Shania Twain - The Platinum Collection / Live In Miami (Box Set) (DVD)

...to write negative comments on Shania reviews - so please move on if you are deeply prejudiced, insanely jealous or amusical.!
Right, for the rest of you, here's a review on a boxed set of Shania Twain. Yes, a whole 35 songs sung by Shania herself on full-colour dvds.

1 The Concept
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The two discs are very different presentations of this favourite singer, and so I venture a mild criticism ...
...you meet stranger sights - Shania alternates between playing her guitar out in the fresh air, singing her heart out wondering where her guy spent last night, and singing inside the saloon, which is a breakfast shop filled with all the local old guys - even I felt youngish looking at them. Truth is, not one of them diverts their gaze from their breakfast to look at Shania prancing around them all. .. whose bed are your brains under, I asked!
... more

It is totally forbidden to write negative comments on Shania reviews - so please move on if you are deeply prejudiced, insanely jealous or amusical.!
Right, for the rest of you, here's a review on a boxed set of Shania Twain. Yes, a whole 35 songs sung by Shania herself on full-colour dvds.

1 The Concept
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The two discs are very different presentations of this favourite singer, and so I venture a mild criticism - not of the singer, of course - but of those who have put this package together.! I just fail to see how they form a 'set' ! One is a dvd of the singer doing TV specials in 'live' situations; the other is a video collection of songs put together on one dvd. They are not really two parts of the one thing, which is what I understand by the idea of a 'set' - they are just two different dvds boxed together. That problem is underscored ( musical pun ?) by the fact that 9 songs are duplicated from one dvd to another - although the video settings are different.

Since I bought these online with a gift voucher, you might think I'm being a bit of a moan. However, I may have hesitated before buying these particular dvds if I had realised they overlapped just as much.

The concept of this 'Boxed Set' is poor in my view.

2 The Contents
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I will take the two discs separately and run you through the audio and visual treats on each.

a. The Platinum Collection
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The songs are taken from 3 well-known CD's of Ms Twain's.
'Come on over', 'The Woman In Me' and 'Shania Twain' - all available on Mercury Records.

1 What made you say that :
One of the more country sounds from Shania, set for video purposes on the beach, with palm trees, surf, sand, shadows, four changes of clothing and a fella - but not a cow, horse or rope in sight. What did make me say that?

2 Dance with the one that brought you:
Now here's the cowboy hats - on the dance floor! Real country sound and old-fashioned country morals,encouraging faithfulness to your (dance) partner.

3 You lay a whole lot of love on me
Romantic, sweet and set, I think, in the streets and hotels of Boston - I am open to correction on that one.! Lovely moody song.

4 Whose bed have your boots been under
Here we are back to real country again! - Longhorn Coffee Shop and Bakery !!?? - yes that's what it actually says on the building that looks like an old-time western film set used for this video.!
And soon you meet stranger sights - Shania alternates between playing her guitar out in the fresh air, singing her heart out wondering where her guy spent last night, and singing inside the saloon, which is a breakfast shop filled with all the local old guys - even I felt youngish looking at them. Truth is, not one of them diverts their gaze from their breakfast to look at Shania prancing around them all. .. whose bed are your brains under, I asked!

5 Any Man Of Mine
OK - this is country now - wagon wheels,( not the choc ones ) horses, straw, denims, cowgirl hats, and a bare midriff that is as slim and authentic as a Magnum.!! .. and a good lilty song about a woman who wants her man to always tell her that she is just fine! - I'm your man Shania! - wagons roll.

6 The Woman In Me

More like Country and Eastern as we float round pyramids, sail up the NIle, dander through Egyptian buildings, and note that not a single local is looking at Shania herself - even the camel turns and looks the other way. Just too hjot for them to handle, I reckon. Still its a fabulous setting for a fabulous and romantic song.

7 I'm Outta Here

Here is Shania miles from country roots - in video and audio terms. Dance club from the fifties, and a song demanding love for life - good pop sound that must make the country purists squirm,

8 You win my love

The only horses in this song are in the car horsepower - a racy song ( get it ) - pictures Shania in leathers driving a go-cart, calling us to rev it up, go faster and faster - and win her love.!

