Top tens: Reba McEntire

[Rainbow]

I listened through my entire Reba collection a few days ago, and I've got a pretty different list of favourites than before.

1. Long Distance Lover from Feel The Fire
2. Only In My Mind from Have I Got A Deal For You
3. My Mind Is On You from What Am I Gonna Do About You
4. Whoever's In New England from Whoever's In New England
5. Small Two Bedroom Starter from Heart To Heart
6. You Remember Me from Rumor Has It
7. One To One from Reba McEntire
8. What If It's You from What If It's You
9. She Thinks His Name Was John from Read My Mind
10. Tell Me What's So Good About Goodbye from Just A Little Love

[Peter Durward Harris]

I haven't listened to Reba for a while, nor have I looked at the track listings to remind me, but these are some that come to mind

1 - Small two bedroom starter
2 - Away in a manger
3 - Till it snows in Mexico
4 - Oklahoma swing (with Vince)
5 - Cathy's clown
6 - Just across the Rio Grande
7 - Just a little love
8 - She thinks his name was John
9 - Suddenly there's a valley
10 - Take me back

[pwdennis]

1. Somebody Should Leave (1985)
2. How Blue (1984)
3. Oklahoma Swing w/ VInce Gill (1990)
4. I'm Not That Lonely Yet (1982)
5. Can't Even Get The Blues (1982)
6. Whoever's In New England (1986)
7. You're The First Time I've Thought About Leaving (1983)
8. One Promise Too Late (1987)
9. Runaway Heart (1979)
10. Why Do We Want (1983)

You can tell from my list that I lost interest in Reba a long time ago. Up to about 1990 I regarded Reba as one of the greatest of all country singers. Her post-1990 output has been of little interest to me, although there have been scattered flashes of the old Reba

[Rainbow]

I like Reba's recent stuff alot, but I don't love it like I love her early stuff. But she does have some very good albums from the last decade, like Room To Breathe.

[Occasional Hope]

1. Whoever's In New England
2. One Promise Too Late
3. There Ain't No Future In This
4. Red Roses (Won't Work Now)
5. For My Broken Heart
6. Just Across The Rio Grande
7. Somebody Should Leave
8. I Wouldn't Go That Far
9. He's In Dallas
10. Bobby

[Trailer]

Anything but Fancy, but my faves are:
Whoever's In New England
Somebody Should Leave
And Still
One Promise Too Late
Little Rock
The Heart Won't Lie
I Know How He Feels
You Lie
For My Broken Heart
If You See Him, If You See Her

[LittleSable]

1. Whoever's In New England
2. Does He Love You
3. Fancy
4. The Night That The Lights Went Out In Georgia
5. Cathy's Clown
6. She Came on Like Lightning
7. One Good Reason
8. The Greatest Man I Never Knew
9. For My Broken Heart
10. Is There Life Out There

[Razor X]

1. Somebody Should Leave
2. How Blue
3. You're The First Time I've Thought About Leaving
4. I'm Not That Lonely Yet
5. Whoever's In New England
6. Little Rock
7. One Promise Too Late
8. Fancy
9. Does He Love You
10. I'm Gonna Take That Mountain

Up to about nine or ten months ago when I asked who my favorite singer was, I would have said Reba without hesitation. But for some reason, I just can't get over my disappointment in her Duets album. I have tried to like it, but except for a few tracks, I just can't warm up to it. I can't even believe that the reviews are mostly positive when a die-hard fan like me is so dissatisfied.

I have every album she's released, except for that one that was released through the Hallmark stores. I would just automatically buy whatever she came out with. I started reviewing my music collection as I started loading it into my iPod when I finally bought one last fall. One of the things I realized was, that despite having all of her albums, I very seldom listened to any of them other than her greatest hits packages and a couple of old favorites, like My Kind Of Country, Have I Got A Deal For You and Whoever's In New England. It made me realize that Reba has made very few albums that are great from beginning to end. Room To Breathe was pretty good, but still contains some filler -- My Sister, for example. Another surprise, as I loaded up my iPod was the realization that I have more music by Dolly Parton than any other artist -- 460 songs, not including her collaborations with other artists. I didn't realize that I had every album she's put out over the past 25 years, excluding some compilations, and I actually to listen to several of them on a regular basis. It was kind of an eye-opener.

[pwdennis]

I think, Razor X, what you have encountered is the difference between "peak" value and "career" value. I think Reba's peak efforts are superlative, but the consistancy hasn't been there

In my case, my favorite male artists are Ernest Tubb and Webb Pierce. I like their best material more than I like anyone else's best material BUT ... I listen to Merle Haggard far more often than I listen to Tubb and Pierce because Merle's albums are more consistantly good (actually excellent) than Tubb's or Pierce's albums

Among the female singers, Connie Smith is the best vocalist, bar none. Connie's five best songs are better than any other female's five best but the albums are very mixed bags and many females have made better albums.

I don't do digital downloading so I either make my own CDs or deal with what's commercially available - when listeningt to whole CDs I evaluate the CD as a whole as opposed to the few best tracks.

Among current artists I rate Brad Paisley as tops because his albums are entertaining throughout, something I can't say for most of his Nashville contemporaries (from top to bottom, most of the current music coming out of Austin is better)

[Razor X]

I think part of the problem with Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb and Connie Smith -- and most artists from the 60s and earlier -- is that country music was primarily a singles-oriented genre. Emmylou Harris is credited for starting to change that in the 70s. Her early albums were excellent from start to finish. I'll even go out on a limb and say that Dolly was making better albums in the early 70s than most country artists. Some of her albums from that era are inconsistent, but when they let her include several of her own compositions on an album, she really shone. Just listen to Coat Of Many Colors, My Tennessee Mountain Home, and Jolene --- all good, solid albums, IMO. As I'm sure you can tell by now, I'm huge fan of hers, so you can take that with a grain of salt.

