Reba McEntire Albums (29)
What The Critics Say
Keep on Loving You is contemporary country legend Reba McEntire's debut recording on the semi-independent Valory Music Company label's Starstruck imprint. It's her first new studio outing since her comeback effort, Duets, and her mammoth triple-disc hits package that fulfilled her contract to MCA Nashville, her label home for nearly 20 years. Despite its release on an indie, the production and approach are anything but, with the album being produced by Tony Brown and Mark Bright. The cream of country music's current chart crop wrote its 13 songs; it is certainly a radio-friendly collection that is supposed to showcase McEntire's adaptability and that she's still "got it," and can still score in the contemporary marketplace. There's no doubt that will happen, from the title track, a midtempo ballad that is saturated in compressed guitars and Hammond B-3, big repetitive choruses, and a chorus of fiddles and backing vocals. McEntire's voice hasn't lost even a touch of its range and power; she's a belter who can hang with the best of them. The set opener (and its first single), "Strange," with its acoustic guitars, mandolin, and fiddle intros, is like something from the backyard until about 20 seconds in, when a wall of guitars à la John Rich arrives and her vocal spits out lyrics that tell of a woman who feels strange that she should be wrecked after a love affair, but she's fine. It feels more like Gretchen Wilson than Reba McEntire. "I Want a Cowboy" and "Pink Guitar" sound more like McEntire is being backed by the Charlie Daniels Band circa 1979 than her own touring unit. "She's Turning 50 Today" is a trademark McEntire-delivered ballad about a woman who has been abandoned by her husband and decides to leave the wreckage of her life behind. It's the kind of bittersweet power ballad that the singer is famous for, and is delivered with characteristic aplomb even as the production behind her tries its hardest to get in the way. The bottom line here is that Keep on Loving You may jar some longtime Reba fans on first listen, but despite the record's sound it's all her in this mix, and they will more than likely celebrate this. As far as the new fans this set clearly hopes to gain, it's got the right elements; if country music's finicky youth-obsessed radio and video machine can hear this set for what it is, listeners will connect in droves. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Consider Me Gone'
Release Date 1/1/2009
Tracks 3
Label Starstruck/Valory
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What The Critics Say
Reba McEntire's Duets project is either the return of one of the biggest stars country music has ever seen, or an effort to try to regain some of that popularity now that another generation of Nashville musicians has claimed the radio, video, and sales spotlight. Duets is only the second album of new songs by McEntire to appear in the last eight years -- an eternity in Nashville (and being the star of a sitcom doesn't count for much). Her last, Room to Breathe, appeared almost four years ago and spawned the hit "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain," propelling the album to a number four position on the Billboard country chart and a brief stay at 25 in the pop chart. That said, a project like this, with so much hype and expense incurred behind and because of it, demands an artist with staying power and a legacy to fall back on, and she has it: for starts, thirty number one singles. As for Duets, there is no shortage of star power, and it's multi-generational in terms of the world of pop music. On one side are contemporary country superstars like Kelly Clarkson -- the album's first single, "Because of You," written when Clarkson was 16 years old, has blown up. Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Ronnie Dunn, Faith Hill, and LeAnn Rimes are also here. So are major, near-legendary talents like Trisha Yearwood and Vince Gill (it's odd to think of Gill as an elder statesman of country, but in a 30-year career that's what he is), who also have active, busy careers and hit the charts whenever they release material. Then there are the "others," those songwriters who do not fit the country mold but are welcome presences here: Carole King (one of the greatest songwriters ever) and Don Henley appear on two of the most successful tracks in the set. Finally, there's the rogue outsider who is simply a pop superstar: Justin Timberlake. (If you roll your eyes at what he's doing here, you're right: he had an inside connection since his business partner dates McEntire's daughter.) As for the quality of the tracks -- since most music biz projects like this crash and burn after a few weeks or upon getting trounced by critics -- this one is a mixed bag, but in a good way. McEntire's performance with Rimes on "When You Love Someone Like That" is stellar. The co-written duet between the flaming redheaded country diva and Ronnie Dunn, "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma?" is an honest to goodness country song, and works as much because of the high lonesome in Dunn's beautiful baritone as it does the headliner's act. "Because of You" may be the hit, but the song is simply a big, overblown power ballad with guitars compressed to the breaking point, sweeping strings, and enormous crashing