20. If I Fall You\u2019re Going Down With Me (2001)<\/p>\n
One of eight singles released from the album Fly. Amazement at the sheer number should be matched by astonishment at their consistency. If I Fall \u2026 is just great. Organ-driven rock lent a Nashville twang by the fiddle, it barrels along, rich with the confidence of a band who know they can\u2019t put a foot wrong.<\/p>\n
19. Tights on My Boat (2020)<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t want for dirt dished about Natalie Maines\u2019 divorce on Gaslighter, the band\u2019s eighth album, but this accusation of nautical infidelity stands out. It\u2019s ferociously angry and very funny \u2013 plus its understated, live-in the-studio sound only compounds the sense that you\u2019re eavesdropping on tea being spilled among friends.<\/p>\n
18. You Were Mine (1998)<\/p>\n
A great country weeper in its own right, You Were Mine is also part of the Chicks\u2019 origin story. It was written by the sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire about their parents\u2019 divorce; they then invited Maines, the daughter of the producer Lloyd Maines, to sing on the demo, rather than the then Chicks vocalist Laura Lynch. A lineup change and vast success ensued.<\/p>\n
17. The Long Way Around (2006)<\/p>\n
The chief theme of the Taking the Long Way album \u2013 being celebrated soon with a 20th anniversary reissue and tour \u2013 was the Chicks\u2019 war of words with President George W Bush and Nashville conservatives. The musically sweet-toned opening track suggests that attitude was par for the course \u2013 of a piece with a longstanding disinclination to \u201ckiss all the asses\u201d and \u201cdo it like everybody else\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Chicks performing in 2003. Photograph: Pictorial Press\/Alamy16. Julianna Calm Down (2020)<\/p>\n
Over a soft organ backing and something approaching a dancefloor pulse, the Chicks offer hard-won advice to the recently dumped: \u201cPut on your best shoes and strut the fuck around like you\u2019ve got nothing to lose.\u201d Its slow build to a euphoric climax \u2013 elevated by Maguire\u2019s fiddle \u2013 is great.<\/p>\n
15. Ready to Run (1999)<\/p>\n
You could suggest the Celtic motifs on Ready to Run are an acknowledgment of Irish folk\u2019s seminal influence on country; equally, they may have something to do with the Corrs\u2019 late-90s success. Either way, Ready to Run\u2019s breezy mood carries a witty lyric that offers a middle finger to marriage and commitment.<\/p>\n
The band during their world tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, in June 2016. Photograph: Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for PMK14. Texas Man (2020)<\/p>\n
Marooned in California post-divorce, Maines pines for the more rough-hewn gents of her home county. But the beauty of Texas Man is really about the music\u2019s experimental bent: a tight, close-miked, new-wave-leaning sound replete with fuzzed-out guitar that\u2019s completely unlike anything the Chicks had released before, but still somehow sounds like them.<\/p>\n
13. Cold Day in July (1999)<\/p>\n
Five minutes of inconsolable misery. \u201cThe moon is full, and my arms are empty \/ All night long, I\u2019ve pleaded and cried,\u201d it opens, with Maines\u2019 voice at its most angst-ridden. The guitar-driven arrangement is simple, but spot-on: it doesn\u2019t need anything more to work its sob-inducing magic.<\/p>\n
12. Sin Wagon (1999)<\/p>\n
In the early 80s, there was talk of a subgenre called cowpunk. It never crossed over into the mainstream, but the title perfectly fits Sin Wagon, named after a line in Grease. A thrilling blend of speedy bluegrass with raw, growling energy, its lyrics are home to a splendid celebration of \u201cmattress dancin\u201d.<\/p>\n
11. Sleep at Night (2020)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a pleasing circularity about Sleep at Night, which bears the distinct influence of the noted Chicks fan Taylor Swift; you can almost hear her delivering the line: \u201cMy husband\u2019s girlfriend\u2019s husband just called me up \u2013 how messed up is that?\u201d An extra point for the slapping rhythm track, the perfect accompaniment to the punches landed in the lyrics.<\/p>\n
10. Easy Silence (2006)<\/p>\n
The negative image of Taking the Long Way\u2019s two-fisted lead single Not Ready to Make Nice, Easy Silence details the downside of being the centre of a media storm. It sounds utterly, affectingly weary \u2013 \u201ceveryone is running\u201d it notes, before evincing a longing to \u201ckeep the world at bay\u201d.<\/p>\n
9. There\u2019s Your Trouble (1998)<\/p>\n
The Chicks\u2019 biggest UK chart hit offers the perfect example of why their fourth album, Wide Open Spaces, catapulted the former bluegrass\/western-swing combo to superstardom: beautifully turned songwriting, a fresh pop sheen that didn\u2019t overwhelm their audible country bona fides, impressively tough and salty lyrics and \u2013 in their new vocalist Maines \u2013 the ideal voice to deliver them.<\/p>\n
8. Landslide (2002)<\/p>\n
This version of the Stevie Nicks song is bold \u2013 the original is a classic \u2013 and ahead of the curve, arriving years before Fleetwood Mac became a hip name for leftfield musicians to drop. Stripped down to country basics, in keeping with the rest of the album Home, the song shines, highlighting the trio\u2019s impeccable harmonies.<\/p>\n
7. Long Time Gone (2002)<\/p>\n
The back-to-the-land saga of Darrell Scott\u2019s Long Time Gone comes complete with a critique of modern Nashville \u2013 \u201cthey got money, but they don\u2019t have Cash\u201d \u2013 and the Chicks\u2019 version is suitably old-fashioned, with no drums and a distinct bluegrass influence about the banjo and fiddle. The lyrics are biting, but it still sounds like a party.<\/p>\n
6. Gaslighter (2020)<\/p>\n
The title track of the first Chicks album in 14 years pulled no punches. Its subject, Natalie Maines\u2019 ex-husband Adrian Pasdar, had reportedly been concerned that the group\u2019s unreleased material would violate a confidentiality clause in their prenuptial agreement. Gaslighter was released after the couple finalised their divorce, but it is almost unsettlingly brutal in its frankness \u2013 and insanely catchy.<\/p>\n
5. Wide Open Spaces (1998)<\/p>\n