Shania Twain is one of the best selling female recording artists of all time, and the best selling female artist in the country genre as of this writing (November 2016). The Canadian native exploded onto the scene in 1995 with her sophomore release The Woman in Me, which shifted over 20 million copies worldwide and earned her a Grammy for best country album. This was followed up by the even more successful Come on Over, which saw the release of "You're Still the One," the breakthrough crossover single which catapulted her popularity into the stratosphere. Her releases since (and including) Up! have betrayed far more pop than country sensibilities, and have also bought into the extremely aggravating practices of multiple remixes and region-specific variants, two things which have largely turned me off as a fan. Even so, the 2004 Greatest Hits album remains, for the most part, a decent overview for the more casual listener. But how does it compare to the earlier releases, from a listening standpoint?
Note that the comparisons below match the compilation tracks with the equivalent (or nearest equivalent) versions from the original releases. In many cases this means comparing a shorter, single-length edit with a full-length album cut. While these are not 100% exact matches, the intent here is to compare the mastering and dynamic range of an original with its subsequent re-release.
Forever and For Always
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release [radio edit]
Up! (red album)
I'm Gonna Getcha Good!
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release [radio edit]
Up! (red album)
Up!
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Up! (green album)
Come on Over
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1997)
Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1997)
That Don't Impress Me Much
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1999 international version)
From This Moment On
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1999 international version)
Honey, I'm Home
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1997)
You're Still the One
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1997)
Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1997)
Love Gets Me Every Time
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
Come on Over (1997)
No One Needs to Know
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
The Woman in Me (1995)
You Win My Love
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release [radio edit]
The Woman in Me (1995)
(If You're Not in It For Love) I'm Outta Here!
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release [radio edit]
The Woman in Me (1995)
The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release [radio edit]
The Woman in Me (1995)
Any Man of Mine
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release
The Woman in Me (1995)
Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?
Greatest Hits - 2004 U.S. release [radio edit]
The Woman in Me (1995)
And the winner is: Original album in every case.
Nothing really needs to be said here. The effects of the Loudness War are apparent and obvious, with each original album coming in louder than the last and with the Greatest Hits album slamming all of them up against the brick wall with a massive thud. Interestingly, a careful look at the waveforms for the "Up" and "From This Moment On" singles reveals the original album tracks to be *very* slightly worse than their Greatest Hits counterparts, but the overall difference is miniscule and insignificant from a listening standpoint. I have fond memories of road trips spent barreling down the highway with the Come on Over album playing at high volume on my car stereo, singing along to each of the numbers out in the country where no one could hear me. Unfortunately, I can say with certainty that I would not want to blare this greatest hits compilation even through a cheap set of iPod earbuds. In every single case, rather extreme limiting and compression have been applied that together serve to suck the life right out of these songs. Faring worst of all are the upbeat songs from the Come on Over album, numbers such as "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)," "Love Gets Me Every Time," and the "Come on Over" title track itself. The catchy, pounding beats now whimper along where they used to decidedly and unabashedly rock you. The original CDs are the way to go here.
