dolphinboy

Not Ready To Make Nice

Click on the link to hear the new song.

I think it's great and can't wait for the new cd!

Sekots

Sounds pretty good, I guess this is about what she said a couple years ago?

dolphinboy

DIXIE CHICKS SLATED TO RELEASE
HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED FOURTH ALBUM
TAKING THE LONG WAY
ON MAY 23, 2006

All Fourteen Tracks Co-Written by the Dixie Chicks
and Produced by Rick Rubin

New York, NY – March 10, 2006 – Superstars, renegades, innovators, heroes, villains, and moms - over almost a decade, the Dixie Chicks have grown from a band into a phenomenon. Now more than ever, the eyes of the world are on them, and with TAKING THE LONG WAY, they come out swinging, surpassing the pressures and expectations history has placed upon them. The nine time Grammy-Award winning Sony Recording artists will release this highly-anticipated fourth album (Open Wide/Columbia/Sony BMG) on May 23, 2006.

With TAKING THE LONG WAY, one of the most anticipated albums in recent years, the Dixie Chicks are putting themselves out there like never before. For the first time, every one of the disc's fourteen songs are co-written by the Chicks themselves, exploring themes both deeply private and resoundingly political. Collaborating with legendary producer Rick Rubin (who has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from Run DMC to Neil Diamond), the biggest-selling female band in history has truly pushed themselves to new heights both as writers and as performers.

"Everything felt more personal this time," says Natalie Maines. "I go back to songs we've done in the past and there's just more maturity, depth, intelligence on these. They just feel more grown-up."

Rubin assembled a band including Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, session hero Larry Knechtel, and Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, and matched the Chicks with co-writers including Dan Wilson (who wound up collaborating on six of TAKING THE LONG WAY's songs), Pete Yorn, and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks.

Inspired by such classic rock artists as the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Mamas and the Papas, TAKING THE LONG WAY adds a sweeping, Southern California vibe to the Chicks' down-home intimacy. That ambition is matched with lyrics addressing everything from small-town narrow-mindedness ("Lubbock or Leave It") to the psychology of celebrity ("Everybody Knows").

Not just "big for a country band" or "big for a big female band," the Dixie Chicks are a multi-platinum selling act in North America, Europe and Australia as well as one of a mere handful of acts with multiple albums achieving "diamond" status (meaning sales over 10 million copies) - both WIDE OPEN SPACES (1998) and FLY (1999) hit that stratospheric landmark - and have won nine Grammy awards. Their on-stage reputation has helped them sell over $100 million worth of concert tickets, and outspoken songs like "Goodbye, Earl" made it clear that this power trio played by nobody's rules.

And that was all before Natalie Maines's comments about a fellow Texan, President George W. Bush, during a London appearance in March, 2003 really put the Dixie Chicks in the headlines. The resultant uproar - complete with boycotts and death threats - is the focus of TAKING THE LONG WAY's defiant first track, "Not Ready to Make Nice." "The stakes were definitely higher on that song," says Robison. "We knew it was special because it was so autobiographical, and we had to get it right. And once we had that song done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden."

The results cover an impressive range of territory. "Silent House" examines the emotions that come from watching an older relative struggle with Alzheimer's. "It's So Hard When It Doesn't Come Easy" addresses infertility, an issue that both Robison and Maguire have faced. The Chicks debuted the gospel-inflected "I Hope," co-written with Keb' Mo, during last year's telethon benefiting the victims of Hurricane Katrina; the album version features a blistering guitar solo by John Mayer.

"This album was total therapy," says Natalie Maines. "I'm way more at peace now. Writing these songs and saying everything we had to say makes it possible to move on."

Details are forthcoming on a worldwide Dixie Chicks concert tour that will kick-off this summer.

Sekots

Thanks

Andalusia

Looking forward to this.

kvrdave

Good song.

I'm not real keen on political music (and if one doesn't know the history here, this doesn't play like one), so I hope the other songs are of similar quality without just being a soap box. The press release that says that it is "resoundingly political" might just be hoping to drive some hype.