cymbals -- think Jim Steinman and you get it. (Not that Tony Hit Man Brown's a whole lot different in his own genre, but this could have been a Meat Loaf reject from Bat out of Hell II). A similar problem plagues "Faith in Love" with Rascal Flatts. It's got what it takes for radio, no doubt about it, but it's a song everybody will be sick of sooner rather than later. Things get back on track with "She Can't Save Him," with Yearwood, who is simply a class act as a stylist, and a woman who never over-sings. It's a lilting piano ballad-turned-big number but Yearwood and McEntire are very suited to one another as singing partners. McEntire has great control, and Yearwood has the amazing ability to be a musical chameleon. It would have been lovely to have a Carole King-written number for the occasion of this duet. That said, however, the newly acquired graininess in King's amazing voice is a fine contrast on this pop-country song that rocks it up enough to stretch McEntire. "Every Other Weekend" with Chesney is somewhat underwhelming. Either of them could have pulled this one off alone (you can hear Chesney making this one truly believable), but together, there's a kind of distance in the voices that all of the strings in Brown's world couldn't make gel. Things work a whole lot better with Gill who, like Yearwood, can sing with anyone and allows himself to become whatever he's signing. As a result, both singers sound wonderful on "These Broken Hearts" and McEntire delivers one of those extremely moving performances she's built her well-deserved career on. It's for a Gill-Pete Wasner tune, and it was perhaps written for this session, but nonetheless, she just nails it, and in his support role as a singing partner, Gill rises to the level put forth by McEntire, and this is one of those broken love songs kissed by Steve Nathan's B-3 and the sweet backing vocals of Ashley Cleveland, Judson Spence, and Kim Keyes that can't miss with the strange bridge and chorus with its ghostly backdrop. "Sleeping with the Telephone" with Hill works just as you think it might: like a charm. Great singing, emotional performances and Dann Huff's addition to the production team of McEntire and Brown on this track saves it from the excess that might have plagued it. It feels natural, polished, and utterly true. The choruses are stirring enough to bring goose bumps. "The Only Promise That Remains," with Timberlake, was written with Matt Morris and is maybe a tad longer than it should be at over five minutes. But that's a small complaint. It's a solid song: acoustically based with some Celtic flavor, and written for the strengths in McEntire's voice (and Brown could learn something about using strings from Timberlake.) Here they don't overpower, they accent the song, and the cello fills are an excellent touch as are the dobro by Rob Ickes and upright bass by Glenn Worf. Timberlake contents himself to sing harmony rather than take solo verses; but that's more about serving the song than about not being able to sing. It's a welcome surprise here. Finally, Henley and McEntire close with "Break Each Other's Hearts Again." And although Henley can write, he doesn't do it well here, which is too bad. He's a great singer when he wants to be, especially as a harmonist. He's superb in that role, and he delivers his verses with conviction and a tawdry elegance that fits the song like a glove. McEntire can really sing with Henley. They were in the same room when it was recorded and the chemistry is right there. The band here should be mentioned, too, since Henley is in familiar company with a rhythm section of drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Leland Sklar. McEntire's fans will eat this up, and perhaps those of Timberlake and Clarkson and Hill will, too. It's not a perfect record by any means, but it doesn't need to be; it simply has to deliver, and it does more often than not. Whether or not it turns a new generation of fans on to McEntire will remain to be seen, but this feels like anything but a cynical effort. It's sincere, it's polished, and it's full of good to great songs delivered in mostly interesting ways. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Four years seems to have done Reba McEntire some good. On her first studio album in four years, she resurrects her passion for country music that seemed to have been missing on her previous album. She sings all 12 tracks like she's happy to be home in country music. From the longing of "My Sister" to the soulfulness of the title track, McEntire reminds listeners why they missed her. She's always good for the affecting story-songs and doesn't disappoint with "Moving Oleta" and "Somebody." And what's a Reba album without the lovely Linda Davis on background harmony vocals or a duet with country music faithful Vince Gill? (Think 1992's "The Heart Won't Lie.") You'll find many of the old staples here, but you'll also get a revitalized and cool-sounding Reba. ~ Maria Konicki Dinoia, All Music Guide
'Sweet Sixteen'
Release Date 10/24/2000
Tracks 10
Label Universal Special Products
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What The Critics Say
