Maps of Music

Room to Breathe (2003)

Where the lyrics of Room to Breathe take you, and where it was really made.

This album was Reba McEntire's first studio record of the new millennium, made after she had stepped away from recording to star in the sitcom Reba.

Key places

Recorded in Nashville (2003)

Recording site Nashville — The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2003. The pin marks the city center, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Room to Breathe: 25th studio album by American country singer Reba McEntire
• Released November 18, 2003 by MCA Nashville Records
• Produced by Buddy Cannon, Reba McEntire, and Norro Wilson
• First album of new recordings since 1999's So Good Together
• Her first studio album of the new millennium

Background

• McEntire had branched into theater and television, starring in the sitcom Reba
• She decided to temporarily leave the recording industry at the start of the new millennium
• This album marked her return to new recordings after that break
• The release included "Somebody", her first number one single in six years
• Three more singles followed between 2003 and 2005

Recording

• Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2003

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Artist

Early life

• Born March 28, 1955 in McAlester, Oklahoma; raised on a ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma.
• Third of four children of Clark and Jacqueline McEntire; her father was a three-time world steer roping champion.
• With her siblings she formed the trio the Singing McEntires, performing at local events and dance halls.
• Studied elementary education and music at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Career

• Country singer Red Steagall heard her at a 1974 rodeo and helped her sign with PolyGram/Mercury Records in 1975.
• Her breakout came with the 1984 MCA album My Kind of Country, which produced two number-one country singles.
• The album Whoever's in New England won a Grammy Award and topped the Billboard country albums chart.
• After a 1991 plane crash that killed eight band members, she released For My Broken Heart, her best-selling album.
• Sold more than 75 million records worldwide; 24 of her singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
• Starred in the sitcom Reba (six seasons) and in the NBC sitcom Happy's Place.

Members

• Solo artist; her siblings Pake and Susie were early members of the Singing McEntires.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• About.com reviewer Matt Bjorke gave the album five out of five stars
• Bjorke called it her best and most personal album yet
• Bjorke described the album as a return to form for Reba
• AllMusic reviewer Maria Konicki Dinoia gave the album three out of five stars
• Dinoia praised the effort and called the album revitalizing
• Dinoia credited the album with a renewed passion for traditional country music
• PopMatters' Marshall Bowden found the material more traditional-sounding
• Bowden compared the album's approach to the country sound of the 1970s

Records

• Billboard 200 peak: number 25
• Billboard Top Country Albums peak: number 4
• First week sales: 72,297 copies
• Four weeks on the Billboard 200; last appearance January 2004
• "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain" peaked at number 14 on Hot Country Songs
• "Somebody" reached number 1 on Hot Country Songs and number 35 on the Hot 100
• "He Gets That from Me" peaked at number 7
• "My Sister" peaked at number 16
• RIAA certified the album platinum in August 2005

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Some tracks were story songs, including "He Gets That from Me", recorded in memory of people who lost family members in the 2001 September 11 Attacks.
• Vince Gill sings on the closing track "It Just Has to Be This Way".
• The album returned McEntire to new recordings after she had stepped away from the recording industry at the start of the new millennium.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact