Reba McEntire shines on ‘Love Somebody’


Reba McEntire
“Love Somebody”
(Starstruck/Nash Icon/Big Machine)

“Love Somebody” is Reba McEntire’s best album of the 21st century because it draws on her strengths: That is, subtly and powerfully interpreting substantial story songs about adult relationships set to contemporary country music.
At 60, the performer remains a remarkable vocalist, capable of stunning ferocity and dramatic nuance. She’s one of the great traditional country singers of her time, but she prefers pushing herself to stay current. Always ambitious, she errs only when she tries to appeal to radio with material that’s too lightweight for her talent and maturity.
“Love Somebody” strikes a perfect blend, especially on songs like “She Got Drunk Last Night,” written by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and the title song, cowritten by Sam Hunt, which finds McEntire rising to a challenge of mixing tongue-twisting stanzas with a testifying chorus.
Other highlights include a duet with Jennifer Nettles on “Enough,” dealing with a partner who leaves her feeling like she’s not worth the effort he puts into the rest of his life, and the emotional ballad “Just Like Them Horses,” a tribute to her rodeo champion father, written by friends Liz Hengber and Tommy Lee James.
With “Love Somebody,” McEntire proves she still has far too much to say to rest on her laurels. (AP)

Randy Bachman pulls his weight on ‘Heavy Blues’


Randy Bachman
“Heavy Blues”
(Linus Entertainment)

Where has THIS been for the past four decades?
Randy Bachman, who made classic rock history with Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who, has recorded his best album since 1976.
The name says it all: heavy blues, delivered with help from an All-Star cast of guests, including Neil Young, Peter Frampton, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Randolph and Jeff Healey.
If this was 1975 and the radio still played rock, there might be a half-dozen hit singles on “Heavy Blues.” The opening track, “The Edge,” sounds like BTO playing a mashup of “You Ain‘t Seen Nothin’ Yet” and The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
“Ton of Bricks” hits the listener as advertised; “Little Girl Lost,” a daddy-never-loved-me, now-I’m-a-hooker song, features some memorable, instantly recognizable fuzz-tone guitar from Young; and “Confessing to the Devil” features posthumous licks from Healey from a long-ago unreleased session with Bachman.
The catchiest track on the album is “Wild Texas Ride,” featuring a boogie drum beat over raw guitars and enough cowbells to make even Will Ferrell happy. It’s really good to see Bachman takin’ care of business again. (AP)

Halestorm delivers tight, yet very basic rock


Halestorm
“Into the Wild Life”
(Atlantic)

Grammy-winning rock band Halestorm is out with its third studio album, “Into the Wild Life,” 13 tracks of edge-free power rock, spurred on Lzzy Hale‘s strong vocals -- if anything else.
It’s not that Halestorm doesn‘t have musical chops -- it’s there in spades and the band is varied, accomplished and tight, but the songs themselves are highly formulaic and rely on too many tired tricks of the big rock trade.
Hale’s voice is the centerpiece, strong and raging at times, and gravelly and full of emotion at others. On “Dear Daughter,” Hale plays it perfect while pitching individuality and perseverance to her “daughter” in the lyrics.
But mostly we’ve got Hale delivering vocal bombast. She screams on “Sick Individual,” shrieks on “Mayhem” and comes on brass and bawdy on “Apocalyptic,” an over-the-top track that is perhaps the album‘s best since it is so in sync with the band’s aim.
Halestorm is powerful enough to play a big hit earworm song, but remains unlikely to pen one. “Into the Wild Life” isn‘t nearly as wild as it thinks it is. (AP)