For now Home is a thing of the past. It was closed around Easter 2001 by the Westminster council for insufficient control of the drug trade (the police found only six people selling pills on a Friday night). Their license was later reinstated but the parent company, Big Beat, suffered cash flow problems and declared bankruptcy. In 2001-August Mean Fiddler acquired Home's clubs in Sydney and London and is expected to make reopening Home in Leicester Square a priority.
Home is also responsible for the 35,000 person summer Homelands festival outside London.
The extent to which one can consider a club a home is probably more of a reflection of their lifestyle than anything else. Junior Vasquez's (also closed) den notwithstanding...
I lived in small village far from everything -- and it was even far from Everything at those days of 80's (which we all should forget, at least the music) -- and we the hay-hats had definitely our own slang.
Home-home refers to home where my parents live/lived. Nowadays I make a separation between my current, hmm, home -- I don't really have one because I'm on the move all the time -- and the home where I grew up. So, home-home should be defined as a place where you spent most of your childhood and your parents still live there. The latter is not necessary option..
Album Title: Home Artist: Dixie Chicks Release Date: August 27, 2002 Record Label: Open Wide / Monument / Columbia / Sony Peak Chart Position: Pop: #1, Country: #1, Bluegrass: #1
Track Listing Long Time Gone (4.10) Landslide (3.50) Travelin' Soldier (5.44) Truth No. 2 (4.29) White Trash Wedding (2.21) A Home (4.57) More Love (5.07) I Believe In Love (4.14) Tortured, Tangled Hearts (3.40) Lil' Jack Slade (2.24) Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) (4.43) Top of the World (6.01)
Singles Long Time Gone Released in the US in September 2002, peaking at #22 (pop) and #1 (country) Landslide Released in the US in November 2002, peaking at #14 (pop) and #1 (country)
Making of Home As soon as you open up the cover, you see the words, from a grainy photograph of a small-town shop window, WE ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS. It is as appropriate and clear of a statement as the beetles having sex on the inside of his 1971 album Ram.
After the wonderful mix of styles of their major label debut Wide Open Spaces, the Chicks followed with their very pop-heavy Fly in 1999. The so-called "Nashville sound" of Fly simultaneously won over some people, but other fans were turned off by a perceived selling out to all things Brookian.
The group's roots were in bluegrass, folk, and traditional country, as evidenced by their independent albums, Thank Heavens For Dale Evans, Little Ol' Cowgirl, and Shouldn't A Told You That. So, now that their first two major label albums had sold more than ten million copies each, they had the artistic freedom to do things in their own way, and that they did.
Returning to their Texas roots and holing up in a studio with Lloyd Maines (father of Natalie Maines, one of the Chicks), the Chicks essentially recorded what could best be described as a modern bluegrass album.
To add an even more interesting touch to all of this, while recording the album, the Chicks were in the midst of a lawsuit with Sony where they were trying to escape the shackles of a less-than-fair recording contract.
One can only wonder about Sony's reaction to this album, delivered on their doorstep only days after reaching an agreement with the group. Rather than the countrypop that had served the Chicks so well for their first two albums, this album was heavy in the bluegrass genre. Nevertheless, it was released and immediately shot to the top of both the Billboard country and overall charts, as well as spawning a pair of number one country (and top forty pop) singles.
The Album Cover Turning away from the immediate "pop" feel of Fly, the cover of Home features the Chicks in an old-fashioned photograph, standing along an abandoned highway in Texas. This "home"-style feel permeates the entire album, done in various shades of light tan, black, and white. This shies far away from the look of their previous album, Fly, which was full of glaringly bright pictures, or even the less colorful Wide Open Spaces, which was bright in its own right compared to this album.
