Brooks & Dunn, McEntire shows continue in '17

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. ...

Reboot

Brooks and Dunn return with the duo's first studio album in a dozen years. Sort of. That's because they revisit a dozen of their hits (leaving a bunch behind) with contemporary country singers. "Reboot" is a cross between a tribute album and a redo, and overwhelmingly, the idea works. The general idea is that the guest artist will trade lines with Brooks or Dunn. One could surmise that Brooks & Dunn did this kind of album to introduce these chestnuts in an attempt to ...

My Kind of Christmas (expanded version)

Reba McEntire's "My Kind of Christmas," is essentially the same album, with the same title, she released a while back through Cracker Barrel. The project is mostly comprised of the country Wonder Woman's strong singing voice, backed by acoustic piano. The new wrinkle in this expanded edition, though, is a bevy of guest vocalists. These guest spots are so good, it's worth the extra bucks to get the full package. Reba is joined by the dynamic husband and wife team, Vince ...