Buried in the press releases and media coverage about the latest album from The Dixie Chicks is the inconvenient fact that, in terms of first week sales compared to their last album (2002’s Home), according to Billboard sales have plummeted 33%.
The drop in sales, while hardly surprising, has to be a disappointment considering the fawning wall-to-wall coverage the band has received in support of the release. Here’s how their record company describes the press love they’ve received:
- Taking The Long Way arrives in the midst of an incredible media blitz surrounding the Dixie Chicks, who were honored with a profile on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and appeared on the cover of Time magazine an unprecedented two times in May. The group was featured in a five-part series of interviews, culminating with an SRO live concert at New York’s Bryant Park on Friday, May 26, on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The Dixie Chicks will sit down for an in-depth interview on “Larry King Live” tonight, Wednesday, May 31.
The popular success of Taking The Long Way is echoed in the praise the album is receiving from the press, which has been heralding the record in a flurry of four-star reviews. “Taking The Long Way embraces the depth and fury of classic rock while remaining true to the trio’s Texas roots,” raved Rolling Stone while USA Today called the album “Incredibly impressive.”
Entertainment Weekly gave the new Dixie Chicks album an “A” grade saying, “Fightin’ words and the music doesn’t back down either, on an album that finds the Dixie Chicks bolder than ever. With (Natalie) Maines projecting more passionately than ever, Taking The Long Way remains intimate and personal.”
“This is an album that has something for everyone,” said The New York Times, “old fans who thought the Dixie Chicks were at their finest in their fancy-free early days as well as recent admirers who are eager to see the band push beyond the confines of country.”
Rolling Stone closed its review of the album with a nod to the new Dixie Chicks single, “If you’ve dismissed the Chicks or need a new reason to love them, the epic, howling longing of ‘Voice Inside My Head’ will blow away your expectations.”
An yet, despite glowing reviews and endless media coverage, sales are down. While the AP report linked below notes a “cool reception” from country radio and fans, it fails to note that the Chicks seem intent on martyring themselves in that regard by continually demeaning the country audience.
Dixie Chicks Return to No. 1 on Charts – [AP]
Just remember what is important here. Continue the boycott. A firm boycott will send a clear message to the DC that their naive statements against the war on terrorism will cost them loss sells. Yes, the war in Iraq is a war on terrorism.
You sad fools who want to bash 3 women who have the balls to call Crawford’s villiage idiot an Idiot. Natalie ought to recieve a medal of honor for catching on sooner than most Texans. They were country music’s last hope at keeping one foot grounded in the true country tradition. All you Johnny come lately’s talking about Grethcin … and Keith… and Toby… country my ass. Get a clue or can you buy those in FOX news land aka -red states. To the girl whose father is in Iraq -you should thank someone who wants him to come home alive now not 5 years from now in a bag. Open your eyes.
Dizty chicks get press because Bush haters make sure they do, that’s the only reason they get press these days. They go on Liar King’s softball show and he lets them drone blah blah blah. Look…I could care less about these ditzy chicks. It’s their politics that suck. They suck. You who like them suck even more. They suffer for their aimless rhetoric blathering and rightfully so. Yeah..they have the right…we have the right to bash them as much as we like…and I like to. Ditzy fans deserve Dizty chicks.
The Dixie Chicks have done more to spread Country Music to persons who objected to same for political reasons and have therefore increased the peace and communications more than the “Decider” has done to unite the country where it is his responsibility to do so. They should get a PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, say, about 2009!
Heh! I met the guy who did this film:
http://www.protestingthedixiechicks.com
Where Did This Go Number One At? I Live In Florida And I Listen To Almost All The Radio Stations Here And I Might Have Heard Their Music Once Or Twice All Year! Now People Like Beyonce And Timberlake, Lil John And A Long Long List Of Others Play Constanly 20 Times A Day. This Is One Of The Biggest Lumps Of Bullshit That The Americans Have Been Fed In A Long Time. Show Me Where The Number 1 Record Happened At And How Long Did It Stay At Number One.
What you don’t “get” Mark is that the Dixie Chicks got their number 1 WITHOUT any radio play.
And then there was the Grammys. Five. And more record sales to a new audience that might have never considered them before. Country music turned their backs to the Dixie Chicks and then got mad when the Chicks didn’t try to crawl back into their good graces.
I was alway a fan in a state were there are few country stations. With “Taking the long way,” the Dixie Chicks have not only proved their musical chops, they’ve proved themselves as artists, women, and as patriotic Americans. After we didn’t find any WMDs in Iraq, it was all about spreading our “freedom.” That includes freedom of speech.
first of all i think the dixie chicks suck!!
and Reba Mcentire is wayy better than they will EVER be…thats why they called her a bitch and dont like her.
and ANYONE who agree’s with them dissing her can go die and burn in hell!!!
kthnks.