Reba McEntire's 13th regular studio album Reba shocked some fans and critics by taking a distinct pop crossover direction after several years during which she maintained that she was a neo-traditionalist country artist. On Reba, the fiddles and steel guitars were banned from the studio as McEntire made like Aretha Franklin singing "Respect." The album topped the Billboard country charts for eight weeks, but McEntire seems to have felt that she should reassure her country base, and so Sweet Sixteen (which is her 16th album only if you count her Greatest Hits and Merry Christmas to You) welcomes the fiddles and steel guitars back as she returns to the neo-traditionalist fold. This is an album on which McEntire doubles back to a formula that worked for her in the past. Kendal Franceschi and Quentin Powers wrote her 1986 career song "Whoever's in New England," and they are back for two selections here, both of which have some of the melancholy of that ballad, but aren't as good. "It Always Rains on Saturday," for which McEntire claims a co-writing credit, takes too long to get to the point of its story, that the narrator is a divorced mother made lonely when her young son goes off to spend the weekends with his father. "Little Girl" (which became the LP's third country Top Ten hit) has the singer confessing to being overanxious and to having failed at love again. McEntire once coaxed a major hit, "Somebody Should Leave," from legendary country songwriter Harlan Howard. She hasn't obtained another one from him, but she has crossed pens with another heavyweight tunesmith, Don Schlitz, co-writing "Am I the Only One Who Cares," a too-cute story song about a fight between a mother and her teenager daughter that is mediated by a talking moon (!), and "You Must Really Love Me," a bluegrass workout in the style of Emmylou Harris. Another genre exercise is "'Til Love Comes Again" (the record's second country Top Ten), which leans heavily on fiddle and steel guitar and sounds like it was written for Patsy Cline, whom McEntire successfully impersonates. "Say the Word" investigates still another familiar country style, honky tonk. The album's pop elements are either muted or more closely tied to country than those on Reba. The track list begins with a cover of the Everly Brothers hit "Cathy's Clown" on which McEntire has altered the pronouns to add a third character to the story, another woman, the narrator, who observes the man she loves being Cathy's clown. It doesn't quite work, but that didn't keep the single from going to number one in the country charts when it was released in advance of the album. Another not-exactly-country-but-not-far-removed selection is "Somebody Up There Likes Me," an up-tempo CCM number that sounds like it might have been written with Amy Grant in mind. Perhaps the greatest indication that McEntire hasn't entirely given up on crossover is the recurrent sound of a saxophone in the album's arrangements. Its wail reminds the listener that, while the singer may be harking back to her country roots on Sweet Sixteen, her loyalty to tradition may be only temporary. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It hasn't been hard to notice that Reba McEntire's usually reliable stream of number one hits has slowed lately. But So Good Together re-examines McEntire's artistry and puts fans back in touch with the Reba we know and love. No one sings emotion better than McEntire, and the relaxed warmth of her voice produces one of the finest vocal performances she's bestowed on listeners since before Starting Over. So Good Together's first release, the introspective "What Do You Say," has been making its way up the charts in glowing Reba style. ~ Maria Konicki Dinoia, All Music Guide
'The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection'
Release Date 9/21/1999
Tracks 10
Label MCA
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Reba McEntire's second Christmas album is a departure from 1988's Merry Christmas to You. Secret of Giving features more down-to-earth, pop-country tracks that reflect her decidedly contemporary country style of the '90s. Cheerful and sincere, McEntire shows her usual eloquence on songs like "This Christmas," "Up on the Housetop," "This Is My Prayer for You," and "The Angels Sang." The lyrics in "Mary, Did You Know?" may be a little precious, but McEntire won't lose any fans with this holiday collection. ~ Gina Boldman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
To stir interest in her record as well as Brooks & Dunn's, Reba McEntire recorded a duet with the duo called "If You See Him/If You See Her," and both artists named their respective new albums after the song. It was a way to draw attention for both parties, since they were no longer new guns -- they were veterans in danger of losing ground to younger musicians. Brooks & Dunn happened to deliver an enjoyable, albeit workmanlike, album, while McEntire remains a powerful, charismatic vocalist, but she's stripped away many of her country roots on this record, deciding to craft a country-pop album that plays as an adult contemporary record. ~ Thom Owens, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
What If It's You doesn't offer any new tricks from Reba McEntire, but it is nevertheless an excellent reminder of her deep talents as a vocalist. The album is slightly uneven, but at its best -- such as on the single "The Fear of Being Alone," "She's Calling it Love" and "I'd Rather Ride Around with You" -- it is as good as anything McEntire has ever done. ~ Thom Owens, All Music Guide
