HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME THIS RECORD WAS THIS GOOD?!

Seriously. I love this record.

I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass.

I like some of it quite a lot, but all together is far too much. Do you not think it's too long by about 20 mins..?

I think the last three or four tracks are a bit of a dip, but they're good in their own differing ways. I honestly believe that EVERYTHING Rick Rubin, who produced this record if you can believe that, does is gold. I really do. I will worship that man until the day I die.

JEW POWER!

Okay, I'll bite. Is it really worth picking up, or are you just yankin' my crank? I love me some good, twangy, less-than-polished country (Nashville ain't cuttin' it for me)...dare I?

Take the chance. Yes, its polished pop country (it sounds more bluegrass or folk to me, though). Besides, its Rick Rubin polish. How can you go wrong with golden, Midas-like Jew polish?

Honestly, I'm a sucker for assertive, even strong female artists, and adding Southern to that mix really makes all the better for my taste.

Of course, the record's allure for me is more about context and subtext than actual content (the music itself is definitely above-average pop-country and worth a listen, by the way).

Natalie Maines' Bush comment and the fallout from the country industry/psycho-conservative red state cabal and everything... all that goes into her lyrics.

D/L the lead single "Not Ready to Make Nice" (gorgeous string parts with vicious lyrics) and "Lubbock or Leave It" (an anthem for Southern liberals, like me, everywhere).

If you don't dig on those, then you probably won't dig on the rest of the record.

I still say it's a bit polished for my tastes. I would've liked to see Rubin give them a bit more stripped down production, like he did on the Johnny Cash albums. And maybe he could've had them record some Nine Inch Nails and Danzig tunes. Kidding. Or would a Dixie Chicks cover of "March of the Pigs" be awesome? No, I'm still kidding. But seriously... they obviously have some chops, but I think they try to cater to the mainstream country crowd too much. More Gillian Welsh and less Faith Hill.

Actually, what's great about the Chicks is that they're the best balance between Gillian Welch roots country and Faith Hill glossy country in the industry today.

It's part of their appeal for me and, I would imagine, most of their fans. Who, let's not kid ourselves, are mostly teenage girls whose parents grew up on the country they were probably prone to listen to when these girls were, you know, six.

I wouldn't find it shocking if many of their die-hard country fans think of the Chicks as a halfway house between where they started listening to their daddy's country and the glamourous world of Nashville pop country today.

After all, I certainly have more faith in the good sense of a typical country audience than Kellie Pickler or her handlers do.

Just found out one of the tunes on this album, "Silent House," was co-written with Neil Finn. Any comments on that song? Wondering if it's worth re-registering with iTunes and spending a buck.

I don't really remember it, so its probably not worth d/ling.

Read the lyrics online.