9 No-one needs to know

But I really want to know - what the set has to do with the song.
It looks like New England in the Fall - leaves all around, wind howling, tornado brewing, and soon we have to leave outdoors behind and take refuge inside the quaint wooden home. Some refuge that is, as someone left the window open and papers are flying all over the place, and lights are going crazy - the song is about the author getting hit by cupid, and is thoroughly enjoyable.

10 Home aint where is heart is anymore.

My all time favourite Shania song - beautiful retell of former love and the sad loss of the first breezes of romance in the routines of everyday life - and a video that perfectly captures mood and intention of the song. Yep, the whole box set is worth getting for this one alone!

11 God bless the child.

Every singer has to have a song about suffering chldren, with a chorus of chldren singing in the background - this is Shania's. It's no worse than others, and the film footage is sharp and clear - let's move on!

12 Love gets me every time

Lovely carefree song of how love gets her every time - set in the scenery of a clothes store, buying new outfits ... not earth shattering, but good easy listening.

13 Don't be stupid

Another typical Shania song that takes its leave of country style and infuses it with something more modern and pop. So don't be stupid you know she loves you.!
The backdrop is an adaptation of Riverdance on a stage that has just got flooded, and the dancers are in danger of slipping all over the place, and if those musicians are using electrics - Don't be stupid! - haven't you heard of health and safety?- or am I just over-reacting?

14 You're still the one

One of the world's greatest love songs, pronouncing the enduring quality of love. Again, the film captures the essence of the song, and makes this choice number 2.

15 Honey I'm Home
Shot in one of her open air concerts - maybe Miami - I'm not that obsessed to figure out that kind of detail, you know.!
It is one of the songs I really dislike - she must have had a hard day before going home to write this one - but we all have a bad day some time.!

16 From this moment on
A song now, which tells the new husband that from this moment on, there will be unceasing love between them both. A song much more suited to weddings than 'Morning has broken', 'Bridge over troubled water', or 'Fight the good fight'.
Only puzzle is that the video shows the bride trying every door in the corridor and never finding this new marriage partner - just a whacking great orchestra.

17 That Don't Impress Me Much

Clever song about the way guys try to impress - and fail. Yep we all know that syndrome. But did no-one see the irony in this film set of dressing Shania in a fake tiger skin hoodie with matching pants, top and suitcase - that don't impress me much.!

18 Man! I feel like a woman

The song that everyone has heard. And the song that my daughters said, I should not sing along to. for some reason.
Raunchy set makes this video work well.

19 You've Got A Way.

Flowery set to underline a flowery, soft, gentle song. Another Shania song that lots of people recognize even if they are not her fans.

20 Come On Over

Another film shot in a live concert at the time of this number's release - this could be Chicago, methinks.
Once more, country fans will hunt in vain for true country style; this is pure Twain - Mark my words.

21 Rock This Country

Some people keep the best wine til last. But even silver lycra hot pant suits don't keep this track from being the worst on this disc. Its a concert venue again, Dallas this time, - the film is none too sharp, the lyrics are nearly inaudible, and if this is Shania rocking - it's not my cup of tea.

b. The Specials
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There are two to choose from here - The 'Winter Break Special,' filmed in a number of USA cities, or the 'Come on Over' Special, filmed in Dallas.

Since the songs overlap, I'll not go through them all, but just comment on the extras in the dvd.
You get Shania at home talking about her background; Shania singing with Elton John and the Backstreet Boys; and Shania playing with the Dallas Cowboys!

You have her singing 'All I have to give'; and 'About the way you look' which are not on the other disc, and that's about it.

3 The Conclusion
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OK, you have stuck it this far - or else skipped through the rest - and you want to know if it is worth £16, give or take a pound or two.?

I would pay that happily for the Platinum Collection on its own, and that would make the other disc a good-value freebie! So the conclusion is that it is worth going for. As I said in my other Shania review, I am not convinced about the live concert dvds - they add nothing to the songs and tell you only a little about the singer.
However, some of the video in the Platinum disc really does add to the songs, so it gets my vote.
And that is my unbiased opinion !

 

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