Continuing my look at the albums of 2006…
I came very close to putting the Dixie Chicks album Taking the Long Way on my personal top ten of 2006, but listening to it again I realized I’m very enthused by about half of its tracks and could give or take the rest.
But I definitely wanted to feature it this week because it’s a milestone record with artistic, commercial, and political import — the rare album of true historic cultural significance.
The 2006 album Taking the Long Way was The Chicks’ first following the fallout over lead singer Natalie Maines’ criticism over then-president George W. Bush. Though they had been blacklisted by country radio and received death threats from angry idiots, they ended up recording one of the best-received records of their career.
The album went double-platinum, a far cry from three previous albums that sold three to five times as many copies but still impressive. And it won five Grammys, including Album, Song and Record of the Year. They might have lost a ton of fans, but they gained a ton more.
My daughters have recently rediscovered the 2006 Dixie Chicks album Taking the Long Way, so I’ve heard today’s random SOTD a lot lately. It’s the lead-off track to that fine album, which won five Grammys including Album of the Year.
This song, about leaving a small town to explore the world, reminds me of some of Miranda Lambert’s best work (at least thematically). It has the added element of responding to the controversy over lead singer Natalie Maines’ comments, spoken overseas, about then-president George W. Bush.
Jack Antonoff has a nice mix of artists and genres in his Rolling Stone list, which is one reason I decided to blog about it this week.
An 80s New Wave band, a modern-day electro-pop artists, the Piano Man himself and now a country selection from the Dixie Chicks. Nice variety.
The other day I was thinking about R.E.M. — that one could argue they called it quits about five albums too late. Certainly they released some worthy music in the post-Bill Berry years, but nothing that stands up to their best work.
I was reminded of that thought when this Dixie Chicks song popped up as today’s random selection. I don’t know if the Chicks have officially called it quits (Wikipedia suggests they haven’t) but their last album, Taking the Long Way, was released seven years ago and counting.
Meet Me In Montauk 