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Friday, May 19, 2006

Pop Life column: The best Dixie Chicks album few may buy
The Dixie Chicks' long-awaited fourth album is their best and most bravely honest. But who's gonna buy it?

By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register

Let's for a moment set aside the outspoken overtones of the Dixie Chicks' much-anticipated fourth (and best) album, "Taking the Long Way."

That's what most pundits and pop scribes will focus on, at the exclusion of anything else - like the profoundly intimate and label-defying music itself. "60 Minutes" already joined the fray, recently profiling the embattled trio and rehashing the furor that sprung up over Natalie Maines' off-the-cuff put-down of the president three years ago.

I realize Maines and fellow Chicks Emily Robison and Martie Maguire aren't shying away from this still-tense topic. More than a few tracks on the new album (in stores Tuesday) address fallout from "the incident," as they term it.

You may have heard the obvious example by now. Or perhaps only heard about it, seeing as a perusal of playlists at most country stations proves hardly any of them are spinning the Chicks' considered yet contentious first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice."

Its opening salvo: "Forgive/ Sounds good/ Forget/ I'm not sure I could." Its fierce chorus: "It's too late to make it right/ I probably wouldn't if I could/ 'Cause I'm mad as hell/ Can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should."

Or the bridge: "How in the world can the words that I said/ Send somebody so over the edge/ That they'd write me a letter/ Sayin' that I better shut up and sing/ Or my life will be over?"

OK, so I didn't really set aside outspoken overtones.

But that much I expected from this turning-point effort. Anything less than the bravest honesty would have been a cop-out. Much to their credit, the Dixie Chicks do not back down; if anything, they're apt to incur even more enemies (or indifferent ears) for refusing to retreat into the safety of pretty but empty country pap.

Notice that on KZLA's Top 20, "Not Ready to Make Nice" is nowhere to be found, though the tamer "Everybody Knows" (about "the psychology of celebrity," as Maines has noted) clocks in at No. 16. The lesson: Get jingoistic (like Toby Keith), and radio will play your up-with-America jingles incessantly. Be contrary and you better start looking elsewhere for media support.

So Roxanne and I have been wondering just who makes up the Dixie Chicks' fan base now, and whether "Taking the Long Way" will be the big crossover sensation it deserves to be.

Understand, while I'm just a recent Dixies convert, Roxanne has been a die-hard from "Wide Open Spaces" onward. I received an advance of the new disc two weeks ago, but I hadn't much seen the thing until three days ago. Rox immediately absconded with it, listening to it a dozen times.

Her initial reaction: It retains the warmth of the authentic country feel of 2002's "Home." That much I attribute not to the Chicks themselves (who for the first time co-penned every cut) or their writing partners (a first-rate array led by Semisonic's Dan Wilson but also including the Jayhawks' Gary Louris, Sheryl Crow, Neil Finn, Keb' Mo', Pete Yorn and Linda Perry).

I figure that warmth is due to a superior backing group (featuring a few Heartbreakers and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith) and, most of all, the instincts of producer Rick Rubin, gifted at capturing an immediacy that leaves you feeling like you're eavesdropping on the artists.

He brings the same spirit to this that he brought to Tom Petty's "Wildflowers," doing away with compact polish, allowing instrumentation room to breathe, letting the Chicks' vocal maturity shine through and get bolstered by resonant American country-rock.

That's really what this is: great, melodic, thought-provoking American music that incorporates strains from several genres until it's beholden to none. If anything, it's an extension of the SoCal rock tradition put forth in the '70s by the likes of Stevie Nicks and Linda Ronstadt, only infused with far more heartfelt commentary, spanning topics as standard as long-term love and as diverse as dealing with Alzheimer's and infertility.

It's startling progress that makes earlier Chicks records seem simplistic. They have evolved into something realer and deeper - as opposed, Rox says, to Faith Hill, who went pop with syrup poured on top.

"I could really hear this on Star 98," I told her as we listened again the other night.

Not a chance, she thinks. "It's still too country for that."

And she may be right. Star hasn't gone near the single, instead spinning lame fluff like "You're Beautiful" and "Bad Day" ad nauseam. Nor has KBIG picked up on the Dixies.

Nor is there really an overtly country cut to push on the KZLAs and CMTs of the airwaves. Consider "Lubbock or Leave It." Musically it sounds like a sop to Toby Keith fans, but the lyrics are pure venom spewed at the narrow-mindedness of Maines' hometown, which still won't play her records. Likewise, the gospel-infused "I Hope" isn't likely to please some church folk, as its first verse tackles the conflict of adhering to "thou shalt not kill" yet supporting war.

It's said that when the outcry of three years ago began, a new (primarily pop) audience came running to the Chicks' defense. Yet will they remain? And buy in big numbers?

I have no doubt "Taking the Long Way" will debut at No. 1 and become another breakout moment for the Chicks, who should solidify some new audience. But I also have no doubt that this won't sell as many copies as its predecessors.

That's what comes with being uncompromising: smaller returns, dismayed fans, greater self-satisfaction.

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