Women of Country - The Internet's #1 Guide to Female Country Music

Album Review

Reba McEntire - So Good Together
MCA Records

Reba McEntire's sudden career resurgence has thrown her into back into the forefront of the country music industry. She's got an incredible tour out on the road right now and has already had a hit single off her newest release So Good Together. The question remains, is this album good enough to help her regain her spot in the industry? The answer? Possibly.

So Good Together is quite a challenge. The album opens with the free-spirited title track and then quickly falls into slow, thoughtful ballads for much of the remainder of the album. There isn't a lot of variety here and it took me a number of listens to finally start warming up to the album. Then it hit me, maybe I was just in the right mood but the lyrics jumped out and the fact that these are very powerful songs became clear to me.

This album has a more classic Reba sound and feel to it than most of her work in the second half of the 90s. "What Do You Say" has potential to become the next "She Thinks His Name Was John". "I'll Be" is a beautiful love song that seems destined to become a single. On her last album everyone was talking about "Wrong Night" being the most country sounding tune release by Reba in ages and now "Roses" takes that title. Talk about a piece of stone country, it's nice to see her return to her roots once in awhile. Reba also seems to have a talent for remaking Tanya Tucker songs and she proves that again on her cover of "Nobody Dies From A Broken Heart". The stunning "Back Before The War" is easily the best song on this album. If they don't release this song as a single, then everyone will have been done a great injustice.

The album isn't without a few flaws. The final track on the album "We're All Alone" is a Boz Scaggs bilingual remake with Jose y Durval and it's hardly worth one listen. Well, maybe a second one for a good laugh. Why this song made it on to the album is still utterly puzzling. The album also desperately needed a couple more upbeat tunes. There are only two on the entire album (and the second one isn't really all that fast). This is definitely not an album you're going to be playing with the windows rolled down, flying down the highway.

Reba is finally headed back in the right direction. This is one of her stronger efforts in quite awhile. If she could just balance an album out with the right amount of ballads and upbeat numbers (as she did in Read My Mind and What If It's You) she could easily start turning out 5 star albums once again.

Album Review by Jeff Krasky

The WOC Rating Scale

The album stands above the rest. This is a record that every country music fan needs to have in their collection.

This album is better than the average release. A strong record with some flaws that keep it from reaching that 5 star level.

This album is an average country release. Doesn't posses qualities that make it stand out among all the other albums out there.

A weak record that lacks solid songs or good vocal performances. Sample before you buy.

This record is a bargin-bin reject that just isn't worth the time or the money. Completely misses the mark.