Shania Twain's albums, ranked

Now 40 years into her career, Shania Twain shows no sign of slowing down. The queen of country pop recently released her sixth studio album, Queen of Me, one that Twain has described as "unapologetic and empowered," two words that can easily describe some of her best work — and a combination that has led Twain to become one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Whether you're a country fan or a pop music enthusiast, Twain's decades-spanning discography has something for you. To mark the release of Queen of Me, CBC Music looked back at Twain's impressive career and reflected on all the releases the singer has put out so far. Below, we've ranked Twain's albums from worst to best. 

Share your rankings with us @CBCMusic. 

6. Now, 2017 

Fifteen years passed between Twain's 2002 album, Up!, and 2017's Now, and in that span of time, she grappled with a series of life-upending events: her husband and creative partner, Mutt Lange, allegedly had an affair with her best friend, resulting in their divorce, and dysphonia attacked her vocal cords. Twain's music was put on pause while she had throat surgery to repair the damage, and she had to contend with the fact that she might never sing again. Twain recovered and rediscovered her voice after those setbacks, though, and eventually put out an album with a triumphant narrative — but a sound that ultimately falls short.

From the very first track — the anthemic, reggae-tinged "Swingin' With my Eyes Closed" — you know you're in for something a little bit bland, and constructed with heavy radio play in mind. Each song shows off Twain's huskier, post-surgery vocals, which is great, but lyrically there isn't much to chew on. Now is clearly a comeback album that strives to honour all Twain fought through to get back in the studio, and while that resilient undercurrent holds the entire project together, in the end it lacks originality. Now is, overall, polished, but in a way that makes each song sound like it could have been done by someone else, not the certified country superstar we know and love. The album does get a few extra points by reminding listeners that finding happiness again is something to sing loudly about — even though Twain refrains from mixing it with the innovation that set her apart on previous albums. — Natalie Harmsen

5. Queen of Me, 2023

Twain's latest album opens with a distinctly upbeat country moment as she encourages listeners to "Up in your giddy up, giddy, giddy up," a fun refrain that is immediately dampened by the followup line: "Drunk in the city, got litty in the cup." Queen of Me is Twain's first album in six years, coming out at a time that has been described by some as the Shaniassance. Not that Twain didn't get enough credit back in the day for her talent and innovation — bridging country and pop to create a new path that many have since taken, from Kacey Musgraves to Taylor Swift — but it's nice to see her influence be carried into a new generation thanks to stars like Harry Styles, Orville Peck and Post Malone. 

Pop has changed a lot since Twain topped the charts with "That Don't Impress me Much" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman," though. And on Queen of Me, Twain's ratio of pop to country feels off. In fact, country takes a backseat on several tracks — including "Best Friend," "Pretty Liar" and "Number One" — with each of those songs trying on a different pop sound from recent years, whether it's a Meghan Trainor bouncy bop or Dua Lipa's disco-inspired melodies.

What gets lost here is what made Twain such a star earlier in her career: songwriting that felt more personalized; that country sensibility that rooted her performances; and a voice that is now drowned out with vocal effects, especially the tracks that lean uncomfortably toward electro-pop. There are still glimpses of that old Shania on the album's more low-key moments, such as the sunny ease of "Last Day of Summer," but overall, Twain is too caught up in the present sound of others when she's clearly best at being herself. — Melody Lau

4. Shania Twain, 1993

Twain's 1993 self-titled debut is one full of promise. It didn't land with the fanfare or commercial success of her subsequent albums, The Woman in Me and Come on Over, but it undoubtedly included glimpses of what was to come. Shania Twain was a mostly enjoyable riff on country standards that eventually went double platinum in Canada and platinum in the U.S. in 1999, as the popularity of later albums stirred up interest in her back catalogue. 

Twain's vocal prowess is immediately resonant on this debut, though the songs fall a bit flat. The simple melodies don't suit Twain's bombastic vocals, and her voice demands more of the production that it just doesn't deliver. There isn't a distinct identity to the music, which could be because five out of the album's 10 songs were previously recorded by other artists — including the biggest hit, "What Made you say That," a cover of Wayne Massey's 1989 song. Still, Twain's voice is gripping, and rich with enough texture to make a listener curious to hang on through to the end. In terms of the songwriting, there isn't a lot of room for Twain's own creative freedom, and the original songs don't seem to be written with her particular skills in mind. In fact, Twain only has writing credits for one song on the album, "God Ain't Gonna Getcha for That," which hints at the slick country pop and lyrical playfulness that was biding its time. On Shania Twain, the singer was following a well-trodden path, rather than blazing a bold new one. But, if her debut proved anything, it's that the bones for greatness were there — they just needed to be excavated. — Kelsey Adams

3. Up!, 2002

Expectations couldn't have been higher for Twain after the mega-success of her 1997 album, Come on Over. The late-'90s cemented Twain as one of the world's biggest pop stars, and while country still formed the backbone of her hits, 2002's Up! unquestionably capitalized on her superstar status to build bigger, stadium-worthy anthems. That's best reflected on the album's first two singles, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good" and "Up!," the former a stomping number that wraps Twain's country twang in glossy, millennium pop production, while the latter title track is a cheery, optimistic jam to sing along to. (Twain's then-husband, Mutt Lange, returned to produce the entire album.) 

