Wide Open Spaces

1	I Can Love You Better 3:53
2	Wide Open Spaces 3:43
3	Loving Arms 3:37
4	There's Your Trouble 3:12
5	You Were Mine 3:37
6	Never Say Die 3:56
7	Tonight the Heartache's on Me 3:26
8	Let 'er Rip 2:50
9	Once You've Loved Somebody 3:28
10	I'll Take Care of You 3:40
11	Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way) 3:25
12	Give It up or Let Me Go 4:56

Barnes & Noble

Rarely has an image makeover been so thorough or worked so completely as the transformation of the Dixie Chicks. Orginally a quartet of demurely dressed female singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalists who played quaint country classics and bluegrass covers, they morphed (and peroxided) into a powerhouse trio of sexy blondes who sing contemporary country songs with a '90s outlook and flawless harmonies. WIDE OPEN SPACES was one of the breakout hits of 1998, and it is every bit as satisfying as it was unexpected. The Chicks blaze through songs like the energetic opener, "I Can Love You Better," the gorgeous, sweeping title track, and a rocking, bluesy take on Bonnie Raitt's "Give It Up or Let It Go." The Dixie Chicks emphasize traditional instrumentation such as Dobro, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin, which band members Emily Erwin and Martie Seidel play themselves, and the sassy, charismatic vocals of Natalie Maines. Never mind the Spice Girls -- thanks to WIDE OPEN SPACES, fans of Dixie Chicks know real girl power when they hear it. Daniel Durchholz

All Music Guide

The Dixie Chicks spent the first half of the '90s toiling away on the independent bluegrass circuit, releasing three albums on small labels, before sisters Martie Seidel and Emily Robison decided to revamp their sound in 1995, adding Natalie Maines as their lead singer and, in the process, moving the group away from bluegrass and toward a major label with Sony/Columbia's revived Monument Records imprint. All of this seems like the blueprint for a big pop crossover move and, to be sure, their 1998 major-label debut Wide Open Spaces was a monumental success, selling over ten million copies and turning the group into superstars, but the remarkable thing about the album is that it's most decidedly not a sell-out, or even a consciously country-pop record. To be sure, there are pop melodies here, but this isn't a country-pop album in the vein of Shania Twain, a record that's big on style and glitz, designed for a mass audience. Instead, Wide Open Spaces pulls from several different sources -- the Chicks' Americana roots, to be sure, but also bits of the alt country from kd lang and Lyle Lovett, '70s soft rock (any album that features versions of songs by J.D. Souther and Bonnie Raitt surely fits this bill), even the female neo-folkies emerging on the adult alternative rock stations at the end of the decade. In other words, it hit a sweet spot, appealing to many different audiences because it was eclectic without being elitist but they also had a true star in Natalie Maines, whose powerful, bluesy voice gave these songs a compelling center. Maines was versatile, too, negotiating the twists and turns of these songs without a hitch, easily moving from the vulnerability of "You Were Mine" to the snarl of "Give It Up or Let Me Go." The same goes for the Dixie Chicks and Wide Open Spaces as a whole: they are as convincing on the sprightly opener "I Can Love You Better" or the bright, optimistic title song as they are on the breezy "There's Your Trouble" as they are on the honky tonk shuffle of "Tonight the Heartache's on Me" and the rocking swagger of "Let 'Er Rip." It's a remarkably wide range and it's effortlessly eclectic, with the Dixie Chicks bringing it all together with their attitude and understated musicality -- as debuts go (and this does count as a debut), they rarely get better than this. Stephen Thomas Erlewine