Dolly Parton Backwoods Barbie

Price: $29.95

It's been three years since Dolly Parton released a new album, and nearly two decades since she put out anything close to a mainstream country offering. Parton is, and has been all these years, a true iconic presence in country music, a shrewd marketer, an astute businesswoman (Backwoods Barbie appears from her own Dolly Records), and a frequently brilliant if understated songwriter (nine of the 12 tracks here are Parton originals). Unlike her last couple of albums, which were bluegrass-based, she works in her usual pop and country hybrid style (even tenderly covering Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears’). Other highlights here include the title song, which shows Parton still in tune with her public image (she really always has been, of course), and the beautiful and delicate original "Only Dreamin'," which shows that Parton is still a fine songwriter with an uncommon sense of grace, economy, and wisdom. – All Music Guide

Better Get to Livin' - Made of Stone - Drives Me Crazy - Backwoods Barbie - Jesus & Gravity - Only Dreamin' - The Tracks of My Tears - The Lonesomes - Cologne - Shinola - I Will Forever Hate Roses - Somebody's Everything