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The Reason Why is mature, exquisitely crafted, and radio friendly; it ups the ante for contemporary country in songwriting, performance, and production (the latter by stripping away excess). It's as near to a perfectly balanced recording as one will find in the genre.
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The 12-track set plows some new ground for Little Big Town, from the way Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook's duet intertwines with the group harmonies on the title track to the traditional country flavor of "You Can't Have Everything" and the bluegrass tinge on "Little White Church."
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With the assistance of ace songwriter-producer-multi-instrumentalist Wayne Kirkpatrick "The Reason Why" does what all good records should do: It makes you laugh, cry, hoot, holler, and breaks your heart.
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For all the general-ness of their songs, the South does emerge strongly as a setting, as a feeling or a style as often as a real place.
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The performances have always been there for Little Big Town; The Reason Why provides just more evidence that there isn't another act in any genre of popular music with greater skill in arranging vocal harmonies. At this point, there's no logical reason that this shouldn't be Little Big Town's long overdue star turn.