Family
by LeAnn Rimes
  • Record Label: Curb
  • Release Date: Oct 9, 2007
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Boston Globe
    90
    The result is the best, most cogent album of her career.
  2. AllMusic
    80
    Rimes illustrates her range as a singer along with some true strength as a writer, and they help make Family a canny blend of the commercial and the confessional--an album that feels heartfelt, yet is as accessible and enjoyable as her best records.
  3. Billboard
    80
    Two bonus cuts, 'Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore' with Bon Jovi and 'When You Love Someone Like That' with Reba McEntire, are icing on an immensely satisfying collection.
  5. The New York Times
    80
    True, she sometimes lays it on too thick: edging close to self-parody with bluesy groans and growls, or waxing inspirational (in 'Doesn’t Everybody') about our common need for love. She’s more convincing in 'What I Cannot Change,' a pretty, cello-driven ballad.
  6. Slant Magazine
    80
    Like most everything else about Family, it's a calculated risk that pays off.
  7. Blender
    80
    The lighthearted genre-hopping suggests nothing so much as a Broadway smash about a restless country star, borrowing from many styles, beholden to none.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    Throughout, Rimes displays new maturity in songwriting, though too often she lapses into posturing power pop. [19 Oct 2007, p.129]
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  9. Rolling Stone
    70
    The songs are uneven, but the peak is a duet with Mr. Nashville himself, Jon Bon Jovi.
  10. Hartford Courant
    70
    A carefully manicured, but still lively assortment that highlights her substantial vocal strengths.
  11. The Guardian
    60
    A slightly too-smooth production and typically overblown Bon Jovi collaboration act against notions of her as a modern Janis Joplin, but it's certainly disconcerting to hear a big-voiced former AOR child star saying that all she needs is a good friend and a glass of wine.
  12. Q Magazine
    40
    There's little spark, despite her admirable willingness to take chances. [Nov 3007, p.147]
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  13. Uncut
    40
    The results sound like an update of the kind of AOR racket Pat Benatar and Heart were making in the '80s. [Nov 2007, p.116]
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 2 out of 12
  1. LynneK
    Jun 21, 2009
    10
    "Family" is by far her most creative album. Her voice is brilliant,mature,sultry,and her range is unbelievable. I am looking forward to her "Family" is by far her most creative album. Her voice is brilliant,mature,sultry,and her range is unbelievable. I am looking forward to her next album which I believe is being released in the fall.… Full Review »
  2. rogerc.
    Nov 5, 2007
    10
    A brilliant beginning to an outstanding new decade of music from Ms. Rimes.
  3. erich.
    Oct 27, 2007
    10
    Amazing vocals. Easily one of the years best cd's.
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