Reba McEntire – Page 20 – Country Universe

Forgotten Hits: Suzy Bogguss, “Hey Cinderella”

February 27, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 25

Hey Cinderella
Suzy Bogguss
#5
1994
Written by Matraca Berg, Suzy Bogguss, and Gary Harrison

There’s a term that has gathered strength over the past decade: the quarter-life crisis. It describes that phase in life where the idealism of what you thought your life would be collides with what reality has in store for you. Reconciling the two is needed to get beyond this point of life, and adulthood completely sets in once such reconciliation has been accomplished.

Review: Reba McEntire, “I Keep On Loving You”

January 21, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 9

I had such a negative reaction to “Strange” that it kept me away from the new Reba McEntire album at first. So imagine my surprise when the second single from Keep On Lovin’ You, “Consider Me Gone”, turned out to be my favorite single from her in thirteen years.

Everything that “Strange” wasn’t, “Consider Me Gone” was: introspective, self-assured, fully believable and completely adult. It left me more receptive to McEntire’s music than I have been in a long time, so I eagerly dived in to the title track, which is now the latest single.

While it doesn’t approach the perfection of “Consider Me Gone”, I must say that it’s still a good deal better than the bulk of this legend’s output. It’s really unfair to compare her to the newer acts that dominate the radio. Among the women, only Carrie Underwood is in her league as a vocalist, and she doesn’t have the thirty years of life experience to draw upon that Reba does.

Best Country Singles of 2009, Part 2: #20-#1

January 6, 2010 Dan Milliken 41

We proceed.

#20

Taylor Swift, “You Belong with Me”

Teen-pop perfection, bursting with personality and unshakable hooks. – Dan Milliken

#19

Keith Urban, “‘Til Summer Comes Around”

There’s nothing quite as lonely as a carnival that has shut down, except for being alone at a carnival, surrounded by everyone but the love who has left you behind. – Kevin Coyne

#18

Lady Antebellum, “I Run to You”

Sheer passion and pulsing energy from start to finish. – Tara Seetharam

Top-Selling Country Albums of 2009

January 4, 2010 Kevin John Coyne 16

Here are the top selling country albums of the calendar year 2009. The number in parentheses is the album’s rank on the overall list encompassing all genres. The totals are rounded to the nearest thousand:

Taylor Swift, Fearless (1) – 3,157,000
Zac Brown Band, Foundation (15) – 1,243,000
Carrie Underwood, Play On (19) – 1,150,000
Rascal Flatts, Unstoppable (21) – 1,123,000
Lady Antebellum, Lady Antebellum (24) – 948,000
Jason Aldean, Wide Open (27) – 940,000
Darius Rucker, Learn to Live (31) – 849,000
Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift (36) – 766,000
Keith Urban, Defying Gravity (38) – 715,000
Sugarland, Love On the Inside (41) – 678,000

Favorite Songs by Favorite Artists: Reba McEntire

December 19, 2009 Guest Contributor 23

Reba McEntire

A guest contribution from Country Universe reader Zack Jodlowski.

When I first came across country music back in the eighth grade, I automatically gravitated towards the female artists of country music. When I heard the romp-stomping performance of “I’m Gonna Take That Mountain,” I thought “I have to hear more!”

Reba McEntire’s music has been such a lifesaver for me, that four years after my mom died, I found new found strength within me that allowed me to make peace with her death. It says a lot for a teenager to relate so strongly to the lyrics of Reba McEntire songs. Reba has been my favorite artist of all time, and she’ll most likely remain that for as long as I live.

Reba McEntire has been the heartbreak queen, an entertainer, and a superstar; at times she doesn’t make music choices that are spot-on, but her ability to deliver a song with an emotional tinge in her voice is all but rare in the music business, and with this ability she lifts a song up to another level. Reba also finds a way to relate to her audience with her music, whether it be helping someone through tragedies or inspiring people to continue to chase their dreams. Reba’s ability to adapt to the changing times and to continue to make herself relevant to the new country music generations is one that transcends the biases on radio that are established against females and the elder men and women of country music.

It was hard to narrow Reba’s extensive catalog down to twenty-five songs, and hard not to include some of her other great songs, but in the end I’ve managed to pick my twenty-five personal favorites.

#25

“Bobby”

For My Broken Heart, 1991

Truly heartbreaking. Bobby kills his spouse, causing hatred from his son to be thrust upon him, but in the chorus we find he does this out of love (he didn’t want his spouse to suffer any longer). His son later realizes his father’s intentions and realizes “He still missed his mama, but he’d missed his daddy too.” This is one of the rare Reba McEntire co-writes found in her catalog.

