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List Price: $45.98 | | Label: Sony / Bmg Japan
Salesrank: 522873
Released: June 5, 2006 |
| Our Price: $22.90 |
| Used Price: $15.95 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Taking the Long Way Track Listing:
1. Long Way Around
2. Easy Silence
3. Not Ready to Make Nice
4. Everybody Knows
5. Bitter End
6. Lullaby
7. Lubbock or Leave It
8. Silent House
9. Favorite Year
10. Voice Inside My Head
11. I Like It
12. Baby Hold On
13. So Hard
14. I Hope
Editorial Review:
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) |
Description of Taking the Long Way:
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
Taking the Long Way Reviews:
Ouch.... 
2009-11-21 - Not sure how any fan of the Dixie Chicks can listen to this album and not feel that they have been slapped in the proverbial face. Obviously, "Not ready to make nice" is a stab back at all the political fallout that has surrounded the DCs in recent years. From the opening cord of NRTMN, you can tell this is going to be a darker, more somber Dixie Chicks than we've seen in the past. Gone is the humor found in Goodbye Earl. Replaced with a darker, serious statement wrapped in great music and poignant lyrics. They get back to an upbeat musical tone with Everybody Knows; however, listening to the lyrics will reveal they are still pushing it right in your face. I have always had a high respect for the DCs because of their playing abilities and their song writing skills. That respect has sky-rocketed because of their willingness to stick to their principles and face the fallout - Everybody Knows their face and they're not afraid to put themselves out there. Now, to address the four star rating: the first half of the album is both lyrically and musically masterful; however, it is 15 tracks long (which is a lot of music). Unfortunately, the quality of the tracks wanes in the second half of the album. To me, the last few songs just aren't as well written and nothing resonates like it does in the first half of the album; so, I dinged them a star. All in all a great album.
Country-rock with passion 
2009-09-15 - A lot of political music doesn't hold up. Bob Dylan famously said of fellow folk musician Phil Ochs, "Phil is reporting, not song-writing." Today Dylan is a legend, and Ochs is remembered only by historians of 60's folks music.
In the end, music has to have passion, or it's just going through the motions. And passion is one thing this album has in spades. This is a personal album, a passionate album, not a political one, even though the personal events mentioned in many of the songs happened because of politics. Because it is a personal album it still holds up quite well now that "That One" is in office rather than GWB. Songs from the album are still on rotation in my iPod, such as "So Hard", "Voice Inside My Head", and "Silent House", that are just as good today as they were three years ago. People who claim it's a "political album" are reading something into the album that's not there. In the end this is a brilliant album about choices and the repercussions of choices and facing up to those consequences with courage and passion, and the question of who is POTUS is irrelevant to that theme.
Taking the Dead End is More like it 
2009-08-27 - The Dixie Chicks culminated their three year propaganda campaign with this album, a propaganda movie, and a last failed tour. While they got a pop from the grammy giveaway in sales for it, the music just didn't hold up. This, despite the presence of not FOUR co-writers, but 10 gifted professional songwriters that actually put the bitching and the lamenting to music and rode the controversy train on this album. The majority of the draw for this album was the Bush connection. With his departure, so went the liberal agenda seekers that had taken this music to double platinum. On its own and after the fire died down, the appeal left this album of vaguely hidden lamenting and blatant bashing to a tune. It is hard to appreciate the musicality when it is dripping with hatred and disdain for so many. The real shame is that the songs will drift independently over the next decade or so, then some gifted drama queen will latch on to them with a Joan Baez grip to support the current cause celebre'. Once again, the musicality will be vinegar filled. It is doubtful that these songs will be remembered by most. For me, they are the last gasping of a hateful crew, and I just can't listen to it without the tart taste rising in my mouth.
All sounds the same 
2009-08-01 - This is the first Dixie Chicks CD I've ever listened to, so, musically, for me, it was pleasant, but a bit generic. Forget the political hype they got mixed up in. As country/alt music, these tunes are just ok. Nothing really stood out as unforgettable to me. But it's not a throw-away either. Maybe it grows on you.
For those who like to listen !
2009-06-05 - Saw the D C's on "Storytellers" and it inspired me to pick up the CD. My tastes lean toward guitar based, song oriented classic rock (Beatles, Zeppelin, Who etc). I was impressed with their musicianship and the songs seemed "hooky" enough to take a chance. I've received the CD and I must say this - "Silent House" is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I have ever heard. It does what music is supposed to do - move you. When Natalie hits the high note in the chorus, it just melts me. Love that song. (The rest of the disk is quite good too !)
