Shania Twain has said that she wanted Queen of Me to “carry a clear message” about female empowerment. It’s familiar subject matter for the Canadian queen of country-pop, who once reveled in the joys of “feel[ing] like a woman.” Yet, it’s difficult to discern exactly what type of statement she’s attempting to make with the 12 songs assembled here, most of which half-heartedly confront the purported topic in meager or unsatisfying ways.
A few tracks on Twain’s sixth studio album do carry vaguely feminist subtexts, like the melodramatic “Brand New” and twangy “Not Just a Girl,” where she pushes back against being typecast as the titular “four-letter word” but neither song properly fleshes out their lyrical conceits beyond reiterating trite affirmations. “Brand New” is especially disappointing considering that Twain’s last album, 2017’s underrated and diverse Now, frequently probed the same issues with more complexity (and far fewer programmed drum patterns).
Elsewhere, “Best Friend” is an attempt at an ode to long-lasting sisterhood, touching on how Twain and a friend have stuck together through “all the years and the tears.” But due to the song’s lack of specifics regarding their relationship, it’s not entirely clear if the companion is a woman in the first place. Not helping matters is uniformly lazy songwriting that relies on easy repetition, such as when Twain rhymes “us” with “us” on the track’s second verse.
The album’s two best moments, the sardonic “Pretty Liar” and the infectious title track, both deal with self-actualization manifesting in real time, with peppy compositions and assertive vocal performances to boot. On the former’s incisive chorus, Twain calls out a lover whose “pants are on fire” because he’s “such a fucking liar,” and compares listening to his frequent falsehoods to suffocating on smoke. On the latter, she defines herself as not being “a girl,” or “a baby,” or even “a toy,” but simply “a queen” who doesn’t “need a king.”
However, getting to either of those highlights is a bit of a slog. “Waking Up Dreaming” is about as faceless as modern electro-pop gets, loaded with filler of the “ooo” and “ohh” variety in order to pad out the track’s excessive dead air, which is still moderately more acceptable than hearing the phrase “I got it good” reiterated 21 times in under three minutes on, yes, “Got It Good.”
In fact, one might even be inclined to throw in the towel as early as Queen of Me’s opening track, “Giddy Up!,” a sanitized country-dance number that pedals cringy lines like “Drunk in the city, got a litty in the cup/Up in your giddy up.” Which, while a tad nonsensical, is at least placed in an equally ridiculous context. On the other hand, “Inhale/Exhale Air,” a song that equates the gaseous mixture of nitrogen and oxygen to personal freedom, sincerely and absurdly asks, “What you gonna do with that air?”
Ignoring how incohesive Queen of Me’s track list proves to be—the schmaltzy “Last Day of Summer,” for example, is a pedestrian reflection of young love that feels entirely out of place on an album filled with tracks related to embracing one’s present image—the songs themselves are frivolous and lack both sonic character and catchy hooks. While Twain’s intentions may be direct, Queen of Me fails to live up to its self-assured namesake.
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Paul Attard is a pompous hack who couldn’t carry a tune if his life depended on it. Yet here he is pretending to know what he is talking about musically, which he clearly does not. A man defining a woman is really creepy stuff. The album is a solid 4 out of 5 and Giddy Up is one of the freshest pop songs I`ve heard in years. Paul Attard is a horrible critic!
Get off your high horse, this album is mediocre at best and you know it.
Gee Eric – Do you even know anything REALLY about where Shania ( Ms Edward) got all of her hit songs from – Huh I do and You can be it wasn’t her thoughts & Lyrics that made her big. If you knew anything at all about the music Business – You’d realize that all the songs she has claimed to actually write – Like “Man I Feel Like A Woman” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” “Your Still The One” ” At This Moment” “I’m Going Up Up Up” “Who’s Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” And actually All Of the hit songs on all of her albums other than her first 1993 album – Which was a major flop until she hit it big after Ripping of another writer – Which she continued to rip off for decades – In order to make it big – Crushing & destroying many life’s and Frankly not giving a good damn shit about ANY ONE in her path, But herself. This woman is Heartless without any feelings at all but for herself. I know the true story ( which very few people do). Don’t blame Mutt lange for cheating on her or leaving her at all. And who knows if that Whole story is even true. The woman Liars about her Heritage and about the songs she claims to have written. Come On wake up-Do you really think she writes her own stuff ??? Maybe now she does but I have to doubt it even though they R not very good. She gets her Lyrics from the same people Tyler Swift & the rest of them get theirs from-“The Middle Men” AKA “SONG SHARKS”
Sounds like a jealous tirade, or maybe you are related to Lange or Shania’s so-called friend Marie-Anne?
All women can relate to knowing a man who was a fucking liar! She sings what women have screamed and cried about! Women will raise the concert roof when this song is sung! Love Shania! She has a much hotter man now! You go girl!!!!
I’m not an uncritical Shania Twain fan, but having listened to the latest album today, I wonder if the reviewer was actually hearing the same album that I was. Clearly not from the same perspective, anyway. Those that can, do, those that can’t , teach, and those who can’t do either criticise.
This album is horrible, from the production quality to the actual content of the songs. She’s done much better in the past. Glad that I streamed it since I actually was considering buying it. What a shame.