Now Johnny Cash....there was a great singer, against the war, and still just plain kicked ass. A little religious for some later on, though.

covenant

And drive down album sales. I guess they're courting a different demographic. Because the traditional country music buyer (the folks that lashed out at them before) aren't interested in political statements. Or at least their political statements.

Back in 2003 I heard someone say they should just shut-up and sing. Avoid controversy. But now they are combining their politics with their music and I don't see it selling in Nashville. Just like Cash in his last years.

joeblow69

I generally hate country (unless it's sung by a really hot man) but this song sounds pretty good to me. I wonder if they're still being blacklisted by Clear Channel?
Yeah, she mentions that in the song

kvrdave

I generally don't like female singers much anyway, but this was good. I would guess that for every 1 female singer I like, there are 10 guys I like. Maybe it is just the high pitch.

It should be interesting to see how the sales go. It seems like an interesting demographic to try to break into (one that I really didn't think existed), but they have the talent that they might just bring more people to their music rather than trying to find a place where their music will do well.

onebyone

Thanks for the link. I have been wanting to hear this, and I think it sounds great. I am not very into country music, but I love the Dixie Chicks and have been wanting a new CD for awhile. I'll be buying it for sure.

Decker

I like it. A lot. I guess she was just waiting for the majority of the country to come around to her POV. Still it's a pretty controversial and self-referential song for the first single, IMO

Flynn

Fantastic. Sounds like song-of-the-year material to me.

Mad Dawg

Wow. I'm disappointed. I'll wait for the CD before I judge, but beyond the lyrics, that is the least interesting music I've heard from them since some of the filler on the first CD. I hope "growing up" doesn't mean taking a run-of-the-mill ballad and putting interesting or personalized lyrics to it. I thought they were plenty grown up with Home, which was one of the best and most creative mainstream country CDs in decades. Hopefully, this single isn't indicative of the rest of the album.

Turd Ferguson

It's one thing to stand up for your right to speak your mind, but Maines really made me roll my eyes when she couldn't get it through her chubby little head that freedom of speech does not equal freedom from the consequences of a free market.

Big Boy Laroux

geez! is it the Dixie Raccoons now?

certainly not a bad song... And i have always liked maines' voice.

dolphinboy

Like death threats?

Good to see your comment about the song.

Turd Ferguson

No one is defending the rights of a handful of nutjobs to threaten them.

It's a decent song but far from their best.

dolphinboy

Those lyrics are straight from the song, so it seems like the Chicks are quite aware that there are consequences "in a free market" (whether they're proportionate is another subject) for what they've said.

I'm sure the price they've paid is one that is both economical (this album will still sell millions of copies and their tours will continue to sell out) and emotional, which is also clear from the lyrics.

Using an attack on Natalie's weight to make a statement that isn't even true and is addressed in the song is just wrong.

That kind of talk is probably why they aren't ready to make nice.

How would you know if there was only a handful of threats? I would guess there were a lot more, unless we're talking about King Kong's hands.

Turd Ferguson

I would venture to say that the majority of their album sales are behind them. That's not to say that they won't put out good material in the future. I just doubt that the mainstream country audience they lost will ever be fully replaced by those who admire them more for their supposed free-speech stand than their music. I bought "Home" and paid $80 a ticket to see them when they came to Memphis. Forgive me if I, and other former fans, would rather be entertained than pay for the privilege of being preached to from an artist's soapbox.

As for my jab at Maines weight, when you are a public figure and you voluntarily do things like pose nude on the cover of Rolling Stone, you are open to public criticism. I seriously doubt she is crying into her Gucci sheets over some snarky comment on an internet message board.

Personally, I could care less if they are ever ready to "make nice." As for the death threats, you can't give any numbers to back up the claims that they would fill King Kong's hand.

dolphinboy

Wow, you must have been skipping work or school to burn cds with the other fine Americans.

Listen, you make fine points for someone more interested in the politics of music than music, itself.

Neil Young, Bruce, and too many other artists to name have always mixed politics of some kind with their music. It hasn't hurt their careers and I don't think singing about something your passionate about, even political, is akin to standing on stage and lecturing your audience like you seem to suggest.

I've seen the Chicks 3 times and they've never come across preachy, although if they were preaching about Jesus, those same open-minded country fans who sent death threats and burned cds would all be lining up to support the Chicks again.

