Room to Breathe (Reba McEntire album)

2003 studio album by Reba McEntire

Room to Breathe

Studio album by

Reba McEntire

Released| November 18, 2003 (2003-11-18)
Genre| Country
Length| 44:31
Label| MCA Nashville
Producer|

* Buddy Cannon
* Reba McEntire
* Norro Wilson

Reba McEntire chronology
| 20th Century Masters – The Christmas Collection: The Best of Reba
(2003)  | Room to Breathe
(2003)  | Reba #1's
(2005)

|
|

Singles from  Room to Breathe

1. "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain"
Released: August 25, 2003
2. "Somebody"
Released: January 17, 2004
3. "He Gets That from Me"
Released: September 4, 2004
4. "My Sister"
Released: March 19, 2005

Room to Breathe is the twenty-fifth studio album by American country music singer Reba McEntire. It was released on November 18, 2003, by MCA Nashville Records. It was produced by Buddy Cannon, McEntire, and Norro Wilson.

Room to Breathe was McEntire's first album of new recordings since 1999's So Good Together and her first studio album of the new millennium.[1] McEntire had previously branched into theater and television, starring in a television sitcom, Reba, and had decided to temporarily leave the recording industry at the start of the new millennium.[2] The release contained McEntire's first number one single in six years with "Somebody", while also hosting three additional singles between 2003 and 2005.[1]

## Background

[edit]

Room to Breathe was recorded in Nashville Tennessee in 2003 and consists of twelve tracks. About.com album reviewer, Matt Bjorke referred to the album as "a competent collection of well written, fun and emotional tunes. In essence, it's a return to form for Reba and should prove to be a critical and commercial success."[2] Marshall Bowden of PopMatters considered McEntire's release to contain "more traditional-sounding material", exemplifying tracks such as "I'm Gonna Take My Mountain" and "Love Revival" to evoke this sound. The album was goaled to mainly showcase the different musical styles McEntire had utilized. For this, Bowden praised McEntire and producers, stating that, "McEntire, together with producers Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson, has done a good job of presenting a variety of sounds. For some, the result will be too diverse and lack focus, but if McEntire can do all of these styles convincingly, why shouldn’t she?"[3]

Some of the material on Room to Breathe included "story songs", such as "He Gets That from Me", which was recorded in memory of individuals who lost family members in the 2001 September 11 Attacks. Another track, "Moving Oleta" explains how an elderly man is forced to move his wife to a nursing home.[3] Certain tracks included background vocals from country artist, Linda Davis. McEntire also collaborated with another country artist, Vince Gill for the closing track, "It Just Has to Be This Way", whom AllMusic reviewer, Maria Konicki Dinoia compared to McEntire's and Gill's number one duet single, "The Heart Won't Lie."[4]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
About.com| [5]
AllMusic| [6]

Matt Bjorke of About.com gave Room to Breathe five out of five stars, saying, "When you add up the performances throughout the duration of Room To Breathe, Reba has created her best and most personal album yet. With truly something for every country fan, the album is sure to become a big hit with old and new fans alike."[2] Allmusic's Maria Konicki Dinoia gave the album three out of five stars. Even though she gave the album a lower rating, she gave much praise to effort, calling the album to sound, "revitalizing" and show a "cool Reba." Dinoia gave praise to the traditional sound of the album, saying, "On her first studio album in four years, she resurrects her passion for country music that seemed to have been missing on her previous album."[4] Marshall Bowden of PopMatters also found Room to Breathe to also have a more traditional approach to it, comparing it to the sound of country music in the 1970s.[3]

## Commercial performance

[edit]

The lead single from the album, "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain", was released in summer 2003 and peaked in the Hot Country Songs Top 20 at #14.[1] Room to Breathe was officially released November 18, 2003, reaching #4 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and peaking at #25 on the Billboard 200 all-genres list with first week sales of 72,297,[7] spending four weeks on the chart, making its last appearance there in January 2004.[8] The album's second single was released in 2004; "Somebody" reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was followed by "He Gets That from Me" later in the year, which reached a peak of #7 and the fourth single, "My Sister", reached #16.[1] In August 2005, Room to Breathe was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[9]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Secret"|

* Lisa Brokop
* Ron Harbin
* Cyril Rawson

| 3:22
2.| "If I Had Any Sense Left at All"|

* Hank Cochran
* Dale Dodson
* Red Lane

[10]| 4:00
3.| "My Sister"|

* Bonnie Baker
* Amy Dalley
* Roxie Dean

| 3:59
4.| "Once You've Learned to Be Lonely"|

* Candy Cameron
* Chip Davis
* Sharon Vaughn

| 4:28
5.| "Moving Oleta"| Barry Dean| 3:27
6.| "Love Revival"|

* Marc Harris
* Leslie Satcher

| 4:07
7.| "He Gets That from Me"|

* Steven Dale Jones
* Phillip White

| 3:38
8.| "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain"|

* Melissa Peirce
* Jerry Salley

| 3:24
9.| "Room to Breathe"|

* D. Vincent Williams
* Vicky McGehee

| 3:31
10.| "Sky Full of Angels"|

* Burton Banks Collins
* Clay Mills
* Lisa Stewart

| 2:51
11.| "Somebody"|

* Dave Berg
* Annie Tate
* Sam Tate

| 3:50
12.| "It Just Has to Be This Way" (with Vince Gill)|

* Liz Hengber
* James Dean Hicks
* Anthony L. Smith

| 3:48

## Personnel

[edit]

### Musicians

[edit]

