Reba: Duets

Untitled

Reba: Duets is the twenty fourth studio album by American country music artist, Reba McEntire. The album was released September 18, 2007 on MCA Nashville Records and September 24, 2007 on Humphead Records in the UK, and was produced by Tony Brown, Dann Huff, McEntire, and Justin Timberlake.

Reba: Duets was McEntire's second album to appear in the new millennium decade and one of her most successful crossover albums,as it is her first studio album to chart in Australia and her 3rd to chart in the UK. It was her first album to peak at #1 on the Billboard 200, while also reaching #1 on the Top Country Albums chart, and was also her final release for the MCA Nashville label. The album featured collaborations from eleven different artists in the genres of Country, Pop, and Rock.

The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart with sales of 300,000.

Background

Reba: Duets was recorded at Starstruck Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Allmusic reviewer, Thom Jurek considered that the quality of the album's tracks was different from that of most other collaboration projects, calling it a "mixed bag" of material. The first collaborator on the album was LeAnn Rimes, who recorded the track, "When You Love Someone Like That" which also appeared on LeAnn Rimes's Family album that same year. Jurek called the duet between the pair "stellar," while about.com called the pairing "an undeniable outcome of perfection. Reba's strong country voice with LeAnn's young, soulful sound created a new sound like no other."

The second track, "Does That Wind Still Blow In Oklahoma" was a collaboration with Ronnie Dunn (half of the duo Brooks & Dunn), who co-wrote the song with McEntire. The third track is a duet with Kelly Clarkson on one of her previous major pop hits, "Because of You." The song was the album's lead single and had already peaked at #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart at the time of the album's release. The song was criticized by allmusic, saying that, "the song is simply a big, overblown power ballad with guitars compressed to the breaking point, sweeping strings, and enormous crashing cymbals -- think Jim Steinman and you get it." The same idea was also said about the fourth track, "Faith In Love" with Rascal Flatts. The fifth track was performed with country artist, Trisha Yearwood on the song, "She Can't Save Him", which was formerly released as a single by Canadian country artist, Lisa Brokop. Tracks six and seven were collaborations with American pop artist, Carole King and country artist, Kenny Chesney, who both help in providing musical variations towards the album. Country Standard Time called track nine (a collaboration with Faith Hill called "Sleeping with the Telephone") "tearful emotion."

The tenth track was a duet with Justin Timberlake on the song, "The Only Promise That Remains", which was co-written by Timberlake himself. The song is performed in Celtic melody and Timberlake performs harmony on most of the song's length. The album closes with "Break Each Other's Hearts Again", a duet with Don Henley.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
About
PopMatters.com

Reba: Duets gained fairly positive reviews from most music critics. Allmusic's Thom Jurek stated that although he considered it not to be a "perfect record", he did find the album to "deliver". Jurek concluded by saying, "It's sincere, it's polished, and it's full of good to great songs delivered in mostly interesting ways." In his review, he gave the album three and a half out of five stars.

Reviewing the album, Rick Bell of Country Standard Time gave praise to McEntire and her production on the release, saying, "Give credit to McEntire for corralling the egos - including her own - and producing an album with depth, passion and a bunch of great voices." About.com's Scott Sexton gave Reba: Duets four and a half out of five stars, overall stating, "Reba McEntire has proven she can stand the test of time, and with some help from close friends she sounds better than ever." Reviewing Reba: Duets in 2007, Lana Cooper of PopMatters acclaimed McEntire's vocal strength in the album by saying, "Reba's voice manages to sound sweet without being syrupy, while being extremely powerful. McEntire's vocal strength yields a different kind of authority than the bluesy, drawling growl of Janis Joplin, the weathered rasp of Marianne Faithfull, or even the soul-shrieking powerhouse of Tina Turner. Instead, Reba's voice combines the aspects of all three singers but tempers it with a Southern sweetness and an unmistakable femininity." Cooper overall stated, "Reba Duets is largely a strong showing."

