NHT! Music Review: Martina McBride - Shine

Martina McBride - Shine

Label: RCA
Grade: B+

One of the great mainstays of modern Country music, Martina McBride has proven over and over again since her debut in 1992 that she has what it takes to be a Country superstar. McBride’s illustrious career has produced 22 Top 10 hits, 18 million albums sold, four CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Awards, three ACM Top Female Vocalist Awards, and a Grammy Award. Her latest release, Shine (the tenth full-length album in her catalogue) is no exception.

Her first ever collaboration with hit making producer Dann Huff, Shine is exactly what one would expect from the now 42 year old vocal powerhouse. McBride sets the tone for remainder of the eleven album tracks opening with the edgy “Wrong Baby Wrong” leading next into the cheery ballad “I Just Call You Mine”.

Over all the album is strong and Huff has managed to solidly showcase McBride’s powerful vocals in a way that is both understated and restrained while still maintaining their crystal clear clarity and room-filling power especially evident on tracks like “Walk Away” and “What Do I Have To Do”.

The biggest drawback of the album is Huff’s propensity toward lapsing into his hair metal roots with arrangements that evoke the cheese of the 80’s a bit more than is really needed. All of that aside, Shine is perhaps McBride’s best album since 1997’s Evolution and is well worth a listen especially for the more stripped down tracks like the heart-string tugging “I’m Trying” and the powerful look at domestic violence “Wild Rebel Rose”.

With Shine, Martina McBride has shown that she can more than hold her own even in an environment dominated by pretty young newcomers like Carrie Underwood. And for this reviewer at least, there is definitely something to be said for experience!