Consumer Guide Album

Reba McEntire: Greatest Hits [MCA, 1987]
How great you think she is depends on how great you think her voice is. I say that for all her reach and technique she's too contained and too generic; direct comparison with Wells or Cline or Lynn or Wynette or Parton leaves her in the dust. Which means that like other mortal country artists she's made for the best-of, where every song counts. This one marches them past chronologically, two by two from each of her first five MCA albums (omitting the current Last One to Know). Significantly, the only dud is the only violin showcase, from her label debut--pseudopurism does suit her. Also significantly, the greats are from albums two, three, and four, not five (or six). And the centerpiece is "Whoever's in New England," where pseudopurism lets on how far its thoughts sometimes stray from home. A−