Every year, we move further away from analog listening methods. Nowadays, owning vinyl or having a CD collection is considered a hobby rather than a necessity. In the age of streaming, there is a charm in looking back on the albums we thought were good enough to own in a physical form. Revisit three country albums, from the ’90s and ’00s, that everyone had in their CD binder below.
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Come On Over – Shania Twain
Shania Twain’s Come On Over is the definition of cross-over success. Twain paved the way for countless subsequent artists to make country befitting the mainstream. It was every bit an ode to Twain’s roots as it was a step into the pop world.
If you were a country fan in the ’90s, there was no way you didn’t have this CD on the quick draw. Come On Over remains the best-selling studio album by a female solo artist, encapsulating the era-defining nature of the album.
Be Here – Keith Urban
Keith Urban’s Be Here is rife with timeless hits. “Days Go By”, “Making Memories of Us”, and “Better Life,” to name a few. Four albums in, Urban was operating at the top of his game. He’d pinpointed exactly what made him great as a solo artist and boldly put it to use.
Perhaps more so than ever before, Urban was showing his range as an artist on this record. He proved he could do upbeat, summertime anthems and melancholic ballads. You’d have been hard-pressed to find someone in the early ’00s who claimed to like country music and didn’t know this album note-for-note.
Taylor Swift – Taylor Swift
While many artists opened the door for her to be as wildly successful as she was (and is), Taylor Swift did much to give country a wider listenership. Her debut album made Swift a country singer and a popular mainstay. She wasn’t a pop artist by traditional definition, but she had the appeal and widespread fanship of one.
Taylor Swift flexed her songwriting chops. Fans and critics alike were stunned by how honed she seemed as an artist from the outset of her career. Swift’s fans bought every iteration of her debut, earning her the kind of loyalty usually reserved for established artists.
(Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images)
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