McEntire, Yoakam release

Brighter Days

For his first album of original music since 2016, Dwight Yoakam does exactly nothing different, and thank goodness for that. One of country music's most consistent stylists, Yoakam's sound has always been a nod to the Bakersfield of Buck Owens, hardcore honky-tonk played by a swinging band, and he's not about to change this far into his career, it seems. Analyzing his albums, then, boils down to which songs hit the spot best; they will all fill you up but some just taste better than others. ...

My Chains Are Gone

It's so good to hear Reba McEntire's gospel album so soon after Carrie Underwood released the similar "My Savior." While Underwood's release may have been her country-ist album – ever, perhaps – McEntire has strayed far less often from her traditional music roots. With "My Chains Are Gone," McEntire gives us a selection of songs she – like Underwood – grew up singing. Therefore, she knows them all like the back of her hand, the way ...

Stronger Than the Truth

The beauty of Reba McEntire's albums flows from her way with a phrase, knowing when to modulate to carry us deeper into sadness or joy and when to pull back when she wants us to listen quietly to the lessons of a tear falling. Her songs can also urge us to scamper across the dance floor to twin fiddles, celebrating the exhilarating freedom of the moment or the satisfaction of breakup from a messy relationship. This album follows the end of McEntire's marriage to her manager. ...