Taking the Long Way

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Taking the Long Way
Taking the Long Way cover
Studio album by Dixie Chicks
Released May 23, 2006
Recorded 2005-2006
Genre Country rock
Length 1:06:42
Label Open Wide, Columbia
Producer(s) Rick Rubin
Professional reviews
Dixie Chicks chronology
Top of the World Tour: Live
(2003)		 Taking the Long Way
(2006)


Taking the Long Way is the seventh studio album released by the American country female band Dixie Chicks, on May 23, 2006 in the U.S. and on June 12, 2006 worldwide. It won the Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Country Album in 2007. Recently, on iTunes, the album has reached #1 on the Top Album Charts once again, due to the popularity garnerned by the Grammy Awards.

Contents

[edit] Personnel

[edit] History

The first single from the album, "Not Ready to Make Nice", was released in March 2006. On May 18, 2006, the whole album was leaked onto various file sharing mediums.

Taking the Long Way was the first studio album the band released since the controversy that erupted over them in 2003 following Natalie Maines' remarks critical of United States President George W. Bush. The controversy and the Chicks' reaction to it is the major theme at the first tracks of the album.

The first track is "The Long Way Around" which is a manifesto to non-conformity, presented with allusions to The Byrds' "Wasn't Born to Follow" as well as the Chicks' own "Long Time Gone" and "Top of the World". The second track is "Easy Silence", a testimonial to the protagonist's husband, who affords her an island of quiet companionship and love in the midst of turmoil. The third track, and first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice", offers an angry statement of purpose and resolve. The fourth track "Everybody Knows" is a return to the classic Chicks sound, but enmeshed in an aura of vulnerabilities and ambivalences.

Track nine "Favorite Year" was written with the collaboration of Sheryl Crow, while track ten "Voice Inside My Head" was written with the collaboration of Linda Perry.

Closing track "I Hope", is a song written with Keb' Mo' for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and it was first performed on the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon in 2005. The song features a guitar solo from John Mayer.

The song "Lubbock or Leave It" roused the answer song "Trouble in the Henhouse" from fellow Lubbockite Billy Briggs.

Selections from the album were prominently featured in the Chicks' subsequent Accidents & Accusations Tour, which included an unprecedented number of Canadian dates. A lot of the album tracks are featured in the Dixie Chicks rockumentary, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, alongside 3 non-album cuts; "The Neighbor," "Baby Love" and "Whatever It Takes."

[edit] Reception

[edit] Public reception

On May 31, 2006, the album took three number one spots of the Billboard magazine. It was number one on the Hot Country Albums, Top Digital Albums, and on the Billboard 200 chart, going Gold in its first week with 526,000 units sold.[1] The second week, the album stayed in the top spot while taking a 48% decline, selling 271,000 units and bringing the album sales total to 797,000 units.[2] In its third and fourth weeks, the album dropped to number two on the chart. During weeks five, six, and seven, the album remained as one of the top five albums in the country. During its eighth week, due to several high-profile new releases, the album was pushed out of the top ten to number eleven. However, on week nine, the album bounced back into the top ten.

In Canada, the album was a huge success, staying on the top of the album charts for four weeks and eighteen weeks on the country album charts. It has sold 292,639 copies there, making it 3x platinum.[3] At the year end charts, Taking The Long Way was the second best selling album of the year in Canada.

The album has also done well in Australia becoming their highest charting album peaking at #2 and has since gone double platinum (140,000), the album has also spent thirty non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the Australian Country Chart and is yet to peak lower than the top 10 more than 40 weeks after its release. Taking the Long Way came in at #20 on the Australian End Of Year Album Charts for 2006. It also finished at #1 on the Australian End Of Year Country Charts for 2006, the lead single "Not Ready To Make Nice", finished at #96 on the End Of Year Single Charts.

As of January 2007, Taking the Long Way is certified 2x platinum by the RIAA in the U.S., well behind the levels reached by the band's previous albums. Many people say that the drop is due to radio airplay, or lack thereof, which is partly correct. However, a decline in album sales across the board makes up for much of the difference.

