Backstage Pass

The Dixie Chicks could have turned tail. They could have been ready, ready, ready, ready to run back to their mega-platinum, chart-topping ways, their pickin'-and-a-grinnin', their sassy songs of sweetness and light.

America - especially the Rushies and the Robertson-religious red-staters who have been calling for their pretty little heads for years - loves a good apology.

Well, the Dixie Chicks offer no apologies on their new "Taking the Long Way" (Open Wide/Sony) album. Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison have chosen to stand their ground. And if that means a fight, well so be it.

"Taking the Long Way" isn't about partisan bickering or George W. Bush-bashing. That would have been too easy. Instead, the Chicks outline, in sometimes sweeping, sometimes intimate terms, what they believe is worth the fight: morals, family, fun, love and hope.

The happy-go-lucky Red Hot Chili Peppers have never really been known for consistency, ambition or focus. Yet, unexpectedly, on its ninth outing, 23 years into its tumultuous career, the Californication band has somehow built the album of its career.

As its name suggests, "Stadium Arcadium" (Warner Bros.) is huge - a mammoth 28 songs, clocking in at more than two hours. It will be a huge hit as well, packed to the gills with songs that will be dominating rock radio for months - maybe years - to come. The first single, "Dani California," already tops the rock charts. However, any one of two dozen other songs could be just as successful.

Unlike most double albums, or most of the Peppers' previous albums, for that matter, "Stadium Arcadium" isn't bloated by filler or indulgences. It is hard-hitting from start to finish, a quantum leap forward - from Anthony Kiedis' new vocal subtleties and John Frusciante's fiery guitar solos to the more effective use of Flea's ever-stellar bass work and Chad Smith's muscular drumming. It's a surprise similar to Green Day's "American Idiot" (Warner Bros.) album, but without the unifying thread of the rock opera format or a "redneck agenda" to rage against.