Published on Oct 27, 1997
I’m a sucker for songs about love gone wrong (like I would know,
haha). My friends suggest Sarah McLachlan but I lean to the mellow
side of country music for my dose of corny oversentimentalism. It’s
good, healing stuff.
Reba McEntire’s
Greatest Hits Volume Two rarely showcases raw catharsis.
Songs like “Rumor Has It” needs some delving and perhaps some
sing-along (not a bad drawl for a Sweden-born Korean!). I remember
giving “For My Broken Heart” one spin, disliking it, and months
later having the song come back to me; now I know it by heart. One
innocently bustling moment of you day, a particle of a lyric will
echo in your head and after that it’s for life.
Some songs are just for fun. “Love Will Find Its Way to You” is
easy listening, if a little misplaced in the cohesion of the album
(hey, it’s a greatest hits). “You Lie” is one of Bob’s hated voice
showcases but she’s more interested in keeping it long and
no-vibrato; the instinct to sing backup is overpowering.
But I have to confess, it’s the more poppy theme tunes I
gravitate towards. Before you crucify me for my fondness for
single-material, try “Does He Love You.” This ironic confrontation
with Linda Davis at the upper-part has the two ladies almost asking
“Does this mean we’re related?” “Fancy” is the rise of a woman in
the South with McEntire unleashing her native drawl in determined
passion. Yes it has a power chorus but the song boils throughout
creating a sharp fluidity.
“Is There Life Out There” was the first McEntire song I’ve ever
heard and it’s still fresh today. Its misleading title, questioning
vocals and open-all-the-windows-I’m-going-to-suffocate-!
arrangement will make many a homemaker ask the same question.
Being the Spoiled One, “The Greatest Man I Never Knew” doesn’t
click with me. Try as I might, “They Asked About You” sounds like a
rough draft of “Rumor Has It” before the latter was equipped with
better hooks.
But overall, the mix is on the quiet side of country; even
“Fancy”‘s rage and injustice is a silent rumble. After the grating
sounds of Everyday Life, the album’s sincerity will speak to you
gently … if you let it.