Right after the Dixie Chicks won five Grammy Awards and performed "Not Ready to Make Nice" at the 49th ceremony, the album and the single reached the #1 on the U.S. iTunes Music Store. On February 21, it was announced by Billboard that the album sales increased 714% (rocketing from position #72 to #8) with sales of 103,000 copies, compared with only 12,700 copies sold on the week before.[4] On the Canadian charts, the post-Grammy Awards week saw the album rocket up from position #27 to #5, with 9,000 copies sold.[5]

[edit] Critical reception

On December 11, Taking the Long Way appeared at #19 on the Rolling Stone list of the top 50 albums of the year.[6] It was declared on the magazine that:

"The Dixie Chicks respond to their rough past few years with brass balls: This disc shows they didn't regret speaking out against the Iraq War, and Natalie Maines sounds almost punk at times. There is also a whole lot of craft -- (Taking the) Long Way is a widescreen pop record with gorgeous country rock, killer power ballads and fierce honky-tonk."

On December 17, Time elected Taking the Long Way the fifth best album released in 2006 according to the magazine's music critics.[7] It was declared on the magazine that:

"The incident, as they call it, took a commercial toll, but musically the Chicks have never been stronger. The instrumentation on their fourth album keeps a toe in country, yet the songs are the best kind of pop--smart, instantly memorable and fussed over until they sound effortless. "Not Ready to Make Nice" broadcasts their grievances, but "Bitter End" and "So Hard" (a sing-along about infertility) prove that complicated songwriting for the masses still flourishes."

On December 25, USA Today elected Taking the Long Way the best album of the year according to the publication's music experts.[8] It was declared on the newspaper that:

"It was a calculated risk that paid off. Having alienated much of their country constituency with an ill-timed jibe at President Bush, the Chicks declined to beg for forgiveness, defiantly forging ahead with a forthright description of their situation and attitude, "Not Ready to Make Nice", and releasing it as the album's lead-off single. That alienated even more of the country base, but throngs of new fans — and the majority of USA Today's critics — were enthralled by the stance and, more important, the rich, textured, genre-transcendent music the trio and producer Rick Rubin cooked up."

Billboard magazine chose Taking the Long Way as one of 2006's fifteen best albums.[9] It was declared in the magazine that:

"Once the darlings of country, the Chicks lost many fans — and the support of country radio — after a 2003 incident in which Natalie Maines made a relatively innocuous comment about President Bush from a London stage. The group has finally re-emerged stronger, more defiant and more creatively ambitious than ever. The first-time pairing with Rubin has resulted in a surprisingly cohesive mix of country and rock tunes, including co-writes with Sheryl Crow and Neil Finn. While many former fans remain critical of the group for its outspoken political views — an apparent no-no in country music — tracks like "The Long Way Around," "Everybody Knows," "I Hope" (highlighted by a John Mayer guitar solo) and the chillingly sad "Voice Inside My Head" are sure to earn the group at least some of its fans back."

[edit] Awards and nominations

On December 7 2006, Taking the Long Way was nominated for five Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Country Album, Song of the Year ("Not Ready to Make Nice"), Record of the Year ("Not Ready to Make Nice") and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ("Not Ready to Make Nice"). Subsequently, it won all of the five awards. Producer Rick Rubin was awarded the Producer of the Year for his work with this and other albums.

