Dixie Chicks - Top of the World Tour
List Price:
Our Price: $4.86
You Save: $3.13 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.98 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Dixie ChicksEdition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 2003-11-21
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Goodbye Earl
- Some Days You Gotta Dance
- There's Your Trouble
- Long Time Gone
- Tortured, Tangled Hearts
- Travelin' Soldier
- Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way)
- Hello Mr. Heartache
- Cold Day in July
- White Trash Wedding
- Lil' Jack Slade
- A Home
- Truth No. 2
- If I Fall You're Going Down With Me
- Mississippi
- Cowboy Take Me Away
- Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)
- Landslide
- Ready To Run
- Wide Open Spaces
- Top Of The World
- Sin Wagon
Music reviews of Top of the World Tour
Music Review: New Listener to Dixie Chicks
Rating: 2 Stars
I purchased this album, because I wanted to hear a compilation of their work, and have always thought that a "live" album gives you the best idea what a band really sounds like. I am not a country fan, but I do like bluegrass and western music, and figured I could enjoy most of this.
Sadly, I was disappointed. The lyrics were sometimes sharp and sassy, but all too often drifted into the trite, cliched rhyming that has almost killed country.
Truth #2 was especially disappointing, since this was supposed to be a strong stand, but the lyrics immediately backed down and got wishy-washy, "You say that I lack the proof, well baby that might be so". If the singer is telling the truth, why does she not have facts to back her up? Why does she back down so easily? Later, she sings, "Tell me what's wrong with having a little faith in what you're feeling in your heart." Truth is all about what you feel!? The man Natalie Maines opposes, President Bush, feels strongly in his heart that invading Iraq was the right thing to do. So who is really telling the truth? Feelings don't help resolve this issue at all.
The musicianship was another letdown. All three of the women are competent with their voices and instruments, but they never approached brilliant. One song that caught my attention, "Ready to Run", started in a style reminiscent of Battlefield Band or Rare Air, but Martie Maguire was obviously not up to the challenge of playing more than a few simple phrases on her fiddle, even in front of a live audience, where that kind of extra effort is essential, especially when your popularity is shaky at the time.
The banjo solos by Emily Robison were adequate, but did not display any extraordinary talent with that instrument. Admittedly, she prefers frailling, so it is not completely her fault that she is so-so at picking, but Earl Scruggs' replacement, she ain't. Maines' vocals varied from spot-on to screeching, which might have been due to her voice being somewhat strained at times. The harmonies the three women did were acceptable but again uninspired.
Learning from other reviews that the Dixie Chicks stuck to almost exact duplicates of the recorded versions of the songs, showed me that they are maybe a bit too complacent about their abilities, or that they do not have enough confidence to improvise.
My final take on the band is colored by the knowledge I now have that they did not write any of their own songs. This definitely lowers my opinion of them, because musicians who write their own music and lyrics tend to invest more love and care into them, and that always shows in performances, especially live ones.
The three women and their backup band sounded tight and professional, but again never really achieved anything exceptional during this collection.
If this is the best they did during the tour, only their most ardent fans could still stick with them after this. Whether due to the Dixie Chicks' politics or unexceptional musicianship or whatever, other listeners will decide this band is not worth further expense and find others groups to listen to. That is definitely what I plan to do.
Description of Top of the World Tour
Two CD set in a slimline double jewel box. Light scuff on Disc One will not affect play. LANDSLIDE.Recorded during their controversial 2003 tour, these two discs romp through an ample sampling of hits ("Wide Open Spaces," "There's Your Trouble," "Goodbye Earl," "Travelin' Soldier") as well as beloved album cuts ("Hello Mr. Heartache," "Some Days You Gotta Dance"). Twangy and cheeky all the way, the group rides an energy wave that continues through the stunning two-song encore of "Top of the World" and "Sin Wagon." Yet as powerful as the full-band performances are, the trio's true essence emerges during the acoustic moments--"White Trash Wedding," "Ready to Run," and "Lil' Jack Slade" among them--as well as the Texas shuffler "Hello Mr. Heartache." Some acts might have tried to gloss over a flap like the one Natalie Maines's anti-Bush administration remarks caused. Not here. Patty Griffin's "Truth No. 2" (from the Chicks' Home album) faces that issue head-on. But beyond the political tempests--and Music Row's still-bruised feelings over their contractual firefights with their label--this collection affirms one truth: the Chicks remain the best hope of bringing country into the 21st century with postmodern vitality and its traditions intact. --Rich Kienzle
Country CDs
Music Genres
Similar CDs
Vh1 Storytellers: Dixie ChicksRelease date: 2011-11-29; DVD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops:
An Evening with the Dixie ChicksSony; Release date: 2003-02-11; DVD
Best price: $7.46
Price in other shops:
Court Yard Hounds - Court Yard HoundsBaker & Taylor; Release date: 2010-05-04; Music CD
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing (Full Screen Edition)WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2007-02-20; DVD
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks - Playlist: The Very Best of Dixie ChicksRelease date: 2010-06-01; Music CD
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks - The EssentialRelease date: 2010-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.41
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks - FlyDixie; Release date: 1999-08-31; Music CD
Best price: $4.60
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long WayColumbia; Release date: 2006-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks - Wide Open SpacesDixie; Release date: 1998-01-27; Music CD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Dixie Chicks - HomeRelease date: 2002-08-27; Music CD
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops: