LeAnn Rimes - Whatever We Wanna (2006)

Whatever We Wanna is the eighth studio album by American singer LeAnn Rimes, released on June 6, 2006. The sound of the album is more rock-oriented. The album was released and promoted exclusively in Europe, Taiwan and Brazil. It was originally intended to be released in the US (and briefly even appeared on the US iTunes store), but the release was withdrawn due to the success of the single "This Woman" (from "Something's Gotta Give", which reached number two on the Billboard Top Country Songs on), which led to an increase in sales of This Woman. The deluxe edition with three bonus remixes was released in the US on September 10, 2021, fifteen years after the original release.

In the summer of 2006 LeAnn Rimes was only 23 years of age, and yet Whatever We Wanna was the 16th album release in her career thus far (including hits albums and oldies compilations). For a supposed country music star, she now had hit albums in an R&B style, and Whatever We Wanna was most definitely veering toward gaining her a rock audience -- not credible rock in the sense of Stevie Nicks or Pat Benatar, but AOR country crossover as Shania Twain and Faith Hill had successful managed before her (especially the song "A Little More Time," which could indeed have been Twain singing rather than Rimes). The rock angle was heaviest on the album's opening song, "Satisfied," as well as the title track, but Rimes slowed everything down to her usual country-influenced ballad style on "Strong," "This Life," "Some People," and "For the First Time," the latter of which was reminiscent of a Heart power ballad. As would be expected on a song featuring Brian McFadden (formally of Westlife), "Everybody's Someone" was also a slow ballad introduced by a piano, and surprisingly given his status as a guest on her album, McFadden opens the first verse with his sugary voice.