Track Details
Long Time Gone (4.10) Written by Darrell Scott This song opens with an upbeat banjo and fiddle. Read that again; there is no electric guitar, no pedal steel guitar, no pseudo-electronica; this is not your redneck cousin's Toby Keith album. This song is a strong upbeat bluegrass number to open the album, and quite appropriate in lyrical content in that it's a song about coming home again and remembering the past. The only problem is that in the middle of the song, Natalie almost over-strains her voice and it sounds frightful, right on the verge of cracking on a note right on the very edge of her range. Landslide (3.50) Written by Stevie Nicks This is a cover of the well-known Fleetwood Mac number, and the Chicks infuse it here with some bluegrass feel to it. If that sounds appealing to you, you'll like this song; if not, then you probably won't. I, for one, thought it was an interesting take on the track and well-executed. Travelin' Soldier (5.44) Written by Bruce Robison This is the home run of the disc and ought to be considered as a single. It's a very mellow number that complements Natalie's vocal strengths nicely and lyrically is perhaps the best song the group has ever done. It's simply impressive in every way and worth the price of admission to the album alone. Truth No. 2 (4.29) Written by Patty Griffin This is another good midtempo number, but it kind of gets lost in the shuffle since it is surrounded by two of the most memorable numbers on the album. This song almost comes off as a fiddle-based jam session of sorts, which is a good thing. White Trash Wedding (2.21) Written by The Dixie Chicks This song is written for humor and, along with the opening track, is one of the few uptempo tracks on the album. It's thankfully short (it would be excruciating after another minute), but it is saved by its brevity and becomes a nice change of pace novelty piece. A Home (4.57) Written by Maia Sharp and Randy Sharp To my ears, this is the second best song on the album. It is very downtempo and mellow, but it is carried by a fantastic chorus that again shows off Natalie's voice, sticking in the range that she delivers gorgeously. More Love (5.07) Written by Tim O'Brien and Gary Anderson This song is perhaps the least memorable on the album. It just sort of fills up five minutes and could easily have been excised without much real loss. I Believe In Love (4.14) Written by The Dixie Chicks and Marty Stuart Improving greatly on the previous track is this one, with a chorus that somehow seems very familiar. There was some unusual instrumentation in parts, and I later discovered that this may be the best use of a papoose in a recorded song ever. Tortured, Tangled Hearts (3.40) Written by The Dixie Chicks and Marty Stuart Another collaboration with the country songster produces this overly upbeat number, which borrows heavily from the modern country sound; it's actually reminiscent of much of their album Fly. As before, if this is appealing to you, then you will like it; as for me, I'd throw away everything but the chorus. Lil' Jack Slade (2.24) Written by The Dixie Chicks, Lloyd Maines, and Terri Hendrix This is an instrumental, the first the Chicks have recorded since switching to a major label. It's a very upbeat number, but doesn't really have any residual effect, just kind of floating in one ear and out the other. Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) (4.43) Written by Radney Foster After two upbeat numbers, this one is a very melancholic downbeat tune about separation of parent and child. It's a strong number even through the melancholy, due to the help of Emmylou Harris on supporting vocals and a wonderful use of a baritone guitar. Top of the World (6.01) Written by Patty Griffin The album closes with this number, which is most notable for the fact that Natalie is singing from a man's perspective here and also the memorable harmonization in the chorus. By this point, though, it is clear that the album is top-heavy, with several good tracks near the start.
Written by Maia Sharp and Randy Sharp To my ears, this is the second best song on the album. It is very downtempo and mellow, but it is carried by a fantastic chorus that again shows off Natalie's voice, sticking in the range that she delivers gorgeously. More Love (5.07) Written by Tim O'Brien and Gary Anderson This song is perhaps the least memorable on the album. It just sort of fills up five minutes and could easily have been excised without much real loss. I Believe In Love (4.14) Written by The Dixie Chicks and Marty Stuart Improving greatly on the previous track is this one, with a chorus that somehow seems very familiar. There was some unusual instrumentation in parts, and I later discovered that this may be the best use of a papoose in a recorded song ever. Tortured, Tangled Hearts (3.40) Written by The Dixie Chicks and Marty Stuart Another collaboration with the country songster produces this overly upbeat number, which borrows heavily from the modern country sound; it's actually reminiscent of much of their album Fly. As before, if this is appealing to you, then you will like it; as for me, I'd throw away everything but the chorus. Lil' Jack Slade (2.24) Written by The Dixie Chicks, Lloyd Maines, and Terri Hendrix This is an instrumental, the first the Chicks have recorded since switching to a major label. It's a very upbeat number, but doesn't really have any residual effect, just kind of floating in one ear and out the other. Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) (4.43) Written by Radney Foster After two upbeat numbers, this one is a very melancholic downbeat tune about separation of parent and child. It's a strong number even through the melancholy, due to the help of Emmylou Harris on supporting vocals and a wonderful use of a baritone guitar. Top of the World (6.01) Written by Patty Griffin The album closes with this number, which is most notable for the fact that Natalie is singing from a man's perspective here and also the memorable harmonization in the chorus. By this point, though, it is clear that the album is top-heavy, with several good tracks near the start.
