , Lee Ann Womack , Trisha Yearwood ,Lacy J Dalton ….the list of GREAT female country singers goes on and on and Shania wouldn’t and shouldn’t be on it by ANY stretch . Its disrespectful to even mention her in the same breath as these women when it comes to not only TALENT but in their passion to grow as an artist in the genre they loved and , obviously , respected .
Did I mention I’m NOT a fan of Shania ? …….k ….good
Biscuit
April 23, 2017 @ 11:28 am
I suspect it’s two factors: most acts who rose to success with albums featuring Mutt’s production skills have found it difficult to replicate the success he brings in the studio. So the material she has produced post Mutt may be weak in the eyes of Mercury. The timing of the Stapleton album is the second likely factor. To Mercury, he’s the hotter fire right now, Shania’s interest in now mostly nostalgic and a succesful return is not a guarantee. It wouldn’t be surprising if they pushed her back to avoid Stapleton’s release and for her to head back into the studio to find a better lead single for her return.
Ryan
April 26, 2017 @ 12:55 pm
Supposedly Stagecoach – new song debut….we will see….
http://radio.com/2017/04/25/shania-twain-lifes-about-to-get-good-announce/