As the seller of more than 35 million records and the star of country music’s greatest roadshow, Reba McEntire stands at the pinnacle of her profession. Her 1996 album demonstrates that there is only one record maker we need to measure her against, herself. No one else even comes close.

Her place in history has long since been assured, for she is in the ranks of the mightiest superstars in the annals of country music. Reba is unquestionably one of the finest vocal stylists who has ever recorded in Nashville. Her business empire is matched by none of her peers. She has launched a successful acting career. She is a wife and mother. She has done it all.

Or has she? With her 18th album for MCA Records, Reba turns the page into a completely new chapter in her musical career. Titled What If It’s You, this collection finds the country-music titan reinventing herself as a record maker. This album brings listeners inside her world and connects them to the musical family she has surrounded herself with in Music City. It brings new warmth, presence and personality to her sound.

“My best friends are the people I work with,” says Reba. “This time, I wanted to record music that is energetic and fun to listen to. I’d like people to hear that I’m sitting back and enjoying life. And I realized that I’m the most relaxed when I’m around my Starstruck Entertainment family.”

During the past year, she and her Starstruck staff have moved into a breathtaking technical office complex that she built in Nashville’s famed Music Row business district. The building includes a state-of-the-art recording studio, and Reba christened it with the recording of this new album. It’s a “homegrown” project from top to bottom. She co-produced the record herself. Her backing musicians are her buddies in her touring band, rather than the usual Nashville session musicians. More than half the tunes come from the staff songwriters of her Starstruck publishing companies.

“Everything feels different about this record,” she comments. “We’ve made changes in every aspect—the songs, the attitude, the excitement of the new studio, the band, new microphones, new production, everything.”

“My last album, Starting Over, was so heavy with instrumentation, so thick in production.  This time, I want a crisp mountain stream, not an ocean.  Sometimes when you hear somebody on the radio, it sounds like they’re right there on the dash of your car.  I wanted that sound too! John Guess has been working with me as an engineer for more than 10 years. We know each other so well, and he co-produced the record. We did a lot of pre-production together.  He and I went in and experimented with six different microphones until he picked the one that gave me the fullest, richest sound.  I’d just come back from vacation before we went into the studio, and I was really ready to sing.”

Sing she did, from the classic-Reba dramatic ballad “What If It’s You“ to the zesty uptempo joyride “I’d Rather Ride Around With You.“ The star soars above a blood-stirring bass line in “It Don’t Matter“ and swirls in an inviting country-pop arrangement in “Just Looking For Him.“ “What If It’s You“ is populated by a group of memorable characters, for the women in “How Was I To Know,“ “State Of Grace“ and “Never Had A Reason To“ have as much spirit and independence as any she has ever portrayed. The moonstruck romantic in “She’s Callin’ It Love“ is given a word of warning; while the woman in “Close To Crazy“ has already seen the losing side of love.  One of the collection’s strongest lyrics and most irresistible rhythm tracks belongs to “The Fear Of Being Alone,“ its propulsive first single.

“I was trying to get a more ’innocent’ sound this time.  I needed to be pulled back from that last album.  It’s not like I have to keep climbing mountain after mountain to prove myself.  There comes a point in your life when you pass through all of that and maybe get a little wisdom. And I knew it was time for a change.  I actually thought about calling the album something like ‘Round Two’.“

Actually, it’s more like “round five.“  Reba McEntire passed through the first “round“ of her career as a starlet on Mercury Records in the late 1970’s, produced by Jerry Kennedy.  The second phase occurred as she searched for new directions after signing with MCA in the early 80’s.  Productions by Norro Wilson and Harold Shedd had her in musical settings ranging from pop-country to new-traditionalist.  Jimmy Bowen put her next to him in the co-producer’s chair in 1985, resulting in a string of hits that includes such “signature“ performances as “Whoever’s In New England,“ “What Am I Gonna Do About You“ and “Little Rock.“ During this same period she went through a divorce, took charge of her life and career and wed manager Narvel Blackstock.  They founded their Starstruck firm together in 1988.

“Round four“ began in 1990 when she began collaborating with Tony Brown.  For the next five years she sang more soulful, aggressive songs (“Take It Back,“ “Why Haven’t I Heard From You“), enacted richly dramatic stories (“Fancy,“ “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia“), took on challenging lyrics (“Is There Life Out There,“ “She Thinks His Name Was John“) and applied her magnificent voice to ever more melodic material (“You Lie,“ “Till You Love Me“).  She also began singing more often with her peers, notably Vince Gill (“The Heart Won’t Lie“), Natalie Cole (“Since I Fell For You“) and Linda Davis (“Does He Love You“).  Last year Reba teamed up with Linda, Trisha Yearwood and Martina McBride for “On My Own,“ one of the standouts on “Starting Over“.

This most recent “round“ coincided with her evolution as a true show-business phenomenon.  Reba’s concerts became elaborate theatrical productions with eyepopping sets, costume changes and special effects. By the mid-90’s there was no one on the road, in any field of music, who could match her for sheer entertainment value.  Roles in “Tremors“, “Buffalo Girls,“ “The Gambler Returns“, “The Man From Left Field“, “The Little Rascals“, “Is There Life Out There“ and “North“ brought her increasing attention as an actor. “Reba and Friends“ and “Reba: Starting Over“ both became hit TV specials. She published her best selling autobiography in 1994.