Home and Me I am not a fan of "country music," period. The so-called modern Nashville sound pretty much turns me off in every way. But I dare you to pry my copy of Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison or Willie Nelson's Red-Headed Stranger from my music collection; try, and you face my wrath.
See, I like true country music. True country music is a mix of rock, folk, and bluegrass. True country music is Johnny Cash singing about Folsom Prison or Hank Williams moaning about being so lonesome that he could die. What I can't stomach is what passes for "country" today, which is vanilla redneck pop music. Artists like Shania Twain or Toby Keith, who probably do not have an original musical idea between them, are nothing but pop purveyors who inexplicably release albums as "country" music, get their music played on "country" stations, and are viewed both by fans of the genre and by most of the public as the definition of "country" today.
That definition of country music makes my ears bleed.
I received this album as a gift from a well-meaning relative at a family Christmas Secret Santa exchange. I tried to look positive about it, but looking at the cover made me feel disheartened: after listening to Fly, the Chicks' previous album, I had lumped them in with Shania and Toby into the rubbage bin that is CMT.
But I often feel obligated to give albums a try if they are given to me as gifts, and since this one was actually a gift that was thought about (my uncle said to me, "I know you don't like country music, but I hear you like some of the older stuff, and I hear this sounds like the older stuff."), I decided to give it a try. I popped the album into my stereo and began to leaf through the insert sleeve as the music began playing.
The first thing I noticed was the large sign on the back of the booklet: WE ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS in a faded photograph. Just as I was reading this, the opening notes of Long Time Gone began. While this track didn't particularly make me stand up in amazement, it was significantly better than what I had expected.
The second and third tracks, however, knocked my socks off. The first time I heard Travelin' Soldier, I was literally caught by surprise. This is what country can and should be, a mixing of folk and bluegrass music telling a tale of love destroyed by war. This is what country music should be, I thought.
Sure, parts of the album are comparatively weak, but there are so many strong points to this album that, along with the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack and the decline in sales of the country music genre, perhaps it will trigger a revival in real country music.
If You Liked This Album... ... you should dig deeper into modern bluegrass music. Start with the near-ubiquitous soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which is a treasure trove of bluegrass music both modern and old. Also strongly recommended is the album Red Dirt Girl by Emmylou Harris, one of the better modern bluegrass albums.
Home (hOm), n. (Zoöl.)
See Homelyn.
© Webster 1913
Home (110), [OE. hom, ham, AS. hAm; akin to OS. hEm, D. & G. heim, Sw. hem, Dan. hiem, Icel. heimr abode, world, heima home, Goth. haims village, Lith. këmas, and perh. to Gr. kw`mh village, or to E. hind a peasant; cf. Skr.kshEma abode, place of rest, security, kshi to dwell. √20, 220.]
1.
One's own dwelling place; the house in which one lives; esp., the house in which one lives with his family; the habitual abode of one's family; also, one's birthplace.
The disciples went away again to their own home.John xx. 10.
Home is the sacred refuge of our life.Dryden.
Home! home! sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home.Payne.
2.
One's native land; the place or country in which one dwells; the place where one's ancestors dwell or dwelt. "Our old home [England]." Hawthorne.
3.
The abiding place of the affections, especially of the domestic affections.
He entered in his house -- his home no more, For without hearts there is no home.Byron.
4.
The locality where a thing is usually found, or was first found, or where it is naturally abundant; habitat; seat; as, the home of the pine.
Her eyes are homes of silent prayer.Tennyson.
Flandria, by plenty made the home of war.Prior.
5.
A place of refuge and rest; an asylum; as, a home for outcasts; a home for the blind; hence, esp., the grave; the final rest; also, the native and eternal dwelling place of the soul.
Man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.Eccl. xii. 5.
6. (Baseball)
The home base; he started for home.
At home.
(a) At one's own house, or lodgings. (b) In one's own town or country; as, peace abroad and at home. (c) Prepared to receive callers. --Home department, the department of executive administration, by which the internal affairs of a country are managed. [Eng.] To be at home on any subject, to be conversant or familiar with it. --To feel at home, to be at one's ease. --To make one's self at home, to conduct one's self with as much freedom as if at home.
Syn. -- Tenement; house; dwelling; abode; domicile.
