bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:20:31 GMT -5
"If You Only Knew" feels like classic Reba!! The chorus is sneakily catchy, with lines like "You'd put your anger down, turn around, and go back home" hitting the ear just right and staying in your head after you listen to it. I can definitely see the comparisons to Terri's "If I Were You", as conceptually the songs are very similar. Based on the way Terri talks about fangirling for Reba when she was younger it wouldn't surprise me if she was partly inspired by this song when she wrote it, but I definitely don't think they're similar enough to call it a copy of this song or anything, lol.
This one settled in pretty consistently at #5, and with a wall of #4 ranks but nothing higher and #8 ranks but nothing lower, this was one of our least polarizing songs.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:21:29 GMT -5
I wouldn’t have taken this to be a top 5 contender at all, especially over “Don’t Touch Me There”. It’ll be interesting to see how this one fares in the album tracks rankdown. Oh yay, I'm not here alone!!!!
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:24:03 GMT -5
4. "I've Seen Better Days"
Track 5 Runtime: 3:56
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Post by tim on Sept 3, 2021 23:26:16 GMT -5
I was just going to post that the top 2 songs are a given, so it would come down to which one of the album tracks would land in the top 3. My hunch said “I’ll Believe It When I Feel It”, but I was rooting for “I’ve Seen Better Days”.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:29:36 GMT -5
Edging out "If You Only Knew" by a single point, "I've Seen Better Days" manages to barely hang in there for a top 4 finish despite having a couple of last place ranks holding it back! It's a fitting finish though, as this was our primary #4 contender. The noteworthy thing about this one is how the chorus builds, imo. The verses are not really engaging at all, so tbh listening to it now I think I would have rather slipped "Don't Touch Me There" into my top 5 and bumped this one back a position. Still, the choruses are pretty great, and probably are what all the people who put this in their top 5 enjoyed most about it! You might have noticed that we haven't really seen a single top 3 contender yet. That is because our top 3 completely ran away with it. Our next song is literally about 20 points higher than this one, which is an insane gap for an album of this size
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:30:44 GMT -5
3. "Whoever's In New England"
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Post by tim on Sept 3, 2021 23:31:22 GMT -5
You might have noticed that we haven't really seen a single top 3 contender yet. That is because our top 3 completely ran away with it. Hmm…wonder what it could be
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:33:26 GMT -5
3. "I'll Believe It When I Feel It"
Track 4 Runtime: 2:43
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Post by tim on Sept 3, 2021 23:34:06 GMT -5
3. "Whoever's In New England"
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:37:07 GMT -5
Our final album track absolutely curb stomped the competition, putting up a nearly 20 point lead on our #4 song and holding onto the top 3 for nearly the entire submission period! This song was not polarizing at all, with literally everybody feeling it was worthy of their top 5 aside from a solitary #8 from supposed Reba stan RobbyFlorida. With those stats, I imagine this has potential to be a big performer in the '80s album tracks rankdown! It seems like if there was a 3rd single from this album, this would have definitely been one of the best options.
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Post by tim on Sept 3, 2021 23:38:19 GMT -5
Aside from my top 2 songs, the rest of my top 5 is really quite fluid and so I just as easily could’ve placed “I’ll Believe It When I Feel It” a spot higher. It’s certainly one of the album tracks that stands out well above the rest.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:40:06 GMT -5
Moment of truth!! #1 hits "Little Rock" and "Whoever's In New England" having a super predictable and obvious battle for the victory!!! But is it going to be as close of a battle as everyone seemed to think it would be in the predictions? Stay tuned!!
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Post by tim on Sept 3, 2021 23:44:24 GMT -5
I think the title track is well on its way for an epic win...but we shall see
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:46:39 GMT -5
2. "Little Rock"
Track 6 Runtime: 3:07
1. "Whoever's In New England"
Track 3 Runtime: 3:23
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:49:00 GMT -5
Moment of truth!! #1 hits "Little Rock" and "Whoever's In New England" having a super predictable and obvious battle for the victory!!! But is it going to be as close of a battle as everyone seemed to think it would be in the predictions? Stay tuned!! Short answer? NO. Lmao and it low-key surprised me that y'all were expecting it to be close in the predictions 😂 It was absolutely NEVER going to be close. The biggest problem for "Little Rock" was that nearly everybody ranked it at #2 while ranking "New England" at #1, which meant that when all was said and done it scored twice as many points The only way that songs are ever close is when they take turns getting ranked ahead of the other on people's lists, lmao.
