Home is the sixth studio album by American country music band Dixie Chicks, released on August 27, 2002, through Monument and Columbia Records. It is notable for its acoustic bluegrass sound, which stands in contrast with their previous two country pop albums.
The group was promoting the album when lead singer Natalie Maines made controversial comments about U.S. President George W. Bush criticizing his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The album's third single, "Travelin' Soldier", was #1 on the Billboard Country Chart the week that Maines' comments hit the press.[1] The following week, as many stations started a still-standing boycott of the Chicks' music, the song collapsed. None of their following singles gained traction with country radio. Despite these events, the album was certified 6× Multi-platinum status by the RIAA and has sold 5,979,000 copies in the United States up to November 2008.[2] The album also featured a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide", which was their biggest pop crossover hit until 2007, when "Not Ready to Make Nice" peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was also successful in Australia, in its 175th week in the country charts it was certified Triple Platinum for shipments of 210,000 copies.[3]
"Landslide" was originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1975. "Travelin' Soldier" was originally recorded by its writer, Bruce Robison, in 1996, and then in rewritten form, in 1999; Ty England also recorded the song in 1999. "Godspeed" was originally recorded by Radney Foster in 1999; his wife suggested sending it to the Dixie Chicks because Natalie Maines had just had a baby. "Long Time Gone" and "More Love" were originally recorded by Darrell Scott in 2000. "Truth No. 2" and "Top of the World" were originally recorded by Patty Griffin for a 2000 album that went unreleased. "I Believe in Love" made its debut on the 2001 telethon America: A Tribute to Heroes.
The album received positive reviews. Metacritic gave the album an aggregated score of 75 (green label), indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]
Rhapsody ranked the album #1 on its list of "Country's Best Albums of the Decade".[15] Another music blog, Country Universe, named it as the album of the decade.[16]CMT's Craig Shelburne included it on his "A Dozen Favorite Country Albums of the Decade" list.[17] Engine 145 country music blog lists it No. 4 on the "Top Country Albums of the Decade" list.[18]Entertainment Weekly put the album on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying: "Even George W. Bush fans have to respect the Chicks' authentic bluegrass sound on 'Long Time Gone' and 'Landslide'. Okay, maybe they don't. But they should."[19]Allmusic said "They've delivered not just their best album, but what's arguably the best country album yet released in the 2000s. Needless to say, an instant classic."[20]
Accolades
Rhapsody – #1 on its "Country's Best Albums of the Decade" list[15]
Country Universe – #1 Country Album of the Decade[16]
Country Universe - #2 on its "100 Greatest Contemporary Country Albums" List [21]
CMT – "A Dozen Favorite Country Albums of the Decade" list[17]
Engine 145 – #4 on its "Top Country Albums of the Decade" list[18]
