The Dixie Chicks [ tickets ]' latest album sounds like country music created in a laboratory, just a few doors down from where atoms are being split and amoebas are floating in Petri dishes.

Did somebody say that Rick Rubin was involved with this record? His name is certainly on the credits but his presence is nowhere to be felt on this sterile collection of scientifically enhanced, neatly scrubbed, country-esque songs.

Staggeringly over-produced, "Taking the Long Way" feels so far divorced from country's roots that it's surely destined to be a major hit with "Young Country" fans. The album comes across like it was put together by androids, ones operating with the mission to smooth out all the warts and wrinkles that make country interesting. Think "West World" with more hair.

At its worst, "Taking the Long Way" is reminiscent of a Steely Dan record, only with some minor fiddle and steel parts. Just so we are clear on the concept: you never want a country album to sound like a Steely Dan disc. You want a country album to sound like David Allen Coe, Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash. Hank III, to name one example, is clear on that concept.

The album, the band's first studio outing since 2002's "Home," is such a professional affair that it's hard not to find something to tolerate on it. "Lubbock or Leave It," "Favorite Year" and "Voice Inside My Head" are all decent pop tunes. The best song on the album, however, is the moving "Not Ready to Make Nice," which features some interesting orchestral swells.

One thing that becomes perfectly clear from listening to "Taking the Long Way" is that it's high time to stop referring to the Dixie Chicks as a country act. This is a pop album, and the Dixies are a pop band. And, ironically, that's why both will be a success with "Young Country" crowds.