Dixie Chicks return to bluegrass bliss
08/26/2002
By Mario Tarradell / The Dallas Morning News
Home is the Dixie Chicks' most important album. Forget the
groundbreaking sound and mega-success of 1998's Wide Open Spaces
and its follow-up, 1999's Fly. As good as those discs were –
especially Fly, a bold modern country opus – Home is
the CD of the trio's career.
That's because Home is a potent product of its surroundings, of
the band's state of mind during the recording process and of the stellar
musicians who picked on the record. Home was made with Lloyd
Maines producing alongside the Chicks, which includes his daughter, lead
singer Natalie Maines.
The making of the album served as a respite from the legal turmoil Ms.
Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire were caught in as they sued
their record label, Sony. All is now well between artists and
conglomerate; the Chicks renegotiated their contract and snagged their
own imprint too, Open Wide Records, another apt name.
Grade: A
Home (Open Wide/Monument) In stores
Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2002
|
|
Yet, for a while there was no telling where, or if , the songs on Home
would be heard. Such uncertainty helped create great art. With an emotional
desire to retreat to the familiar, that home and hearth haven, the
Chicks returned to their bluegrass base.
But this is not the same kitsch bluegrass-and-Western-revue sound that
characterized the band's pre-major label days. Home revels in a
more mature combination of 'grass instrumental chops, stunning front
porch harmonies and free-spirited, genre-merging bravado.
Listen to their gorgeous take on Stevie Nicks' rock ballad "Landslide."
Ms. Maines, whose voice is more supple and melodic than ever on this
album, caresses Ms. Nicks' thoughtful lyrics while sisters Ms. Robison
and Ms. Maguire provide lovely mandolin and dobro solos as well as sweet
harmonies.
It's a similar situation for their quiet, heartfelt rendition of Radney
Foster's lullaby, "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)." This time we get Ms.
Maguire on viola and Emmylou Harris providing additional vocals. Plus,
they do grand justice to a cover of Bruce Robison's poignant "Travelin'
Soldier."
Still, there's no sleeping allowed. Home offers plenty of the
trio's signature spark and fire. The first single, Darrell Scott's
"Longtime Gone," sports a killer banjo groove and sassy lyrics: "We
listen to the radio to hear what's cookin'/But the music ain't got no
soul/Now they sound tired but they don't sound haggard/They got money
but they don't have cash."
And, whew, wait until you hear "White Trash Wedding." Written by all
three Chicks, "Wedding" is a rip-roaring bluegrass hoedown drenched in
banjo, fiddle and mandolin. The only thing even better than the music is
the line "I shouldn't be wearing white and you can't afford no ring."
Home ends with Patty Griffin's melancholy "Top of the World,"
done as bluegrass-meets-classical. The song's title is the opposite of
its mood, sending us the message that super success doesn't translate to
happiness. The Chicks should know, and that's precisely why they came
home.
