Title: Wide Open Spaces Artist: Dixie Chicks Release Date: 1/27/1998 Label: Monument, Sony Mid-Price Duration: 43:39 Album Type(s): lyrics/libretto UPCs: 074646819524, 5099748984227, 074646819586 Genre: Country Styles: Progressive Bluegrass, Country-Pop, Contemporary Country, Contemporary Folk, Neo-Traditionalist Country Moods: Amiable/Good-Natured, Confident, Energetic, Fun, Stylish, Bittersweet, Effervescent, Organic, Playful, Rollicking, Wistful, Cheerful, Earnest, Intimate, Lush, Melancholy, Reflective, Sophisticated, Gentle, Laid-Back/Mellow, Precious Total Copies: 154 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

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

Year Type Label Catalog # 1999 CD Monument 68195 1998 CD Monument 489842 1998 CD Monument 68195 1998 CD Sony Mid-Price 4898422

No other editions were found for this album.

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, All Music Guide

Name Credits Bill Johnson Art Direction, Art Direction Billy Crain Guitar (Acoustic) Billy Joe Walker, Jr. Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) Billy Sherrill Engineer Blake Chancey Producer Bobby Charles, Jr. Bass Bruce Alan Hair Stylist Carlos Grier Digital Editing Chip Mattews Assistant Engineer Chip Matthews Assistant Chris Rowe Assistant, Mixing Assistant Chuck Ainlay Mixing Clarke Schleicher Producer Cliff Audretch A&R Deb Boyle Production Coordination Denny Purcell Mastering Dixie Chicks Main Performer Don Cobb Digital Editing Ed Simonton Producer Emily Erwin Banjo, Vocals, Guitar (Acoustic), Dobro, Group Member Emily Robison Banjo, Vocals, Guitar (Acoustic), Dobro Eric Legg Engineer Erik Hellerman Producer George Marinelli Guitar (Electric) Greg Morrow Drums Janice Soled Production Coordination Jim Burnett Producer, Editing, Digital Editing Joe Chemay Bass John Guess Mixing Jonathan Russell Assistant, Mastering Assistant Lloyd Maines Guitar (Steel) Mark Capps Producer Mark Casstevens Guitar (Acoustic) Mark Ralston Assistant, Mixing Assistant Martie Seidel Fiddle, Vocals, Mandolin, Group Member Matt Rollings Piano, Organ (Hammond) Matthew Barnes Photography Michael Rhodes Bass Mike Wrucke Assistant, Assistant Engineer Natalie Maines Vocals, Group Member Paul Worley Guitar (Acoustic), Producer, Guitar (Electric) Renee Fowler Stylist Shawn Simpson Assistant, Mixing Assistant Stacy Kelly Make-Up Tom Roady Conga, Shaker, Shakuhachi, Tambourine Tommy Nash Guitar (Electric) Tony Castle Assistant Engineer, Producer, Assistant Tony Paoletta Guitar (Steel) Tracy Baskette-Fleaner Art Direction