You can go on forever about all these things being part of the business, but it doesn't make it right and saying this is just part of the consequences of the marketplace is naive.

The uproar about the Chicks' comments and the resulting insanity was far less individual people deciding to not support the band and much more about a concerted effort by certain people to punish them for criticizing the President (which is patriotic no matter who is in office) and trying to put the fear of God into others who might consider doing the same (not very patriotic).

By the way, I think it's fine that you feel you need help in making your point by insulting Natalie with a remark about her weight but, in my humble opinion, in a thread that is about her new song, clearly started by a fan, nothing but a thread crap. Additionally, your OP made no mention of the song at all.

I realize it's "sort of" a political song, so that kind of discussion probably has some place here, but your post was factually incorrect as well in claiming that Natalie or anyone else in the band aren't aware of the fact that there are consequences for saying things that some people might be offended by. Not only do they know that, although the reaction is and was completely out of proportion to what was actually said, the lyrics of the song state that there is a price paid for speaking out (sadly).

It says more about the so-called country fans you speak of that they will choose to not come back simply because a band dared critcize the President and, without question, with the war going badly now and Bush's poll numbers so low, if those comments had been made last week, the same people who wanted to lynch the Chicks (and probably have family with experience in lynching) would have a tough time getting a few hundred people to come out to their bonfires. Those kind of fans are probably better just buying their Toby Keith cds and listening to Rush for their news anyway.

Dig up this thread when their cd goes past the 5 million mark in sales and their summer tour is selling out every night and tell me that they've really lost anything, other than possibly any future invites to the CMA's.

Turd Ferguson

For what it's worth, I've gotten of Toby Keith's hyperpatriotic act as well. I'm pretty sure music fans of all political opnions get tried of preachy artists. I remember going to a Jackson Browne show in the late 80's where, after a prolonged Greenpeace lecture by Browne, the crowd started chanting "Shut up and sing!" This was definitely NOT a crowd of Dittoheads.

This CD will not go past 5 million mark. Bet on it.

LurkerDan

I'm sure they'll survive if it sells 4.5 million.

One interesting thing about this song, from the politics angle, is that it is a very different political climate now. People in general are not nearly as supportive of the war, and therefore might be more receptive to them and their message now, as opposed to 3 years ago.

covenant

Looks like opinion hasn't changed much since 2003.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/...dixiechicks.ap

That last quote I bolded echos my thoughts as well....why did they go down that road again? Why pick the scab?

FrozenMetalHead

My guess is that they're really hoping to reach outside the traditional country market with this (not that they won't try to get played on country radio by any means). I think they're hoping to appeal to a broader audience, more to the VH-1 crowd than they have before. Controversy definitely gets their name back out there. Also, by having Rick Rubin produce, they're likely gaining some cred / respect from a different audience. Every review out there is going to mention that it was "produced by Rick Rubin - who also has produced hit albums by Red Hot Chili Peppers and helped with Johnny Cash's comeback..." Anyways - just some thoughts.

Now - the thing I like about this song, is that it could also be taken as a "breakup" song. Granted there are a few lyrics that are explicit about the whole 2003 ordeal that really can't be spun any other way, but for the most part, she could be speaking to an ex - which personally makes it a much more interesting song to me.

dolphinboy

I'm just gonna have to cross off St. Louis from the top of my dream vacations list.

Wow, comments like in-your-face lyrics and backwards thinking. Now, we have people waiting for cds to come out to select specific songs we should listen to based on whether the song can be embraced or not. It has to be warm and fuzzy and filled with positives to get played on country radio. This is so very sad.

Do they mean backwards thinking as in, it's a song about something that happened in the past or that the song, itself, is considered "backwards?"

When someone writes and records an album, don't they generally write from things that have happened to them in the past? Was she supposed to write a song with future thinking?

I, honestly, don't mind that there are people who don't like them for what they have said, but the reasons put forth are just obscenely absurd and, in my opinion, keeps a lot of country music artists from being seen as anything other than flag-waving hicks who sleep with their cousins, drink heavily, and crash their cars into trees for fun.

In fact, there are a lot of country songs based on just that premise. Are they not in your face?