The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 2: #180-#161

December 15, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 48

The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 2: #180-#161

180 Flatts Melt

#180
“These Days”
Rascal Flatts
2002
Peak: #1

It’s the pairing of aching nostalgia and all the power that comes with a Flatts country-pop ballad that makes this song so potent. – Tara Seetharam

179 Ashton

#179
“Takin’ Off This Pain”
Ashton Shepherd
2007
Peak: #20

Like a fiery-eyed hybrid of Loretta Lynn and Jennifer Nettles, Shepherd burst onto the scene snapping her newly ring-free fingers at the clueless sap not treating her right. Next Decade, please take note: you’ve got a star in waiting. – Dan Milliken

The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 1: #201-#181

December 13, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 19

hourglass This was the decade that brought back the single. Not that it ever fully went away, as radio still played the promotional ones and video outlets the filmed ones. But actual commercial singles had gone the way of the dodo, until the digital revolution suddenly made them practical again. Why buy the whole album when you can just get the song that you want?

The devastation this has brought to record company bottom lines was probably unavoidable anyway, given the realities of post-Napster society. But technology has its perks. Now you can buy the songs on this list with a click of our mouse!

And what a list it is: 201 singles that run the gamut, from genuine hits that topped the charts to songs spun only by renegade DJs working the night shift. Here’s how we compiled it: four Country Universe writers ranked their personal favorite 100 singles, with an inverted point system applied (#1 on a list meant 100 points, while #100 on the list meant 1 point.) The songs were then ranked by number of total points, greatest to least. Ties were broken by the number of lists the song appeared on, then by highest individual ranking.

There was more consensus than usual for CU, and we all agreed on one thing: this list was a heck of a lot of fun to compile. We hope you enjoy it, too!

The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 1: #201-#181

201 Lady A

#201
“I Run To You”
Lady Antebellum

There’s a palpable intensity to this song that grips me every time I listen to it. Love isn’t always characterized by peacefulness, and the song’s pulsing production perfectly conveys the urgency, desperation and passion that often accompanies it. – Tara Seetharam

200 Patty Strong

#200
“The Last Thing on My Mind”
Patty Loveless

Given her allegiance to country music’s history and personal association with both Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, you might think this was a cover of that duo’s first top ten hit. Instead, it’s a very modern-sounding song with a modern-day woman who never thinks about the guy she’s left behind until right before she goes to sleep, when “something in my broken heart rewinds” as she lies in an “empty bed as big as Arkansas.” – Kevin Coyne

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 4: #70-#61

December 3, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 16

The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, Part 4

#70
Pam Tillis, It’s All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis

By the time she released a tribute to her father Mel, she’d become something of a legend in her own right. So it’s no surprise that she approached Mel’s stellar songwriting catalog as if she was recording any other studio album, taking the best of the bunch and making them her own. Bonus points for preserving the original fiddle breakdown from “Heart Over Mind” while making that classic shuffle a forlorn ballad, and a few more for hitting the archives of the Country Music Hall of Fame until she found a forgotten gem that should’ve been a hit back in the day (“Not Like it Was With You.”) – Kevin Coyne

Recommended Tracks: “Mental Revenge”, “Detroit City”

#69
Dwight Yoakam, dwightyoakamacoustic.net

Yoakam takes a new, inspired spin on the greatest hits album concept, presenting us with a hearty sampling (over 20 songs) of his catalog served acoustic style. It simply works for the country legend. He introduces some delightful new twists and turns to his old classics, and as it should go with acoustic music, the album is driven by unadulterated, raw vocals, coupled with honest storytelling – the purest form of country music. – Tara Seetharam

Album Review: Carrie Underwood, Play On

November 15, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 51

Play On Carrie Underwood
Play On

It’s getting easy to take Carrie Underwood for granted. Her vocal talent so far exceeds all of her contemporaries that she can outsing them all from the corner of her mouth. On her newest album, Play On, she continues to find new ways to stretch that voice, using a variety of approaches ranging from full-on power to subtle nuances.

It helps that she’s as comfortable singing a shameless pop hook as she is a pure country melody. This should come as no surprise. Any artist of Underwood’s generation has been weaned on both Randy Travis and Def Leppard, on both Reba McEntire and Madonna, on both the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain. Play On makes the case that all of these influences can be mixed together, sometimes even on the same song.

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number

November 9, 2009 Kevin John Coyne 24

george-strait1 While Taylor Swift mania continues to grow, there’s another impressive accomplishment being achieved by two veterans of country music on the opposite end of the age spectrum.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, there has always been a ceiling on how old you could be and still get country airplay. This year, both George Strait and Reba McEntire have been working steadily to shatter that ceiling.

Take a look at the age of country legends when they earned their most recent top ten solo hit:

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