The Chicks - Taking The Long Way (20th Anniversary) [3LP]

Defiance rarely sounded as graceful as it does on The Chicks' Taking The Long Way, now a 20th Anniversary Edition on three 150-gram LPs with bonus tracks and an etched final side.

Released in 2006, when the trio still went by Dixie Chicks, the album was their first full statement after the backlash that had pushed them off country radio. Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer co-wrote every song, working with producer Rick Rubin and a circle of rock and pop collaborators. The gamble paid off, and the record went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Not Ready to Make Nice is the centrepiece, a defiant, string-swept refusal to apologise that still raises the hairs on the neck. The Long Way Around opens the album with an open-road account of choosing their own path, and Easy Silence is a tender ode to finding calm amid chaos. Lubbock or Leave It kicks up dust as a sharp-tongued rocker aimed at Maines' Texas hometown.

The fifth side gathers previously unreleased demos and rarities from the era, while the sixth carries an etching instead of music. It is a handsome way to revisit an album that proved The Chicks would rather be honest than comfortable.