Wide Open Spaces

iTunes Review

Released in 1998, Wide Open Spaces contains three Top Ten hits and by 2006 had become the best-selling group album in country music history. It was the Dixie Chicks’ major-label debut (and fourth album overall) and it turned the trio into country superstars. Their flawless harmonies and gorgeous individual voices, especially including spunky lead singer Natalie Maines, have equal measures of power, tenderness, and attitude. They're rock-solid instrumentalists — blending banjo, fiddle, and pedal steel with a driving, rock-influenced rhythm section — and strong songwriters capable of catchy hooks and lyrics that swing from heartrending to hilarious. Wide Open Spaces contains knockout honky-tonk tunes such as “Tonight the Heartache’s on Me,” sweet ballads like “Loving Arms,” and some choice covers, including a sizzling take on Bonnie Raitt’s “Give It Up or Let Me Go,” complete with stellar slide guitar licks. There’s not a drop of filler on this classic contemporary country album and the crack band backing up the trio tears it up from start to finish. Irresistible to straight country and pop audiences alike.