Taking the Long Way

Dixie Chicks

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 23, 2006)
• Original Release Date: May 23, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000F7MG4G
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,184 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,785 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nothing changes folks like babies and war, and since the release of their last album, 2002's Home, the Dixie Chicks have been forever altered by both. If that album showcased the trio as precocious young adults, Taking the Long Way finds them sobered and matured, and in a grown-up state of mind. Produced by the celebrated Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers), who saw the Chicks as "a great rock act making a country album, not a country act making a rock album," their new record impresses both as beautiful sonic tapestry (peppered with myriad Beatlesque hallmarks) and forthright yet vulnerable portrait of three women shaken by the personal and political events of the past few years. As they make clear in the defiant "Not Ready to Make Nice," they still smart over the backlash from their 2003 Bushwhacking. But as they assert on the equally autobiographical "The Long Way Around," they could never "kiss all the asses that they told me to" and just follow others aimlessly--and silently--through life. This means that the Chicks are simultaneously prideful and scornful of celebrity ("Everybody Knows"), and that as new mothers they increasingly treasure the refuge they find in life with their families, out of the spotlight ("Easy Silence," "Lullaby," "Baby Hold On"). The push and pull of both passions drive this record, which also touches on the personal issues of infertility (with which sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison both dealt) and Alzheimer's (from which Natalie Maines's grandmother suffers). The trio crafted all 14 cuts with the help of such writers as Sheryl Crow, Gary Louris, Mike Campbell, and Keb' Mo', laying out their lives as honestly and intimately as they might in their diaries. For that reason, on first listen, Taking the Long Way seems too somber--in need of a bit of levity and more than a couple of uptempo songs (like the sexy, '60s-flavored "I Like It") to resonate for the long haul. It also seems to lack the writing quality that Darrell Scott, Patty Griffin, and Bruce Robison brought to Home. But on repeated plays, those concerns dissipate. By the last cut, the R&B/gospel offering "I Hope," the Chicks have chronicled their journey with as much spirituality as spunk, their pain deeply ingrained in their protests. --Alanna Nash

Product Description

With Taking The Long Way, one of the most anticipated albums in recent years, the Dixie Chicks are putting themselves out there like never before. For the first time, every one of the disc's fourteen songs are co-written by the Chicks themselves, exploring themes both deeply private and resoundingly political. Collaborating with legendary producer Rick Rubin (who has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from Run DMC to Neil Diamond), the biggest-selling female band in history has truly pushed themselves to new heights both as writers and as performers.

"Everything felt more personal this time," says Maines. "I go back to songs we've done in the past and there's just more maturity, depth, intelligence on these. They just feel more grown-up." Inspired by such classic rock artists as the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Mamas and the Papas, Taking The Long Way adds a sweeping, Southern California vibe to the Chicks' down-home intimacy. That ambition is matched with lyrics addressing everything from small-town narrow-mindedness ("Lubbock or Leave It") to the psychology of celebrity ("Everybody Knows"). "This album was about finding a balance in the different aspects of our lives," says Emily Robison, "but there's something thematic there, too--it's really about being bold."

Dixie Pics

Dixie Discs

Home	Wide Open Spaces	Fly
Top of the World Tour (Live CD)	Top of the World Tour (DVD)	An Evening with the Dixie Chicks (DVD)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

674 of 787 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No walking on egg shells with Dixie Chicks' outstanding new album., May 23, 2006

By	A. G. Corwin - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Three years after the controversy surrounding the Home tour, the Dixie Chicks are back with a bang on their latest studio album, Taking the Long Way. Receiving some songwriting and musical help from friends like Neil Finn, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Chad Smith, Don Wilson, and Pete Yorn, the Chicks' Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Robison deliver an incredible, mature record destined for success, one that will greatly please long time fans and win over some new converts. This is the Dixie Chicks at their best, and it's been a long time coming.

