Reba - The Ultimate Christmas Collection

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Releases an album of Country versions of Christmas songs

Reba McEntire is a Country legend, that has been in the Nashville Country scene for a longtime, she has influenced so many artists. But the first time I heard of Reba was when she headlined the C2C Country to Country festival in the UK in 2017, I probably had heard her before on the radio or out of my dads massive Country CD collection. But sometimes you don't know who is singing what, and it hasn't been to recent times that I have really got into Country as a genre. I had heard a few songs, and I have to say not really my thing... it's just not what I really listened to. So it was a nice surprise that I actually really enjoyed this album, and I think that is because it is so well put together.

On this record she is covering a lot of Christmas classics, and it's actually quite a nice and fun album.Starting with a stripped down, and slowed down version of 'Away in a Manger'. You can hear immediatly her Country twang in her vocals, which made her famous for so many years. I actually thought I was going to hate this but she has given something new to the song. Like on her version of 'O Holy Night', a song I really got to know strangely from the film 'Home Alone' (You remember that one with Macaulay Culkin in it). Reba's vocals sound so beautiful thoughtout this, and the song flows really nicely. It is really haunting in places, like this song always was. But it has a new Country flavour to it, and that note she hits at the end is quite something special. We get a little slide guitar on 'White Christmas', which yes! sounds a little dated... but at the same time is really nice to listen to.

She brings things back to basics for a traditional version of 'The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open Fire)', before getting really fun 'Up on the Housetop' which couldn't be more Country and sounds like what it would sound like if Garth Brooks did it. There is also Cowboy Lasso whip sounds in it, which are really funny and cool. This is probably one of my favourite songs on the album, it is so Country!!! you couldn't get anymore Country than her version of this classic song. I love the piano on 'I saw mama kissing Santa Claus', which is really nicely recorded like every other song on this Christmas collection. I have listened to other Christmas albums she has done before, and this one is far superior to them... and a massive move forward. You can get all your friends and family singing to this album on Christmas day, with her versions of 'Winter Wonderland' and 'Jingle Bell Rock'. Which they actually hasn't done that much with, but they just sound how they are meant to and she does them so well.

This really is the perfect Christmas present for my dad, he would really love this. So I am going out to buy a copy, and it is on it's way to him. To open on Christmas day, he loves Christmas songs and he loves Country and Western music. So he is going to really love this, and I have to say I was amazed at how much I also liked it. I think maybe in this hard time at the moment, what we need is actually a Reba Christmas album. And this is what we have here, I know it's only October... But "Merry Christmas to you!!!".

Review by Dan Devour

Listen! to the Track 'Winter Wonderland' Below...