New Music / COUNTRY STRONG / Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Sony/RCA)

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This article was published 7/1/2011 (4193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE big question surrounding the soundtrack for the movie Country Strong is how will actress Gwyneth Paltrow fit in on a disc that includes the likes of Faith Hill, Patty Loveless and Lee Ann Womack?

It turns out the actress more than holds her own on her three solo offerings and a duet with co-star Tim McGraw, sounding just as capable as many of the artists Nashville is pumping out these days, whether she's tugging at the heartstrings on the tear-jerker Coming Home or playing the role of party girl on the feel-good country rocker Shake That Thing.

The album could use a little more variety on the up-tempo side of things, since the majority of the material tends to skew on the slow side. Of those, Womack's old-school twanger Liars Lie and Hill's romantic Give in to Me make the biggest impression.

The album's highlight, though, is Ronnie Dunn's version of She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Double), a No. 1 single for Gary Stewart in 1975 that is Dunn's first solo release since Brooks & Dunn called it quits last year. 3 stars

-- Rob Williams

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