Keep On Loving You (album)

Keep On Loving You
Studio album by Reba
Released	August 18, 2009
Recorded	2009 (Nashville, TN)
Genre	Country
Length	48:28
Label	Starstruck/Valory
Producer	Tony Brown, Mark Bright, Reba McEntire
Reba chronology
50 Greatest Hits (2008) Keep on Loving You (2009) All the Women I Am (2010)
Singles from Keep on Loving You
"Strange" Released: April 6, 2009 "Consider Me Gone" Released: August 10, 2009 "I Keep On Loving You" Released: February 1, 2010

Keep On Loving You is the twenty-fifth studio album and twenty-fourth solo album by American country artist, Reba McEntire. The album was released August 18, 2009 on Starstruck/Valory and on Humphead Records in the UK, and was produced by Tony Brown, Mark Bright, and McEntire.

Keep On Loving You is McEntire's first solo studio album in six years, since the release of 2003's Room to Breathe^[1] and her first for the Valory label (in conjunction with her company, Starstruck Entertainment). In 2008, she exited her label of twenty five years, MCA Nashville after the release of Reba: Duets (2007).^[2] The album contains "Strange," which is the highest-debuting single of McEntire's career, as well as the hit single "Consider Me Gone," McEntire's first Number One hit since "Somebody" in August 2004. The album's third single, the title track, was released in February 2010 and has become a Top Ten hit on the country charts.

Despite changing labels, McEntire remains with Universal Music Group (which controls her entire catalog including her Mercury Nashville years), as Valory's parent label, Big Machine Records, is distributed by Universal.

Background

Keep On Loving You was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in early 2009 and consists of thirteen tracks. The eighth track, "She's Turning 50 Today" was co-written by McEntire herself, as well as Liz Hengber and Tommy Lee James.^[2] Many of the album's songs had previously been recorded by other country music artists. "I Want a Cowboy", was originally recorded by Katrina Elam on her self-titled debut album and "Pink Guitar" was recorded by Jasmine Rae on her debut album Look It Up. "Eight Crazy Hours" was recorded by Shelly Fairchild on her debut album Ride,^[3] and "Nothing to Lose" was recorded by Trisha Yearwood in 2007 on her Greatest Hits release.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Slant Magazine	[5]
Los Angeles Times	(Positive)[6]
Entertainment Weekly	(B-)[7]
The New York Times	(Positive)[8]
9513	[9]
The Boston Globe	(Positive)[10]

Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the album's production, saying, "Despite its release on an indie, the production and approach are anything but, with the album being produced by Tony Brown and Mark Bright. The cream of country music's current chart crop wrote its 13 songs; it is certainly a radio-friendly collection that is supposed to showcase McEntire's adaptability and that she's still "got it," and can still score in the contemporary marketplace."^[2] Thom Jurek also found Keep On Loving You to radio friendly, calling the title track, "I'll Keep on Lovin' You" be "a midtempo ballad that is saturated in compressed guitars and Hammond B-3, big repetitive choruses, and a chorus of fiddles and backing vocals. McEntire's voice hasn't lost even a touch of its range and power; she's a belter who can hang with the best of them." He also felt the opening track, "Strange" to follow the same format. He gave Keep On Loving You three out of five stars. Although the album was given a slightly less rating than The 9513 had given it, Jurek reviewed the album with a more positive responsse in general. In concluding his review, Jurek said, "The bottom line here is that Keep on Loving You may jar some longtime Reba fans on first listen, but despite the record's sound it's all her in this mix, and they will more than likely celebrate this. As far as the new fans this set clearly hopes to gain, it's got the right elements; if country music's finicky youth-obsessed radio and video machine can hear this set for what it is, listeners will connect in droves."^[2]

Bobby Peacock of Roughstock also gave a generally positive review, saying that some songs such as "Consider Me Gone", the second single, recalled her early-1990s work. He criticized the lyrics and "sometimes-sterile production" of some songs but added, "Despite the flaws, the album has more than enough redeeming qualities, and with any luck, the right single choices should reverse the long, slow decline that her musical career has been on since the beginning of the decade, and prove that age should not be a factor in an artist's success."^[3]