The album has also won the 2007 Juno Award for International Album of the Year.[10]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "The Long Way Around" (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Dan Wilson) – 4:33
  2. "Easy Silence" (Maguire, Maines, Robison, Wilson) – 4:02
  3. "Not Ready to Make Nice" (Maguire, Maines, Robison, Wilson) – 4:01
  4. "Everybody Knows" (Gary Louris, Maguire, Maines, Robison) – 4:18
  5. "Bitter End" (Louris, Maguire, Maines, Robison) – 4:38
  6. "Lullaby" (Maguire, Maines, Robison, Wilson) – 5:51
  7. "Lubbock or Leave It" (Mike Campbell, Maguire, Maines, Robison) – 3:54
  8. "Silent House" (Neil Finn, Maguire, Maines, Robison) – 5:23
  9. "Favorite Year" (Sheryl Crow, Maguire, Maines) – 4:29
  10. "Voice Inside My Head" (Maguire, Maines, Linda Perry, Robison, Wilson) – 5:52
  11. "I Like It" (Louris, Maguire, Maines, Robison) – 4:34
  12. "Baby Hold On" (Louris, Maguire, Maines, Robison, Pete Yorn) – 5:04
  13. "So Hard" (Maguire, Maines, Robison, Wilson) – 4:27
  14. "I Hope" (Maguire, Maines, Kevin Moore, Robison) – 5:04

[edit] Bonus Tracks

  • "Live Wire" (Available with iTunes pre-order) – 3:57
  • "Thin Line" (Available as Best Buy exclusive) – 4:52

[edit] Singles

[edit] Additional personnel

[edit] Charts

Australian Album Charts
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Position
2
2
4
4
5
6
9
15
7
4
5
6
9
10
11
12
17
21
21
7
8
12
19
30
42
34
41
42
49
37
Week 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Position
44
-
41
41
44
47
49
-
26
13
14
18
16
23
26
Australian Country Charts
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Position
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
Week 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Position
2
2
1
1
2
5
4
6
2
1
1
1
1
1
3

[edit] Album

Year Chart Peak
position
2006 Australia ARIA Top 50 Albums 2
2006 Australia ARIA Top 20 Country Albums 1 (31 weeks)
2006 Canada Jam! Top 100 Albums 1 (4 weeks)
2006 Canada Jam! Top 50 Country Albums 1 (18 weeks)
2006 Finland Top 40 Albums 12
2006 German Media Control Top 100 Albums 5
2006 New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Albums 5
2006 UK OCC Top 75 Albums 10
2006 U.S. Billboard 200 1 (2 weeks)
2006 U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 1 (9 weeks)
2006 U.S. Billboard Top Digital Albums 1
2006 U.S. Billboard Top Comprehensive Albums 1

[edit] Singles

Year Single Chart Peak
position
2005 "I Hope" U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs #54
"I Hope" U.S. Billboard Pop 100 #92
2006 "Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks #32
"Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs #36
"Not Ready To Make Nice" Canada Jam! Hits 100 #3
"Not Ready To Make Nice" Canada Jam! Country Songs #1 (11 weeks)
"Lullaby" U.S. Billboard Pop 100 #76
"Everybody Knows" U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs #48
"Everybody Knows" Canadian Jam! Hits 100 #71
"Everybody Knows" Canadian Jam! Country Songs #10
"The Long Way Around" Canadian Jam! Hits 100 #21
"The Long Way Around Canadian Jam! Country Songs #1 (3 weeks)
2007 "Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs #2 (re-entry)
"Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks #2 (re-entry)
"Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #4 (re-entry)
"Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. Billboard Pop 100 #6 (re-entry)
"Not Ready To Make Nice" U.S. iTunes Music Store #1 (1 week) (re-entry)
Preceded by
Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers		 Billboard 200 number-one album
June 10, 2006 – June 23, 2006		 Succeeded by
Decemberunderground by AFI

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]
  5. ^ [5]
  6. ^ [6]
  7. ^ [7]
  8. ^ [8]
  9. ^ [9]
  10. ^ 2007 Juno Awards

[edit] External links


Dixie Chicks
Natalie Maines | Emily Robison | Martie Maguire
Laura Lynch | Robin Lynn Macy
Discography
Studio albums: Thank Heavens for Dale Evans | Little Ol' Cowgirl | Shouldn't a Told You That | Wide Open Spaces | Fly | Home | Taking the Long Way
Live videos: An Evening with the Dixie Chicks | Top of the World Tour: Live
Documentary: Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing
Tours: Fly Tour | Top of the World Tour | Vote for Change | Accidents & Accusations Tour
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