Release and aftermath

Reba: Duets was originally planned to be released in April 2007, however the date was pushed to September 18 instead. The lead single, "Because of You" was released to radio May 15 and reached a peak of #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart and #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August, shortly before the album's release date. A week after the album's release, it became the United States' best-selling album of the week, debuting at number one on both the Top Country Albums and Billboard 200 albums charts, selling a total of 300,536 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It debuted at number 4 on the Canadian Album Charts. Reba Duets was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 2007, becoming her twentieth platinum album. The album's second single, "The Only Promise That Remains" (with Justin Timberlake) was released in November 2007, but only reached #72 on the Billboard Pop 100 and did not chart the Hot Country Songs list. The third single, "Every Other Weekend" (with Kenny Chesney) was released in 2008. However, the official single featured Skip Ewing as the duet partner instead of Chesney, due to the Chesney version not being "viable" for radio (due to radio company issues). It charted outside the main UK top 100 album chart but has sold over 15,000 copies in the UK. McEntire and LeAnn Rimes performed their duet of "When You Love Someone Like That" at the 41st CMA Music Awards.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"When You Love Someone Like That" (with LeAnn Rimes)	Ed Hill, Karyn Rochelle	Reba McEntire, Tony Brown	4:39
2.	"Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma" (with Ronnie Dunn)	McEntire, Dunn	McEntire, Brown	4:37
3.	"Because of You" (with Kelly Clarkson)	Clarkson, Ben Moody, David Hodges	McEntire, Brown	3:43
4.	"Faith in Love" (with Rascal Flatts)	Jay DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney, Gary LeVox	McEntire, Brown	3:47
5.	"She Can't Save Him" (with Trisha Yearwood)	Liz Hengber, Bob Regan	McEntire, Brown	3:02
6.	"Everyday People" (with Carole King)	Lorrie Harden, Tom Harden, Don Rollins	McEntire, Brown	3:34
7.	"Every Other Weekend" (with Kenny Chesney)	Connie Harrington, Skip Ewing	McEntire, Brown	4:03
8.	"These Broken Hearts" (with Vince Gill)	Gill, Pete Wasner	McEntire, Brown	4:25
9.	"Sleeping with the Telephone" (with Faith Hill)	Lorrie Harden, Tommy Harden, Rollins	McEntire, Brown, Dann Huff	3:33
10.	"The Only Promise That Remains" (with Justin Timberlake)	Matt Morris, Timberlake	Timberlake	5:06
11.	"Break Each Other's Hearts Again" (with Don Henley)	John Wiggins, Jon Randall	McEntire, Brown	3:38

Target Exclusive Bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Outtakes from Reba"
2.	"Interviews from the set of Reba"

Personnel

Musicians

• Caroline Buckman – strings
• Tom Bukovac – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Kenny Chesney – duet vocals on "Every Other Weekend"
• Kelly Clarkson – duet vocals on "Because of You"
• Ashley Cleveland – background vocals
• Jay DeMarcus – bass guitar and background vocals on "Faith in Love"
• Ronnie Dunn – duet vocals on "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma"
• Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar
• Vince Gill – duet vocals on "These Broken Hearts"
• Larry Gold – string arrangements, conductor
• Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor
• Aubrey Haynie – fiddle, mandolin
• Don Henley – duet vocals on "Break Each Other's Hearts Again"
• Faith Hill – duet vocals on "Sleeping with the Telephone"
• Rob Ickes – Dobro
• John Barlow Jarvis – piano
• Kim Keyes – background vocals
• Carole King – duet vocals on "Everyday People"
• Russ Kunkel – drums
• Paul Leim – drums
• Gary LeVox – lead vocals on "Faith in Love"
• Reba McEntire – lead vocals
• Chris McHugh – drums
• Jay Dee Maness – pedal steel guitar
• Matt Morris – background vocals
• Greg Morrow – drums
• Nashville String Machine – strings
• Steve Nathan – Hammond B-3 organ
• Jimmy Nichols – Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer
• Alyssa Park – strings
• Dean Parks – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• LeAnn Rimes – duet vocals on "When You Love Someone Like That"
• Matt Rollings – Hammond B-3 organ, piano
• Joe Don Rooney – background vocals on "Faith in Love"
• Leland Sklar – bass guitar
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
• Judson Spence – background vocals
• Michael Thompson – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Justin Timberlake – duet vocals on "The Only Promise That Remains"
• Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar
• Pete Wasner – piano
• Bergen White – string arrangements, conductor
• Amy Wickman – strings
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar, upright bass
• Curtis Wright – background vocals
• Jenifer Wrinkle – background vocals
• Trisha Yearwood – duet vocals on "She Can't Save Him"

Technical

• Chuck Ainlay – engineering, mixing
• Craig Allen – art direction, design
• Kazuri Arai – assistant
• Chris Ashbrun – assistant
• Adam Ayan – mastering
• Jeff Balding – engineering
• Marc Baptiste – photography
• Derek Bason – engineering, mixing
• Chris Bell – engineering
• Narvel Blackstock – management
• David Bryant – assistant
• Mike Butler – engineering
• Tony Castle – digital editing
• Jim Cooley – assistant
• Richard Anthony Davis – digital editing
• Ben Fowler – engineering
• Brett Freedman – make-up, hairstylist
• Amy Garges – production assistant
• Steve Genewick – assistant
• Terry Gordon – stylist, wardrobe
• Mark Hagen – engineering
• Nate Hertweck – engineering
• Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing
• Aaron Kasdoff – assistant
• Jeff Kersey – engineer
• Kyle Lehning – engineering, mixing
• Steve Marcantonio – mixing
• Colin Miller – assistant
• J.C. Monterrosa – assistant
• Jeff Rothschild – engineer
• Matt Rovey – assistant
• Al Schmitt – engineering
• Tod Tidwell – assistant
• Brian David Willis – digital editing
• Casey Wood – assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Charts	92
Australian Top Country Albums	9
Canadian Albums Chart	4
Japan Oricon Charts	118
UK Album Charts	127
U.S. Billboard 200	1
US Billboard Digital Album Charts	1
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	1

End of year charts

Year	Chart	Rank
2007	Australian Top 50 Country Albums Chart	45
2007	US Billboard 200	59
2007	Top Country Albums	11
2007	Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums	44

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions
		US Country	US	US Pop	CAN
2007	"Because of You"	2	50	56	36
	"The Only Promise That Remains"	—	105	72	—
2008	"Every Other Weekend"	15	104	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.