The 9513's Jim Malec, on the other hand, gave the production a negative response. Malec found Keep On Loving You to be long and feel "even longer due to its wordiness, its disappointing lack of focus, and its inability to capitalize on the momentum of a number of exemplary tracks."^[11] Jim Malec of The 9513 gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, with a less positive response. While Malec did call the title track a "beautifully subtle title track that she handles with an appropriately gentle touch," he was mainly displeased with the release. Concluding his review, Malec stated, "Keep on Loving You contains some of the most worthwhile Reba music released in a very long time, with compelling performances making up the bulk of the disc. But as an album it’s an absolute mess, and while it’s wonderful to hear Reba making an effort to reclaim some of her artistic credo–which she does here, make no mistake of that—the project is almost unlistenable in succession and would have significantly benefited from more specific and focused creative direction."^[11]

Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly gave Keep On Loving You a "B-" rating, stating, "Though her voice has aged well, few of these tunes provide it enough of a challenge, and the ones that do often sound like something she's already done better."^[12]

Release

The album's lead single, "Strange" was released April 6, 2009 to radio and was first performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards a few days before. The song became McEntire's highest-debuting single of her career, debuting at #39 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Within a week, the song rose eleven spaces to #28,^[13] eventually peaking at #11 on the chart by summer 2009, while also reaching #10 on the Mediabase country chart around the same time.^[14] McEntire released the album's second single, "Consider Me Gone," to radio the day of the album's official release.^[15] Keep On Loving You was released August 18, 2009, becoming McEntire's second album to debut at #1 on both the Billboard Top Country Albums and Billboard 200 charts, with 96,000 copies sold its first week.^[16] This is lower than the 300,000 first-week sales for her album Reba: Duets. With the release, McEntire currently holds the record for being the female country artist with the most Billboard #1 albums. The record had previously been held by Loretta Lynn.^[1] It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[17]

Worldwide the album was fairly successful peaking at #16 on the ARIA, #5 on the UK Country Album Charts, and #98 on the Japan Oricon Top 100.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Strange"	Wendell Mobley, Jason Sellers, Neil Thrasher	3:00
2.	"Just When I Thought I'd Stopped Lovin' You"	Mark Nesler, Rivers Rutherford	3:50
3.	"I Keep on Lovin' You"	Ronnie Dunn, Terry McBride	3:13
4.	"I Want a Cowboy"	David Davidson, Katrina Elam, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Jimmie Lee Sloas	3:39
5.	"Consider Me Gone"	Steve Diamond, Marv Green	3:38
6.	"But Why"	Sellers, Thrasher	3:28
7.	"Pink Guitar"	Jamie O'Neal, Ed Hill, Shaye Smith	2:53
8.	"She's Turning 50 Today"	Liz Hengber, Tommy Lee James, Reba McEntire	4:05
9.	"Eight Crazy Hours (In the Story of Love)"	Leslie Satcher, Darrell Scott	4:04
10.	"Nothing to Lose"	Kim Fox	4:47
11.	"Over You"	Michael Dulaney, Steven Dale Jones, Sellers	3:56
12.	"Maggie Creek Road"	Karyn Rochelle, James T. Slater	4:50
13.	"I'll Have What She's Having"	Jimmy Melton, Georgia Middleman	2:59

Enhanced content
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Strange" (music video)	Mobley, Sellers, Thrasher	2:57
2.	"Consider Me Gone" (CMT Invitation Only Live Performance)	Diamond, Green	3:38

Rhapsody bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Want a Cowboy" (Dance remix)	Elam, Davidson, Kirkpatrick, Sloas	3:49

Target exclusive DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Strange" (making of the music video)	22:27
2.	"Strangest "Strange" Questions"	5:00
3.	"Reba, Day of Stardom Behind the Scenes!"	4:00

Personnel

Musicians Eddie Bayers – drums Tom Bukovac – electric guitar Ashley Cleveland – background vocals Perry Coleman – background vocals Katrina Elam – background vocals Paul Franklin – steel guitar Shannon Forrest – drums Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar Aubrey Haynie – fiddle Wes Hightower – background vocals Charlie Judge – keyboards Mike Johnson – Dobro, steel guitar Kim Keyes – background vocals Wayne Kirkpatrick – background vocals Brent Mason – electric guitar Reba McEntire – lead vocals Gordon Mote – piano Steve Nathan – Hammond B-3 organ Matt Rollings – piano Jason Sellers – background vocals Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar Judson Spence – background vocals Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar Llya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar Glenn Worf – bass guitar Jennifer Wrinkle – background vocals

Technical personnel Chris Ashburn – assistant Derek Bason – engineering, mixing Tristan Brock Jones – assistant Todd Cassetty – design Nathan Dickinson – digital editing Trey Fanjoy – director Terry Gordon – stylist Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordination Russ Harrington – photography Steve Marcantionio – engineering Erin McAnally – production coordination Whitney Sutton – copy coordination Todd Tidwell – engineering Hank Williams – mastering Kirsten Wines – production assistant

