You don’t get much more Dixie than these Chicks

First off, who said the Dixie Chicks had created a genre-challenging album that made them the cross-over stars of 2006?  For these people I have but one question, Huh?!?!?!  I am by no means a country music expert, nor generally a fan.  But even I can spot tell-tale signs of country music and call them how I see them.  The recent Grammy-winning, album of the year “Taking the Long Way” sure sounds like country to me.  This said, the album wasn’t bad.  On the contrary, it played fluidly and with a catchy pop-like quality that could only have been produced by the likes of master audiophile Rick Rubin.  A few of the tunes are definitely destined to be radio worthy, video fodder of the future.  The thing is, every song has either steel guitar or a fiddle playing in the background.  Not bad in itself, as long as we call it like it is.  This is a pure pop country album if I have ever listened to one.  Add in lead singer Natlie Maines definitely dixie accent and you have a country album, with little room for any crossing over.  As a complete work, the album is very polished and flows well, though it seems to me to have been a mostly narcisitic exploration of the country trio’s rude awakening to a world that may not be as shallow as these three appear.  Whether or not it was better than Mary J Blige’s “Be Without You” would be a tough argument to win against me. I think people confused the current political debate and the vote for this year’s Grammys, which wouldn’t even have upset me as much were it not for the fact these Chicks don’t have much of anything to say that is worthy of being voted for in such a way.  (Did you see their acceptance speach?)  It seems to me there were more political albums to vote for, even John Mayer had a more direct address of the Iraq situatuation and the good Lord knows Neil Young is as political as they come.  In the end, I know there were more worthy albums to have picked from, I’ve listened to a few.  Its too bad Hollywood has decided to use their awards shows as a money-making lobbyist front.