While some critics complained about its generic songwriting, Up!'s universality showed the world Twain's ambitions to continue raising her mainstream platform. And even though Up! never surpassed Come on Over in sales, it did extend her reign on the charts, earning Twain her third diamond album in a row in the U.S.; in Canada, the album was certified diamond just 17 days after its release. Two months later, Twain was dominating one of North America's biggest stages: the Super Bowl halftime show alongside No Doubt and Sting.

It's also quite representative of its time — when genre distinctions were still firmly enforced by both the media and its consumers — that Up! was awkwardly released as three different editions: a red disc pop version; a green disc country version; and a blue disc version that was described at the time as "more rhythmic with an Eastern influence." (Noted music critic Robert Christgau wrote, "I'll take the 'green' mixes, and f--k you for asking.") But the album's strength lies in the Venn diagram of its red and green versions: that seamless, alchemical mix of country and pop, together in one irresistible package. — ML

2. The Woman in Me, 1995

While Come on Over may be Twain's biggest album by all measure, The Woman in Me is where the country singer truly started to stretch herself into the country-pop crossover queen she would become — and it was her first release to sell millions. It was also the first of three albums that Twain would write with now ex-husband Lange (who previously had worked with AC/DC and Def Leppard), a writing partnership that resulted in a wedding before the majority of the songs for this album were formed. The Woman in Me is barely a country record, but Twain knew how to keep the necessary twang and ratchet up the pop-rock to produce an album that would effectively change the genre — and spawn an army of songs that are still earworms today.

Half of The Woman in Me's singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: "Any Man of Mine," "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here," "You Win my Love" and "No one Needs to Know" (which also found a home on the soundtrack for the 1996 film Twister). The (slightly clichéd) laundry list of things that a man needs to be or do on "Any Man of Mine'' further introduced fans to Twain's brand of feminism, a line in the sand drawn by a woman who had been pushed around in a misogynistic industry since she was a kid. The singer detailed her perspective in her 2022 documentary, Not Just a Girl: "I was always very bold and straightforward about what I thought and my point of view on things as a woman particularly. My point of view in relationships, the way I felt that women should be treated, respected, and I still feel the same way." Paired with the sassiness of "Any Man of Mine" and "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" were Twain's more vulnerable ballads, including "Home Ain't Where his Heart is (Anymore)" and "Leaving is the Only Way Out," proving that this woman who could clearly kick up dust on the dance floor had incredible range to offer. 

Not everyone loved what Twain (and by extension, Lange) were creating: one Entertainment Weekly review from 1995 said, "What do you get when you pair a former Canadian resort singer with a Karen Carpenter fixation and an over-the-top pop producer who thinks it would be fun to work in country? The Woman in Me (Mercury), one of the worst records of the decade." But The Woman in Me would age much better than that review, and showed us who Twain really was — and who she wanted to become. — Holly Gordon

1. Come on Over, 1997

If you're Shania Twain and it is 1997, the journey between homespun honkey-tonker and high priestess of country-pop can sometimes be travelled in the thrust of a hip or the heroic toss of a lush head of hair. That duality, and the fearless and unabashed ways in which she negotiated and crafted paths between the two, laid the foundation for the defining record of Twain's career: Come on Over. 

The album's title tells us what we need to know before we even press play. Come on Over is an invitation that reads as both folksy and wholesome but also as a dare, a subversive temptation to the other side. With tracks like the raucous instant classics "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "That Don't Impress Me Much," as well as the traditional gender role-reversal tunes "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You) and "Honey I'm Home", Twain follows in the path of Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and many of country music's rebellious and most successful solo women artists. On Come on Over, Twain is crafting and performing songs that articulate the power, importance and autonomy of women in a world (and genre) where white straight men are still gatekeepers. She's also making room for the liberating joy of love ("You're Still the One" and "Love Gets Me Every Time"), consent ("If You Want to Touch Her, Ask!") and the lonely devastation of gendered violence ("Black Eyes, Blue Tears").

The scope of Come on Over's success was unrivalled, and its reach and influence unparalleled. With more than 40 million copies sold, Come on Over is the biggest-selling album by a female solo artist in the world, and it's easy to understand why. Twain presents as authentic and real but still aspirational. She is alluring and cheeky, and she's also a wise woman-of-the-world who has survived poverty, the death of her parents, and sexual assault. She's a class-chameleon who has refused to let go of her softness. Twain's unapologetic, squishy romanticism is a radical act, but so too is her command of her career, her craft and her songwriting. Decades later, Come on Over is still an invitation that's impossible to resist. — Andrea Warner