Charts and certifications

Album Chart (2009) Peak position U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 1 U.S. Billboard 200 1 Canadian Albums Chart 5 UK Top 40 Country Albums 5[18] End of year charts Chart (2010) Year-end 2010 US Billboard 200 142[19] US Billboard Top Country Albums 24[20]

Singles Year Song Chart positions US Country US CAN 2009 "Strange" 11[21] 76[22] 94[22] "Consider Me Gone"[23] 1 38 52 2010 "I Keep On Loving You"[24] 7 78 97

Chart procession

Preceded by Twang by George Strait	Billboard 200 number-one album September 5, 2009	Succeeded by Breakthrough by Colbie Caillat
	Top Country Albums number-one album September 5, 2009 - September 12, 2009	Succeeded by Fearless by Taylor Swift

Release history

Country	Date
United States	August 18, 2009
Canada
Australia	August 20, 2009
United Kingdom	August 31, 2009
Japan	August 31, 2009

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "REBA’S, KEEP ON LOVING YOU, IS #1 ALBUM IN THE U.S". CMR Nashville.com. 2009-08-27. http://cmrnashville.com/news-details.php?id=6882. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Jurek, Thom. "Keep On Loving You > Review". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1621126. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Peacock, Bobby (2009-08-17). "Keep on Loving You review". Roughstock. http://www.roughstock.com/reviews/reba-mcentire-keep-on-loving-you-. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
4. ^ Jurek, Thom (2009-08-18). "Keep on Loving You - Reba McEntire". AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1621126. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
5. ^ "Reba McEntire: Keep on Loving You | Music Review". Slant Magazine. 2009-08-16. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/reba-mcentire-keep-on-loving-you/1805. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
6. ^ Randy Lewis (2009-08-18). "Album review: Reba McEntire's 'Keep on Loving You' | Pop & Hiss | Los Angeles Times". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/08/album-review-reba-mcentires-keep-on-loving-you-.html. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
7. ^ Reviewed by Whitney Pastorek (2009-08-12). "Keep On Loving You | Music". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20297448,00.html. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
8. ^ "New CDs". The New York Times. 2009-08-17. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/arts/music/17choi.html?_r=1. 
9. ^ "Album Review: Reba McEntire – Keep on Loving You". The 9513. 2009-08-18. http://www.the9513.com/album-review-reba-mcentire-keep-on-loving-you/. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
10. ^ "Reba McEntire: A big voice that’s big on girl power - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2009-08-17. http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2009/08/17/reba_mcentire_a_big_voice_thats_big_on_girl_power/. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Malec, Jim. "Album review: Reba McEntire - Keep on Loving You". The 9513. http://www.the9513.com/album-review-reba-mcentire-keep-on-loving-you/. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
12. ^ Pastorek, Whitney. "Keep On Loving You Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20297448,00.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
13. ^ Fabian, Shelley. "Reba's "Strange" Fastest Rising Single of her Career". about.com. http://countrymusic.about.com/b/2009/04/23/country-news-roundup-thursday-april-23-2009.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
14. ^ "Reba's "Strange" Goes Top 10!". Valory.com. http://thevalorymusicco.com/reba/index.cfm?id=57&viewStory=103. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
15. ^ "Reba McEntire releases "Consider Me Gone"". The Country Music Stop.com. http://www.countrymusicstop.com/reba-mcentire-releasing-consider-me-gone/. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
16. ^ Reba tops BB 200 with 96,000 copies sold
17. ^ "American album certifications – Reba Mc Entire – Keep On Loving You". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Keep+On+Loving+You%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
18. ^ "Archive Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. 2009-10-17. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/20/2009-10-17/. Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
19. ^ "Best of 2010 - Billboard Top 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/top-billboard-200?year=2010. Retrieved 2010-12-31. 
20. ^ "Best of 2010 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/top-country-albums?year=2010. Retrieved 2010-12-31. 
21. ^ "11 Country No. 11s For '11". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). http://www.billboard.com/#/news/11-country-no-11s-for-11-1004138510.story. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
22. ^ ^{a b} "Reba McEntire Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/reba-mcentire/chart-history/2434. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
23. ^ "Consider Me Gone - Reba McEntire". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/reba-mcentire/consider-me-gone/14012018. Retrieved February 6, 2011. 
24. ^ "I Keep on Lovin' You - Reba McEntire". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/reba-mcentire/i-keep-on-lovin-you/14012016. Retrieved February 6, 2011.