When
Reba McEntire released
Keep on Loving You in 2009, it debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 and Country charts simultaneously; it scored three Top 20 singles including a number one, and despite mixed reviews, it went gold.
All the Women I Am is an attempt to follow that success, and prove that despite her long career in a fickle marketplace, she can still run with contemporary country's young mavericks. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album's first single, "Turn on the Radio," which borrows heavily from
Carrie Underwood's uptempo, rollicking interpretation of country pop/rock. Beginning with a distorted, '80s-sounding hard rock guitar riff, it contains a slew of synths and a female backing chorus.
McEntire offers her throatiest contralto and references texting, Twitter, and club DJs in the lyrics. While
Underwood is the obvious reference point, those who can remember it can go all the way back to
Shania Twain's Come on Over album for the big, cavernous drum sounds producer
Dan Huff gets and for the hook in the refrain. The track is followed by a contemporary country interpretation of "If I Were a Boy" --yes, the
Beyonce hit, though here it attempts to be a soft rock power ballad. The natural-sounding balladry of "Somebody's Chelsea" (that has its roots in a scene from the film P.S. I Love You), "The Day She Got Divorced," and the sassy, bluesy, "A Little Want To" all contain
McEntire's trademark warmth and authority. ~ Thom Jurek