New releases: Nov. 22, 2005

Picture it: It's the early 1990s, and you're cruising down the street in a your bitchin' Ford Escort. If you're a girl, it's quite likely you're wearing leggings and a turquoise shirt with big hoop earrings, your hair pulled back with a scrunchy. Or, if you're a dude, it's not only likely but scientifically verifiable that you're wearing a flannel shirt and black jeans. Your hair is greasy.

So you're on your way home from school maybe, and ... what's this??? ... A song by Reba McEntire is on the radio. You look around. You roll up your windows. You sing "'Til You Loooooooooove Meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" as loud as you can. And it feels good.

For this is early '90s Reba. Now, I know it's hard to remember now, but think back with me, and the mists of time will slowly clear and you'll see the truth: There was a time when she didn't suck. Before the TV show. Before she tried to be all Faith Hill and shit. Back then, she belted out good ol'-fashioned country heartbreak songs. They were polished and rhinestoned (bedazzled?), straight-up pop, sure sure. But they also were good, maybe in a guilty pleasure kind of way.

I say all this by way of justifying the presence of Reba's new CD, "Reba #1s," on this week's new releases list. I saw the release date on several of my sources for this list, but didn't even think about including it until I checked out the track list on a whim. Oooooh dee-licious. "You Lie," "Whoever's In New England," "Greatest Man I Never Knew," "For My Broken Heart," "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands," and, yes, "'Til You Love Me." Candy, all of it. Sweet, sweet candy.

But isn't candy an essential part of a balanced diet? What??? Who said that? I'm not even hearing that. OK. Anyway, seeing as how candy IS IS IS IS an essential part of a balanced diet, Reba's giving us a good chance (if you don't already have her 900 other greatest hits/anthology/rehash CDs, that is) to fill that square. Your steak and potatoes (two other major food groups, obviously) are your Old 97ses and your Lucinda Williamses. Wilco, maybe they're the vegetables -- but the tasty kind. So for balance -- and a total '90s flashback -- here's your Reba. Delicious candy.

Your paltry list of notable new releases for Nov. 22, 2005, its paltriness being the reason I have to write an entire rant about Reba McEntire, for chrissakes:
Reba McEntire -- Reba #1s (MCA Nashville)
John Mayer Trio -- Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert (Sony)
Can we, by the way, please stop this "live in concert" nonsense? How else are you "live"? "In concert" is just redundant, and redundancy gives people like me gas.
various artists -- Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (Concord)
A very, very odd mix of artists contributing previously unreleased songs for a good cause. On the good side of this 2-CD set you have your John Mayer (if you're into that) with Aaron Neville, your Coldplay, and your Dave Matthews Band with Robert Randolph. On the scary side is child-molester pee-freak R. Kelly, idiot-for-cheating-on-Halle-Berry Eric Benet with Michael McDonald and Wynonna Judd, and Barbra Striesand. Does the good outweigh the bad? You must find your own path, grasshopper.

Also, some music DVDs are coming out Tuesday:
"Through the Years" uses live performance to chart the path and influence of Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver on today's bluegrass music. (Mountain Home)
"A Weekend at the Greek/Live in Japan" shows Jack Johnson in two not-all-that-recent full concerts, the first from Berkeley, Calif., the the second from, you know, Japan. (Universal)