MULTIMEDIA

"Goodbye Earl" [225k MPEG-3] or [310k WAV] "Ready to Run" [180k MPEG-3] or [250k WAV] "Sin Wagon" [205k MPEG-3] or [280k WAV] (Courtey Sony Music Nashville)

August 31, 1999
Web posted at: 1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 GMT)

By Mary Jo DiLonardo
Special to CNN Interactive

Dixie Chicks
"Fly"
Sony/Monument
Release date: August 31

(CNN) -- After making a huge splash with their multi-million selling debut album, the Dixie Chicks could've gone one of two usual ways with their second release. They might have been content to sit on their bleached-blonde laurels, dishing up another CD of the same stuff they put on the first. Or they may have veered dramatically from what brought them fame, making a record different from the 1998 "Wide Open Spaces."

The Chicks chose to do neither. They found a pretty cool medium in which they offer plenty of the funky bluegrass-meets-pop equation that earned them awards, ink and pin-up popularity -- while still presenting a some unique, impossible-to-categorize selections. All is delivered with an in-your-face, feisty attitude and presented with furious fiddling and angelic harmonies.

It's what fans of the Texas-based trio -- Natalie Maines, Martie Seidel and Emily Erwin -- know to expect: the unexpected.

The first single, "Ready to Run," kicks off with an Irish jig. Right away, you know this isn't going to be any old record. Heard in the Julia Roberts-Richard Gere film "Runaway Bride," the song is rescued from that bland-soundtrack feel by its clever lyrics, well-made harmonies and a Celtic flavor.

"Ready to Run" is just the gateway into a roller-coaster ride of musical twists and turns. There are breathless, raucous stompers, mournful ballads about dead-end romance and sprightly love songs.

As pretty as the ballads may be and as much as the wild ones make you want to dance, the song that will surely make headlines is the innocently named "Goodbye Earl." It tells a "Thelma and Louise"-type story in which two women decide to off an abusive husband.

The unusual twist here is that the song has kind of a punk-rock quality with "na-na" refrains and lots of black humor. "Ain't it dark … wrapped up in that tarp, Earl."

No doubt this toe-tapper will raise a few eyebrows. And somehow, it's doubtful the Chicks will worry. One defining characteristic of the album's songs is the attitude they convey. Like the Dixie Chicks themselves -- known to sport feather boas and chicken-feet tattoos -- there's definitely an if-you-don't-like-it-why-are-you-still-here mentality.

The songs all celebrate strong women and strong, if not always smart, choices. That attitude comes through in the lyrics and the way lead singer Maines delivers each number. In "Sin Wagon," she mentions "mattress dancing," then follows up with a gleeful, "That's right. I said mattress dancing!"

The same goes for a Buddy Miller-Jim Lauderdale creation in which Maines growls, "Hole in my head. Hole in my head. I need a boy like you like a hole in my head."

There isn't a weak song in the lot. The women have tried their hands at songwriting with some fairly impressive results. They've joined the likes of Marcus Hummond and Matraca Berg, who also contributed music.

The artists say they named the album "Fly" because they're each earning wings, musically and personally. In addition to a soaring career, the Dixie Chicks continue to fly in the face of convention.

And that's a really good thing.