CD review: Reba McEntire, “Keep on Loving You”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Country
Reba McEntire “Keep on Loving You” (Valory Music Co.)
Over the past three decades, Reba McEntire has become country music’s reigning queen of twangy kiss-offs, earnest declarations of love or heartbreak and big-voiced women’s anthems.
On “Keep on Loving You,” her first solo album in six years, the Oklahoma native deftly strikes a balance between pleasing her longtime traditional country followers and reaching the new fan base she has cultivated through her self-titled sitcom and recent tour with “American Idol” Kelly Clarkson.
The album, due out Tuesday, is the first since McEntire switched to the Valory label after spending all her long career on MCA. The change seems to have given the flamed-haired songstress a new zest, allowing her to build on the momentum from her 2007 hit album “Reba Duets,” which paired her with the likes of Clarkson, Justin Timberlake and Rascal Flatts.
The album opens with her sassy top 10 hit “Strange,” which ranks along with “Fancy” and “You Lie” as my favorite Reba songs. She plumbs more pop influences with the rollicking yarn “Pink Guitar,” and she stays feisty with the raucous “I Want a Cowboy.” The bossa nova beat makes “Just When I Thought I’d Stopped Loving You” an interesting listen, even if it doesn’t quite work.
McEntire’s old-school fans will appreciate her sweeping ballad “Consider Me Gone,” the swampy revenge tale “Maggie Creek Road” and the relatable storytelling of “She’s Turning 50 Today,” which she co-wrote. She playfully embraces traditional country with the boot-stomping “Nothing to Lose” and the Western swinging “I’ll Have What She’s Having.”
The enhanced CD includes the “Strange” music video and her performance of “Consider Me Gone” from CMT’s “Invitation Only: Reba McEntire,” premiering Aug. 21.
- BAM
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Everything Reba does is incredible, she has yet to released a CD that hasn’t had at least one song that could have came straight from my life! I love you Reba you are the BEST!!!!