Fly

It was November of 1999 and I was crowded into the back of Stacey's Honda Civic zipping across the tundra-like landscape of some Chicago suburb after a weekend of savage partying. My brain was oatmeal suspended in a cocktail of Advil and black coffee. Needless to say, when Stace decided to liven things up a bit with this "new CD", I wanted to scream no, beg for mercy, I hate country...

...but I was too weak to fight.

She skipped to track 3 (smart girl) and I was hooked almost immediately. I immediately took to their very well polished acoustics and couldn't resist an attraction to the deliciously comforting vocals of Natalie (the lead singer of this 3 sister band who I thought sounded kind of like Jewel to me). Each song blended into the other, warping time, soothing my hangover, and disarming my predjudice. I liked them right away, which is no small feat for any act.

This album is my favorite, although not by much ("Home" and "Wide Open Spaces" are also excellent in their...Read more

Fly is a great album. The lyrics are quite good and the musicianship is excellent. What always catches my fancy with these girls is Natalie Maines' vocals. That girl has a great set of pipes. Just listen to Hole in my Head. She goes all out on that hilarious song. The chicks best work are on the uptempo country songs like Ready to Run, Sin Wagon, and Some Days You Gotta Dance (my personal favorite). However, the ballads are also excellent. Cowboy Take Me Away is a beautiful, sweet, romantic song. Without You is a sad ballad that is becoming my favorite on the CD. It's Let Him Fly however where the Chicks prove their greatest abilities. Hearing that song was the reason I bought this album. I was not disappointed. I am not a huge fan of country music. I love Shania Twain, Jo Dee Messina, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and Alison Krauss (the best voice of the bunch). But it's not really about liking a specific genre of music. It's about music itself. This music...Read more

That's a line from the 2nd FLY tune "If I Fall, You're Going Down With Me", & it pretty much sums up what this CD does for me. From the Celtic fiddle/tin whistle intro in the opening track "Ready To Run" to singer Natalie Maines' last note on the last tune "Let Him Fly", this CD absolutely blows me away everytime I put it on. If you liked Wide Open Spaces, You Love FLY. Fiddler Martie Seidel & Banjo/Dobro whiz Emily Robison absolutely shine on this CD whereas singer Natalie kinda took over on most of the tracks on Wide Open Spaces. FLY musically, vocally & lyrically blows away Wide Open Spaces. My favorite track is Sin Wagon. One reason is that it's an awesome blend of Bluegrass with a passion & attitude that Rock-n-Roll since the good ol' (pre-Cobain) days. Not only do they pay tribute to their Bluegrass roots on the FLY CD, but the Chicks also do traditional country, pop/rock, blues, folk.. You name it, it's here! Well, I...Read more