Reba Duets  (Audio CD) 
by Reba McEntire

Country music queen Reba McEntire sounds like she feels at home with a variety of big-name artists, who wisely adapt to her style rather than making her stretch to accommodate them. Perhaps the biggest surprise is her duet with Justin Timberlake on "The Only Promise That Remains," which he wrote for her as an acoustic ballad far removed from most of the music he makes on his own. The power balladry of "Because of You" receives the full diva treatment in its teaming of McEntire with Kelly Clarkson, while Carole King adds some pop buoyancy to "Everyday People" (not the Sly and the Family Stone classic). LeAnn Rimes pays trans-generational homage with opener "When You Love Someone Like That" (which also closes Rimes' recent Family as a bonus cut). "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma," a duet with Ronnie Dunn, finds the pair writing as well as singing together, and Vince Gill offers his "These Broken Hearts" for the duet treatment. Faith Hill and Reba wring high drama from "Sleeping with the Telephone," which humanizes the war from the perspective of a soldier's wife whose husband is overseas. --Don McLeese