* Reba McEntire – lead vocals
* John Hobbs – acoustic piano, synthesizers
* Randy McCormick – acoustic piano, Hammond organ, synthesizers
* Steve Nathan – acoustic piano
* Gary Prim – keyboards
* J. T. Corenflos – electric guitar
* Gregg Galbraith – electric guitar, nylon string guitar
* Dann Huff – electric guitar
* John Jorgenson – electric guitar, mandolin
* Dan Dugmore – acoustic guitar, dobro, steel guitar, lap steel guitar
* B. James Lowry – acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar
* Dan Tyminski – acoustic guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
* David Talbot – banjo
* Rob Ickes – dobro
* Larry Paxton – bass guitar, string arrangements
* Paul Leim – drums, percussion
* Larry Franklin – fiddle
* Alison Krauss – fiddle, backing vocals
* Kristin Wilkinson – string arrangements
* The Nashville String Machine – strings
* Bob Bailey – backing vocals
* Lisa Cochran – backing vocals
* Chip Davis – backing vocals
* Linda Davis – backing vocals
* Kim Fleming – backing vocals
* Vince Gill – lead and backing vocals (12)
* Vicki Hampton – backing vocals
* Sonya Isaacs – backing vocals
* Marabeth Jordan – backing vocals
* Louis Dean Nunley – backing vocals
* Bergen White – backing vocals
* Dennis Wilson – backing vocals
* Curtis Wright – backing vocals

### Production and Technical

[edit]

* Buddy Cannon – producer
* Reba McEntire – producer
* Norro Wilson – producer
* Tony Castle – engineer
* Patrick Murphy – assistant engineer
* J.R. Rodriguez – assistant engineer
* John Guess – mixing
* Hank Williams – mastering
* Eberhard Ramm – music copyist
* Shannon Finnegan – project coordination
* Bethany Newman – art direction, design
* Ron Davis – photography
* Michelle Moder – wardrobe
* Brett Freedman – hair stylist
* Terri Apanasewicz – makeup

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

| Chart (2003)  | Peak
position

|

Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] | 176
US Billboard 200[12] | 25
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] | 4

### Year-end charts

[edit]

| Chart (2004)  | Position

|

US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] | 23
Chart (2005)  | Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[15] | 39

### Singles

[edit]

Year  | Song  | Chart positions[16]

|
|

US Country | US
2003  | "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain"  | 14  | 103
2004  | "Somebody"  | 1  | 35
"He Gets That from Me"  | 7  | 59
2005  | "My Sister"  | 16  | 93
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

## Certifications and sales

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

United States (RIAA)[17] | Platinum  | 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Ruhlmann, William. "Reba McEntire > Biography". allmusic. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
2. ^ a b c Bjorke, Matt. "Room to Breathe \- Reba McEntire". about.com. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
3. ^ a b c Bowden, Marshall. "Room to Breathe < Review". PopMatters. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
4. ^ a b Konicki Dinoia, Maria. "Room to Breathe > Overview". allmusic. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
5. ^ About rating
6. ^ Room to Breathe at AllMusic
7. ^ "HITS Daily Double: Previous Album Sales Chart". hitsdailydouble.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
8. ^ "Room to Breathe". a.charts.us.com. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
9. ^ a b "American album certifications – Reba Mc Entire – Room to Breathe". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
10. ^ "'If I Had Any Sense Left at All' listing". Broadcast Music Incorporated. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
11. ^ "Reba McEntire ARIA Chart history (complete) (1988 to 2024)". ARIA. Retrieved July 28, 2024 - via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
12. ^ "Reba McEntire Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
13. ^ "Reba McEntire Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
14. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
15. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2005". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
16. ^ "Billboard chart positions > singles". allmusic. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
17. ^ "American album certifications – Reba McEntire – Room the Breathe". Recording Industry Association of America.

* v
* t
* e

Reba McEntire

* Albums
* Singles
* Videos

Studio albums|

* Reba McEntire
* Out of a Dream
* Feel the Fire
* Heart to Heart
* Unlimited
* Behind the Scene
* Just a Little Love
* My Kind of Country
* Have I Got a Deal for You
* Whoever's in New England
* What Am I Gonna Do About You
* The Last One to Know
* Merry Christmas to You
* Reba
* Sweet Sixteen
* Rumor Has It
* For My Broken Heart
* It's Your Call
* Read My Mind
* Starting Over
* What If It's You
* If You See Him
* So Good Together
* The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection
* Room to Breathe
* Reba: Duets
* Keep On Loving You
* All the Women I Am
* Love Somebody
* My Kind of Christmas
* Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope
* Stronger Than the Truth
* Not That Fancy

Compilation albums|

* The Best of Reba McEntire
* Reba Nell McEntire
* Greatest Hits
* You Lift Me Up to Heaven
* Greatest Hits Volume Two
* Oklahoma Girl
* Moments and Memories: The Best of Reba
* I'll Be
* Greatest Hits Volume III: I'm a Survivor
* 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection
* Reba #1's
* 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection
* Love Revival
* 50 Greatest Hits
* Revived Remixed Revisited

Live albums|

* Reba Live

Tours|

* 2 Hats and a Redhead
* 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour
* All the Women I Am Tour
* Together in Vegas

Television|

* Reba
* Malibu Country
* Happy's Place

Family|

* Shelby Blackstock (son)
* Susie McEntire (sister)
* Pake McEntire (brother)

Related|

* National Finals Rodeo
* Grand Ole Opry
* Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
* Linda Davis
* Vince Gill
* Brooks & Dunn
* Kelly Clarkson

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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