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Post by tim on Sept 3, 2021 23:57:33 GMT -5
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 3, 2021 23:59:47 GMT -5
So there you have it!!! This was a blowout for the title track, and deservedly so!! This is by far the song that launched Reba's career. She may have had a few top 10 hits before this one, including a couple #1s, but this is the song that cemented her place in the genre and set her on the path to superstardom. It was her first music video as well! This pining number about a lover who is having an affair and covering it up with "business trips" doesn't pack quite the feminist punch that many of Reba's later hits would have (the main character would literally welcome him back with open arms in an instant despite his cheating ways), but the smooth melody and powerful vocal have made this an enduring fan favorite. It managed to finish at #5 in the singles rankdown, which is super impressive, so it is nice to finally see it win something. "Little Rock" was no slouch, however! This song also did really well in the singles rankdown, beating out a LOT of excellent songs to hold real estate in the top 20. This song is catchy, and definitely packs more of the feminist punch that Reba is known for when the woman decides to leave her man because despite all his money, he doesn't satisfy her romantic needs and she wants to feel loved and valued. The plucky off-beat guitars in the intro are iconic (and side note, would be SO HARD to do properly in concert, lmao.) Thank you all for participating and following along! I really appreciate those who take the time to do this series, as I know it is always a bit harder to get people to join in for '80s music
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 4, 2021 0:03:32 GMT -5
Final Recap: Whoever's In New England
10. One Thin Dime (84) 09. You Can Take The Wings Off Me (81) 08. Can't Stop Now (79) 07. To Make That Same Mistake Again (77) 06. Don't Touch Me There (67) 05. If You Only Knew (65) 04. I've Seen Better Days (64) 03. I'll Believe It When I Feel It (46) 02. Little Rock (28) 01. Whoever's In New England (14)
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 4, 2021 0:43:40 GMT -5
Reba Nell McEntire (1986)
Tracklist: (Runtime about 32 min)
1. I've Never Stopped Dreaming Of You 2. Hold On 3. I Know I'll Have A Better Day Tomorrow 4. Don't Say Goodnight, Say Good Morning 5. Muddy Mississippi 6. It's Another Silent Night 7. Empty Arms 8. Love Is Never Easy 9. Waiting For The Sun To Shine 10. Good Friends It is time for us to take a little bit of a detour now that we are nearing the halfway point of Reba's early years! Reba Nell McEntire is kind of Reba's 11th studio album, but also kind of not. It's like nobody knows how to officially classify it, lol. The reason for its weird dynamic is pretty obvious though. Let's call it what it is...a shameless cash grab by a label that missed out! After Reba had left Mercury Records to join MCA in the mid-80s, she low-key started to get a LOT more popular pretty quickly. So when Reba and MCA Records put out Whoever's In New England, Mercury decided to release an album of unreleased material from Reba's time with them on the exact same day 😂 Hence the existence of Reba Nell McEntire!! Now, while this album may be kind of a black sheep in her catalog, this series is all about honoring her output regardless of the circumstances of its release. As far as I'm concerned, this is a Reba album, and we may as well rank it now since we just finished Whoever's In New England Especially since this album was finally put on streaming services a couple months ago, so it is actually available for us to listen to. This should be very interesting, as this is an album without the influence of single bias, so results are bound to be unpredictable and wild! Due to the uniqueness of this album's situation, we will just be ranking it by itself. Hopefully 5 weeks will be enough time to get it done! Due: Sunday, October 10, 2021
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Sept 4, 2021 9:34:33 GMT -5
Yay @ the winner!! "Whoever's in New England" is Reba's absolute best song!!
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 5, 2021 16:50:42 GMT -5
I know I just opened this, but it's never too early to have a first reminder!! Believe it or not, I already have a list! Thanks tim! As for the rest of you, there are still five weeks left to get this done :) Participants so far: 1. tim
Due: Sunday, October 10, 2021
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 14, 2021 21:11:05 GMT -5
1. "(You Lift Me) Up To Heaven"
I fell really behind on my stats this summer, so I am working on getting caught up right now... And I just discovered that Feel The Fire was someguy 's 100th country rankdown victory!!!! "You Lift Me Up To Heaven" is officially your lucky #100!
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 23, 2021 22:35:59 GMT -5
It's been awhile since I gave a reminder, but the deadline for Reba Nell McEntire is now about 2 1/2 weeks away!! Still plenty of time to listen to 10 songs I'm not expecting a huge turnout necessarily, but maybe we can triple the current turnout? Participants so far: 1. tim 2. someguy 3. bboat11
Due: Sunday, October 10, 2021
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Post by tim on Oct 10, 2021 5:11:42 GMT -5
It's been awhile since I gave a reminder, but the deadline for Reba Nell McEntire is now about 2 1/2 weeks away!! Still plenty of time to listen to 10 songs I'm not expecting a huge turnout necessarily, but maybe we can triple the current turnout? Participants so far: 1. tim 2. someguy 3. bboat11 This is kind of due today
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Oct 10, 2021 16:33:36 GMT -5
This is kind of due today Hahaha right you are! And turnout is actually alright so far considering how hectic things have been for all of us the last couple months, and how few reminders I've given! I'm going to go ahead and extend this to next Sunday though, so that I can focus on reveals for Terri and George. So y'all officially have ONE MORE WEEK to get a list in if you still want to! Participants so far: 1. tim 2. someguy 3. bboat11 4. castleoblivion26 5. 🌺CountryLineDancer
Due: Sunday, October 17, 2021
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codyj100
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Post by codyj100 on Oct 10, 2021 20:33:53 GMT -5
Yay! More time to get this in. THANK YOU.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Oct 16, 2021 0:55:51 GMT -5
Our extra week has been slipping right on by, with nobody taking advantage of it!!! The deadline is now just two days away! Fortunately the weekend's here, so hopefully there will be time for a few people to do a last-minute push. Now that the Terri Clark album is done revealing, there is nothing stopping me from closing this one!! Participants so far: 1. tim 2. someguy 3. bboat11 4. castleoblivion26 5. 🌺CountryLineDancer
Due: Sunday, October 17, 2021
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Post by taylor on Oct 16, 2021 1:03:19 GMT -5
Come on y’all!!!!! We can do this!
I’ll have mine in tomorrow!
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Oct 16, 2021 9:15:00 GMT -5
Crazy that this album is made up of songs that she left on the cutting room floor and yet is better than at least half of the early (pre-90s) Reba albums we've ranked.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Oct 17, 2021 14:08:23 GMT -5
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