Dixie Chicks Taking The Long Way CD

Personnel: Natalie Maines (vocals, omnichord, background vocals); Dan Wilson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, piano, background vocals); Gary Louris (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, background vocals); Emily Robison (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, sitar, accordion, background vocals); Smokey Hormel (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Jonny Polonsky (acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, piano); Martie Maguire (mandolin, violin, viola, strings, background vocals); Lloyd Maines, Marvin Etzioni (mandolin); Richard Dodd (cello); Matt Funes, Gerardo Hilera, Joel Derouin, Larry Corbett, Mario Diaz de Leon, Andrew Duckles (strings); Steve Kujala (flute); Terry Landry (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Lon Price (tenor saxophone); Brian Swartz (trumpet); Brad Warnaar (French horn); Benmont Tench (piano, tack piano, harpsichord, harmonium, Farfisa, Wurlitzer organ); Larry Knechtel (piano, Wurlitzer organ); Chris Testa (xylophone); Lenny Castro (percussion); Bonnie Raitt (background vocals); John Mayer , Keb' Mo', Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Chad Smith .
Audio Mixer: Richard Dodd.
Recording information: Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA; The Village, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographer: Mark Seliger.
At the time of TAKING THE LONG WAY's release, the lyrical content of a high-profile album by a big-deal artist hadn't been the topic of such public scrutiny since Eminem was still a hot topic. The Dixie Chicks certainly had to have seen this coming, though, after they withstood a firestorm of insults, threats, and boycotts for criticizing George W. Bush's policies. "Not Ready to Make Nice" and "Lubbock or Leave It" (among others) make it clear, however, that the Chicks have no intention of retreating a single step from their convictions. Similarly, the fact that TAKING THE LONG WAY is as much a pop album as it is contemporary country should not be misinterpreted as an abandonment of the factions that turned against the group during the controversy in question.
The soaring pop choruses and dashes of string orchestration that vie for space with acoustic picking and steel guitar swells should rather be seen in the context of a group that's been evolving toward a pop/country amalgam for some time. (Don't forget that one of their biggest hits was a Fleetwood Mac cover.) If anything, the expansive sonic approach and forthright themes simply stand to show that the Chicks have transcended genre pigeonholes. There's still plenty of country in their sound, but with LONG WAY the trio belongs to the larger world at last.
The road leading away from Home, the Dixie Chicks' acclaimed 2002 return to straight-ahead country, proved to be quite rocky for the Texan trio, largely due to anti-George W. Bush and antiwar comments lead singer Natalie Maines made during the long crawl to the 2003 Iraqi War. Maines' words, initially spoken off the cuff in concert but then repeated in numerous interviews, earned her plenty of enemies within the country community (most notably Toby Keith), but despite the hailstorm of publicity, Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Robison did not back down, even as their country audience slowly diminished. But by that point, the Dixie Chicks were bigger than a mere country act anyway: they were international superstars. Their sound and sensibility played to an audience that was much bigger and more self-consciously sophisticated than the country audience, so their shift from country to pop on 2006's Taking the Long Way feels natural; even the neo-bluegrass of Home felt like a kindred spirit to the alt-country movement and such AAA singer/songwriters as Sheryl Crow, not the pure bluegrass of Ricky Skaggs, or even the progressive Alison Krauss. Given the controversy of 2003, the conscious distancing from country makes sense -- and given songs like the defiant "Not Ready to Make Nice" and the redneck-baiting "Lubbock or Live It," the Dixie Chicks don't sound like tRolling Stone (p.226) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Their seventh studio album embraces the depth and fury of classic rock while remaining true to the trio's Texas roots."
Rolling Stone (p.104) - Ranked #19 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[G]orgeous country rock, killer power ballads and fierce honky-tonk."
Entertainment Weekly (p.130) - Ranked #6 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Records Of 2006" -- "[P]roducer Rick Rubin brings the rock without losing that front-porch feel."
No Depression (pp.122-123) - "[S]ome of the strongest, most involving music this group has yet produced."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] an edginess, intransigence and outspokenness that, despite their country stylings, structure and instruments has affinities with rock."