Shania Twain
You're Still the One (Mercury 568 493)

I've been much happier since I banished the idea of "guilty pleasure" from my CD collection. Since one cannot really choose what one likes, there ought be no guilt attached to enjoying, for example, Shania Twain on the same level as, say Luciano Berio or Duke Ellington. Because when it comes right down to it, these people are all equal in that they chose to use their lives to make music, and I respect anyone who makes that decision … yes, even the Kid Rock.

It is a matter of what entices your ears for a few minutes, be it slick country pop, new jack swing, or cue music from "The Drew Carey Show." It's all about the music, man. Now pass the dubich.

Given an opening paragraph like that, I wonder if maybe I'm not still struggling with the "guilty pleasure" prejudice even as I listen to this sweet confection. "You're Still The One" shamelessly steals from "The Joker," "Back in the High Life," and, audaciously, "Still the One" by Orleans, yet it's better than all of those songs by far, pure hook from start to finish, fueled mightily by Shania's amazing vocal.

There's a reason ten zillion people buy her records, bruther: she's damn good. Now, I don't fall in line with the white-trash antheming of stuff like "Man! I Feel Like a Woman," but I'll always be a sucker for a great ol' love song, and this is definitely that. I bought the EP because it has the single version, which does not feature the ridiculous spoken word intro ("When I first saw you, I saw love" … pardon me while I set my head on fire). This is the version you hear on the radio and on VH1.

The album version is also on here, which is redundant, but it's an EP, who gives a crap. The other two songs are "Mutt Lange mixes" of "(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!" and "You Win My Love." The former is pretty good, the latter is not remarkable. I do appreciate Shania's use of exclamation marks in so many of her songs!

At bottom, I got this for one song and I'm happy with that. I put it on occasionally and listen to the whole 15 minutes, and it's fine. But it's the first three minutes I'm principally concerned with. The semi-nude cover photo doesn't hurt, of course.

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Review by Joe Mama