A great country album is a great country album, regardless of when it was released. These three country albums are all at least 25 years old, but still sound amazing today.
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‘For My Broken Heart’ by Reba McEntire
For My Broken Heart is one of Reba McEntire’s most important records of her career, and also the most heartbreaking. Out in 1991, McEntire dedicated the record to her seven band members and tour manager, who were all tragically killed in a plane crash earlier that year.
The title track is written by Liz Hengber and Keith Palmer, and became a No. 1 hit for McEntire. The project also includes “Is There Life Out There”, “The Greatest Man I Never Knew”, and “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia“, one of McEntire’s most noteworthy singles, even though it didn’t reach No. 1.
‘Roll On’ by Alabama
Among Alabama’s many great albums is Roll On. Out in 1984, all four of the singles from the record became No. 1 hits for the group.
Roll On‘s singles include “Roll On (Eighteen Wheels)”, “When We Make Love”, “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)”, and “(There’s A) Fire In The Night”.
Roll On earned Alabama a CMA Award nomination for Album of the Year. “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)” also earned the group a Grammy nomination for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
‘Fly’ by The Chicks
Right before the start of the new millennium, and before any political controversy, The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) released Fly. Their sophomore album comes after their massive debut, with their 1998 album Wide Open Spaces. That record includes the title track, the first of many No. 1 singles for the trio.
Still, it’s Fly that seems to seal their place in country music, at least for a little while. Spending more than 30 nonconsecutive weeks at the top of the country albums chart, Fly includes hit singles like “Ready To Run”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, “If I Fall Down You’re Going Down With Me”, and the humorous “Goodbye Earl”.
Fly was not only impactful to country music, but to a future superstar. Taylor Swift says it’s Fly that helped shape her now legendary career.
“I was very inspired by the album Fly and the aesthetics,” Swift says (via Rolling Stone). “Because it was very clear they had really put a lot into the artwork. And so it got my brain thinking bigger in terms of, you make an album, but then you can choose an entire look and color palette and aesthetic and symbolism and imagery and backstories — that you can really make an album even more of an experience if you so choose.”
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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