I still like Reba. When she's great, she's great but her material has been inconsistent, especially in recent years. I think she's trying too hard to just release what she thinks will sell, instead of just trying to make great music. Now that radio seems to be cooling toward her, I'm hoping that we'll see her equivalent of a Grass Is Blue or Little Sparrow.

[pwdennis]

I think the first artists to make really good albums were Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. Each, of course, was a top-flite songwriter, so their "filler" tended to be miles above the norm. Merle's MAMA TRIED album, for instance, has ten songs that could have been released as singles. Buck's TOGETHER AGAIN/ MY HEART SKIPS A BEAT has several songs on it that others turned into singles, including "A-11" that Johnny Paycheck learned off Buck's album. Johnny Cash was probably the second or third Nashville star to produce themed albums (after Jean Shepard and possibly Hank Thompson). Dolly was the first female singer to produce consistantly solid albums, but that is about a half dozen years after Buck, Johnny and Merle

[JR Journey]

Razor said "Now that radio seems to be cooling toward her, I'm hoping that we'll see her equivalent of a Grass Is Blue or Little Sparrow."

I have been waiting for Reba to do this for several years now. It would almost be a blessing if radio just stopped playing her altogether. Maybe then she would make the roots-country album she is capable of making. The twang in Reba's voice just aches to sing country and even western-themed music ... she should let go and do what she does best.

But anyway, here are my favorite Reba songs ... a few are album cuts that only die-hard fans will know ...

10.They Asked About You - from Greatest Hits Vol. 2
9. It's Your Call
8. How Was I To Know - from What If It's You
7. Ring On Her Finger - from Starting Over
6. You Lie - from Rumor Has It
5. Whoever's in New England
4. I Know How He Feels - from Reba
3. I Wish That I Could Tell You - from Read My Mind
2. Lonely Alone - from If You See Him
1. You Remember Me -from Rumor Has It

[Razor X]

I have been waiting for Reba to do this for several years now. It would almost be a blessing if radio just stopped playing her altogether. Maybe then she would make the roots-country album she is capable of making. The twang in Reba's voice just aches to sing country and even western-themed music ... she should let go and do what she does best.

Radio definitely seems to be cooling towards her. But we're probably still a few year away, at least, from that roots album we're waiting for.

[Rainbow]

You see, I think Reba has become so obsessed with sales, that when her albums don't go gold anymore, I'm afraid she'll just retire.

[JR Journey]

I disagree. I don't think Reba McEntire will ever retire. Her albums may get farther and farther apart - like most aging artists. But she still has another 20 albums in her I think. Or so I hope ...

[Rainbow]

Unfortuneately, I think she's just in it for the money now.

[Razor X]

I disagree. I don't think Reba McEntire will ever retire. Her albums may get farther and farther apart - like most aging artists. But she still has another 20 albums in her I think. Or so I hope ...

I'm inclined to agree. But then, I never thought Barbara Mandrell would retire.

[Joe]

I ran through my mind a list of Reba's best songs and came up with two lists: the first is made up of those that were favorites back when they were new (perhaps I liked them so much that I'm tired of them now?); the second is a list of songs that I go back to when I'm sitting in front of the stereo playing DJ. So, in random order...

Back-in-the-day top ten:
1. You're the One I Dream About, from Reba
2. What You Gonna Do About Me, from The Last One to Know
3. Walk On, from Sweet Sixteen
4. Is There Life Out There, from For My Broken Heart
5. I'd Rather Ride Around With You, from What If It's You
6. I'm Not Your Girl, from So Good Together
7. Whoever's In New England, from the same album
8. Somebody Should Leave, from My Kind of Country
9. Sweet Dreams, from Reba Live
10. Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma, from Reba Duets

All-time top ten:
1. Silly Me, from Reba
2. The Last One to Know, from the same album
3. One Promise Too Late, from What Am I Gonna Do About You
4. He Wants to Get Married, from It's Your Call
5. We're So Good Together, from So Good Together
6. She Wasn't Good Enough for Him, from So Good Together
7. I'm Gonna Take That Mountain, from Room to Breathe
8. Invisible, from If You See Him
9. Don't Touch Me There, from Whoever's In New England
10. I Won't Mention It Again, from Starting Over

Honorable mentions:
The Stairs, from the Last One to Know
Lookin' For a New Love Story, from What Am I Gonna Do About You
Red Roses (Won't Work Now), from Have I Got a Deal For You
Don't Forget Your Way Home, from Have I Got a Deal For You
Buying Her Roses, from For My Broken Heart
Forever Love, from If You See Him
I'm A Survivor, from Greatest Hits Volume III
It's Your Call, from the same album
Rumor Has It, from the same album
This Picture, from Rumor Has It

[JR Journey]

Unfortuneately, I think she's just in it for the money now.

I think you're close, Rainbow ... just not quite there. Someone in Reba McEntire's position doesn't give a crap about money. It's the level of success and recognition I believe she craves. She wants very much to still be a viable and competitive artist in today's youth-obsessed market same as she has been for the past 2 decades. And in her striving to be a competitive artist in today's market, she has lost a lot of artistic integrity in the process: from selecting weak material to running around with 25 year-olds instead of her true contemporaries. So to say that Reba is in it for the glory, yes. For the recognition, yes. For the chart success, definitely yes. But for the money, nah ...

[Razor X]

I think JR hit the nail on the head.