Along the way, Reba collected virtually every award the music profession has to give, including two Grammy Awards, an unequaled four successive trophies as Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year honors from both the CMA and the Academy of Country Music.  She is the largest selling female country star in history, and no other woman in Nashville has five Triple Platinum albums.

Under Narvel’s leadership, Starstruck expanded to include not only concert production, but booking, management, publicity, travel, construction, equestrian and song publishing divisions.  The couple had son Shelby in 1990 on what she calls “the happiest day of my life.“ But she’s almost as proud of the “family“ that populates her 25,000 square foot office building.

“I didn’t have these folks on my album because they work for me,“ she says.  “I have them because they are the best.  I had faith in the studio and all the guys who work in it.  It was brand new, but there wasn’t a bug in it.  We did not have one problem.  I told the band, ‘If you can’t cut the mustard, I’ll bring in somebody to replace you. This is my career; my butt’s on the line.’  I was up front and honest.  And they came through with flying colors.  I don’t look at song publishers’ names when I listen to songs.  I listen for the best songs, period.  Starstruck had six of ’em.“

“I’m at a new point in my life and this album shows it.  I’m older now and I want people to know how happy I am.  I’ve learned that the measure of success is really just knowing that my family is healthy and happy.  All you need to have in life is time with your loved ones, a good meal and a good movie.  Oh yeah, and a good song to sing.“

"How Was I To Know"

“This is a strong song, a female-survivor lyric. That's why I liked it. I was in this position when I had my divorce in 1987. You kind of feel like you're stuck in a situation until you get the courage to make that big step and do something about it. Then, when you're on the other side of that fence, you look back and say, "Good Lord! How come I didn't know it was going to be so easy? If I'd only known that. Well, how was I to know?" I can really relate to this song. And I think a lot of people can.”

"The Fear Of Being Alone"

“This is the first single. Uptempo songs for females are really hard for me to find. Usually they are goofy or they are silly. But this one isn't. I had a lot of songs on hold for this album, about 96 of them, and I was starting to panic. Narvel called me at the house one day and said Mark Wright at Decca Records had called him at the office to ask him whether or not he could have "Fear of Being Alone" for Helen Darling. Narvel said, ‘Are you serious with it? Are you going to cut it or not?’ I told him I'd go listen to it again and call him back. When I did, I said, ‘When you come home tonight we better both sit down and listen again. I think it's a powerful song.’ That night Narvel and I decided that we wanted to keep it. I told Mark later, ‘It makes me feel good that I can pick a song so good that you like it, too.’ I think it's a hit.”

"What If It’s You"

“I'd love to see this one become a single. It's kind of a scary song, when you really think about it. You're married and you are looking at your spouse going, ‘What if it's not you?’ You find somebody at the grocery store. You look at them and go, ‘Wow; I think I know you. Are we supposed to be together?’ People marry the wrong people, sometimes. So I think this is a pretty dramatic story.”

"I’d Rather Ride Around With You"

“This is my favorite song on the album. Some of the others are meaty and deep, but just for a song that comes on and makes me feel good, this is it. It makes me feel like I'm 16 again. I love the attitude of the woman in this song, that idea of, ‘I know where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing, but who cares?’ She's so carefree.

"There's a part of me that wants to be like that. I like responsibilities, but I'm trying more and more to be like her. Instead of staying home and working on the computer or listening to songs, I want to just take off sometimes, drive around in the country, go shoot skeet, go ride a horse or just do something on the spur of the moment, instead of being good."

"It Don’t Matter"

"I just love the bass line in this track. Chopper Anderson did such a good job on it. It was a good demo in the first place, but when Chopper started putting that bass lick on, it just took it a whole step up. I'm so proud of the work that all of my band members did on this record."

"State Of Grace"

In a way, this is kind of like ‘Is There Life Out There.’ But instead of furthering her education or getting a better job, all this woman wants to do is just break out. She wants to branch out, to have fun, to live."

"Close To Crazy"

"How does Melba Montgomery do it? She is so phenomenal to me. I was flabbergasted when I first heard this and even more flabbergasted when I learned that she'd written it. After I recorded this album, we invited all the songwriters and publishers over to listen to it. Melba said she was just blown away by my version of the song. I was so flattered. It is such a sad song, very moving and very emotional, so I was glad she thought I did it justice."

"She's Callin’ It Love"

"This type of song reminded me so much of Faith Hill. And if Faith had sung it I think you would have related to the song from the kid's point of view. But since I'm 10 years older, I think you look at it more from the parents' point of view. My stepdaughter, who is 17, definitely relates to it from the younger side. I think of the parents' side of the story."

"Just Looking For Him"

"This somehow reminded me of a Don Henley type of song, or maybe one of Steve Winwood's, especially with that shoo-shoo in the background, the synthesizer. But sometimes when I listen to it, it reminds me of a Trisha Yearwood song, too.

Anyhow, it's from one of our own Starstruck songwriters. When I listen for songs, I don't look at who the publishing company is or who the writer is. And I'm happy to say that Starstruck simply had some of the best tunes this time, they sure did."

"Never Had A Reason To"

"Mark Sanders, who is one of our songwriters at Starstruck, has been having simply an amazing year, one number-one hit after another. I thought it was about time I got some of his songs for myself; and this is one of his best. It's got that theme of independence that I like. It's a cocky song."