The Long Way Around kicks off the album with a beautiful melody and chorus, with some of their strongest vocal harmonies ever set against a wonderful Tom Petty-like guitar sound. This is the way albums should begin. Easy Silence is a tender piano ballad with some beautiful violin and a great vocal by Natalie. Not Easy To Make Nice delves into some tough lyrics,"they say time heals everything..but I'm still waiting" but surrounds it in some unbelievably gentle strings and a great chorus. Everybody Knows and Bitter End are more traditional country ballads, while Lullaby is a 6-minute track that pays homage to its title. Lubbock or Leave It is a banjo-driven rockabilly track that will make you move on the dance floor, even as the cleverly sarcastic lyrics make you listen a few more times.

Silent House and Favorite Year are ballads that touch on the loss of family and friends. Voice Inside My Head combines acoustic and a wonderful slide guitar with a endearing chorus, "everytime I'm feeling down, I wonder what would it be like with you around." This Cali-beach sound continues on the slinky track I Like It, before slowing down on the bluesy ballad Baby Hold On (with John Mayer on lead guitar) and So Hard (a song which grows on you with every listen). The album closes with the uplifting and soulful I Hope, with its church organ and choral sound. A great way to end this amazing album.

Producer Rob Rubin concentrates the Dixie Chicks sound, drawing out the best of their songwriting and musical ability and making the tracks tighter and more focused. Its 14 tracks clock in at a lengthy 68 minutes, averaging about 4 minutes a song, a nice change in an industry where 45 minute records are the norm. Vocally the ladies are as wonderful as always, but their musicianship also impresses here. They have matured greatly in their songwriting and their lyrics, creating a distinct emotional palette that grows with every listen. Love or hate their politics, as musicians they make some of the best music today. Highly Recommended and one of 2006's Top 5 albums.

A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO

101 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fat chick loving the chicks...., May 24, 2006

By	L. M. Johnson (houston, tx usa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

never been one to write a review...never been one to rush out the first day an album is released to purchase it...but I did for the Chicks.....it gives me a chance in some small way to give back to a group who's music has given me so much pleasure over the years. The first time I heard "Not Ready to Make Nice" actually gave me goosebumps....any album that can do that deserves 5 stars. C&W music stations in Houston had been my steady staple since I was a preteen, but when they boycotted the Chicks - I boycotted them(c&w stations) - now my music library is full of all kinds of music you wouldn't expect from a 40 year old woman - everything from the Blackeyed Peas to Bowling for Soup to the Chieftans....the narrow minded people who turned me off c&w actually broadened my world..

btw....if anyone in the C&W music industry should be boycotted for offensive and insulting remarks....consider Toby Kieth for his song "Running Block"(from White Trash With Money).....nothing like offending and insulting every "Fat Chick" in America......nowadays there are probably more of them than there are Bush supporters.......

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, great music with a point of view., May 25, 2006

By	Spin Doctor "Doc" (Champaign, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

I understand that Reba McEntire commented negatively about the Chicks on a recent country awards show. Given that Ms. McEntire hasn't been musically interesting for many years, that's quite a compliment to the Chicks, who apparently present a significant artistic and commercial challenge to the repetitive aural stink that country music has become in the last ten years (unless one assumes that "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" is high art...and, by the way, I find its sheer stupidity far more insulting than any comment ever expressed by the Chicks).

This is the only CD of contemporary music that I have purchased so far this year that hasn't been a disappointment. I am not a Chicks "fan"...I bought "Wide Open Spaces" when it was first released but no other of their CDs. I purchased this one on the strength of the "Not Ready to Make Nice" video, the clip of "Taking the Long Way" shown on Amazon, and a short review of the CD in Newsweek which compared it favorably to my favorite band Fleetwood Mac. That proved to be an excellent comparison, because the very things I love about the Mac at its best are also prevalent in this CD.

If country radio doesn't play it -- well, really, who the heck cares.