By By Carlye Walton
Well the wait is finally over, after a long hiatus The Dixie Chicks have come back on the country scene stronger than when they left. After a battle over royalties with their music company, Sony, which kept them out of the recording studio and sadly off the stage, the chicks have come home to roost. Their highly anticipated new album “Home” is filled with more bluegrass inspired, back porch, down home music. The album is a fine display as the sequel to their huge selling album ‘Fly’. The trio is made up of front woman Natalie Maines, whom after having a baby shows a more relaxed voice but still hollers like no other female country singer could ever compete with. Maines is backed up by sisters, Emily Robison (banjo) and Martie Maguire (fiddle) whose harmonies are absolutely amazing.
After a two-year long break the chicks started to promote this album by releasing hits before the album hit stores. ‘ I Believe In Love’ was sung at the post 9-11 tribute concert, ‘Traveling Solider’ and ‘Long Time Gone’ has been playing on Country music stations for the past two months. The also performed at various concerts in L.A. and Texas, and TV appearances on the Today Show and The David Letterman Show.
“Long Time Gone”, which appropriately titled is the first single and is great song that talks about the country music industry that will keep you toe tapping straight through Christmas break. If those of you who fell in love with the Chicks after the song ‘Goodbye Earl’, making you want to feed your ex-boyfriend a bowl of black eyed peas, are looking for another girl power song don’t look to hard because ‘Tortured, Tangled Hearts’ is the song for you. The song is about how true love sometimes could come back and bite you in the ass. The true feel of the famous Dixie Chicks style is displayed proudly in ‘White Trash Wedding’, a song about a backward wedding that ends with the line ” Say I do and kiss me quick cause baby’s on its way”.
To compliment these songs are love ballads written by such great songwriters such as Patti Griffth with ‘Truth No.2’ and Bruce Robinson with ‘Traveling Solider’ that portrays a beautiful image of a young girl who falls in love with a solider who never returns from Vietnam. Also the chicks respectfully cover the old Fleetwood Mac song Landslide, taking a hit and putting a traditional country feel to it. They performed Landslide with Stevie Nicks on VH1’s Divas live in Las Vegas. The song ‘Godspeed’ is lullaby that makes you want to be a kid all over again.
CARDINAL GRADE: A+
