Shania Twain Co Uk - The UK Shania Site

Shania Twain had hoped to release a Christmas album this fall. But when Come on Over refused to drop off the charts (it's already sold more than 14 million copies), Twain had to pull the plug. Instead, she's released Come on Over (The International Version), which contains remixed versions of 15 of the 16 songs from the original album.

In addition, a Franklin, Tenn., label called Jomato Records has licensed and released some demos Twain made in Canada at the turn of the decade. Beginnings (1989-1990), using the before-she-was-a-star billing of Eilleen Shania Twain, shows a singer who was toying with arena-sized rock sounds before she ever met and married Def Leppard producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.

Twain recently talked with CDNOW from her new home in Switzerland.

Why did you choose to release a remixed version of Come on Over?

Shania Twain: [Our American fans] wanted to have what the international fans have. So that's fine. We're putting it together now so people can hear those and have those.

Will it be exactly like the international release of the album?

It's going to be their own thing. It came about that they wanted to have what the international fans had, but it's even more than that and better than that.
I thought, "Well, I think they should get their own thing. They could always get that other one; let's give them something that's for them." You're talking now, fans that probably already have the album. I want those people to have something that's new, that's their own.

So this is the third full version of the album?

It's so crazy! The life of this album just keeps going on and on. People want more versions; they want to hear this, they want to hear that.
"The life of this album just keeps going on and on. People want more versions; they want to hear this, they want to hear that."
I can tell you, after a couple of years, it is fun for me to take my live versions and mix in a little bit of what we've done with some new mixes. It gives me a new life, too, with it. Actually, I appreciate it. I'm not complaining. It's great.

Which songs are the most different?

We've released "Don't Be Stupid" in Europe, but it's a new version that no one's heard yet. And I love the version. On "Honey I'm Home," the groove is completely different. It's very funky and totally cool.

You mentioned that you're looking forward to writing new stuff. How far have you gotten toward work on any new album?

We're working on it in bits and pieces. I haven't dived into it yet.

You had hoped to release a Christmas album this year. What happened?

We're doing it for next year. It was supposed to be this year, but this album was still going so strong that I couldn't just drop it and start working on a Christmas album. In the end, we realized that singles keep coming off this album, and I can't neglect that. I can't do both at the same time. I can't write a new album and record a new album and still be out with this album. It just wasn't going to all work at the same time.

Some of your recordings from about 10 years ago have recently surfaced as Beginnings (1989-1990). What's your take on that?

This is not the way I want people to hear my music. Obviously, I'm not happy that people can take advantage of me this way. It's discouraging to me. Sometimes I get discouraged and so disappointed in human nature. So that's my personal feeling. I feel like I've been betrayed by a fellow music person. I would never do that to somebody else.

What do you think of the music, though?

I love the music. I think it's cool. It's the type of music that I liked to write, that I enjoyed, and that I did do a lot at the time.
There are a lot of people who think that sort of edginess in my music now came only from Mutt and only because of his entry into my world. I try to tell people I've always done all kinds of music; this is not new to me, and this is sort of obvious proof of that.

Speaking of Mutt, you didn't get to see a lot of each other this year, leading to a lot of speculation that your marriage was in trouble. Are you able to spend more time together these days, now that you've finished touring for the year?

Yeah, we are. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas together and bringing in the new year together. We have lots of great things to do over the next year and a half. I'm looking forward to it.

What have you done to get reacquainted?

We're still finishing up our home here. We've been basically doing mostly that, just kind of building our nest.

I guess showbiz marriages have such a high failure rate that reporting marital problems is a fairly low risk if you do it long enough.

Right, right. Then they won't look bad; they'll look like they actually knew what they were talking about.