Alison Krauss & Union Station Album: “Live”

First, this album is everything you would expect from the first live album from such a fine band. Recorded in Kentucky, the birthplace of Bluegrass, it alternates slow ballads--featuring Alison Krauss's distinctive, beautiful voice--with rollicking, foot-stomping, quick-pickin' bluegrass numbers. It's a real treat, all the way through the 25-song collection. It's also very reasonably priced for an album of that length, and it includes most of the band's "hits." So, if you're interested in getting a first album by Alison Krauss & Union Station, this should be one of your top choices.

Now, for the fun surprise of the album (at least for me). In the Coen brothers' filmed tribute to southern roots music, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Alison Krauss's haunting voice is immediately recognizable as one of the tempting sirens (Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris are the other two) in "Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby," as one half of the vocals (Gillian Welch is the other half) in "I'll Fly Away," and as the lead vocal on the beautiful rendition of "Down in the River to Pray."

Less recognizable in that film, however, are the mysterious voices and musicians that make up the Soggy Bottom Boys, whose "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" serves as leitmotif for the whole movie. Anyway, a few tracks into disc 2 of Alison Krauss & Union Station: Live, I felt the thrilling surprise of the yokel in O Brother who exclaims "Hot damn, it's the Soggy Bottom Boys!" as they launch into their hit single to thunderous applause. Sure enough, the mouthpiece for George Clooney is none other than Dan Tyminski, guitarist and vocalist for Union Station, and their live rendition of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" is clearly a Soggy Bottom Boys performance. Nice.

Incidentally, for all you O Brother fans, "Down to the River to Pray" is also on the album.

As an AKUS fan I already had much of the music on this disc so my purchasing it was as my first exposure to the SACD format. The multichannel production is primarily stereo with center and rear channels providing ambient echo. I'm still learning about SACD and its differneces over CD (PCM) are subtle. Music (vocals in particular) are warmer and more realistic. The "edge" present in CD recordings seems softer. Details (subtle notes, whispers, etc) are heard more distinctly. Alison's fine voice and the instruments of Union Station really do the SACD format justice. Alison begans the track "Down to the River" acapella. With only her voice to be heard I realized how good SACD can be. Her singing on the track is simply the most realistic recording I have ever heard come through my speakers. Beautiful group and lead singer - beautiful sounding recording

It's about time that the award-winning Alison Krauss and Union Station released a live album, and a double-CD doozy it is! A live DVD of the same show is also forthcoming. Recorded in April, 2002 at the Palace Theater in Louisville, KY as part of their "New Favorite" tour, the album serves up 25 songs that mix newer material with older hits like Let Me Touch You For Awhile, The Lucky One, Everytime You Say Goodbye, Broadway, Faraway Land, When You Say Nothing At All, and Oh Atlanta. One of the songs (Down to the River to Pray) was recorded live at Austin City Limits. This package is a true testament to the tightness of AKUS, and a live album like this clearly exudes musical energy as the band feeds off the enthusiastic response of a large appreciative audience. While applause can be slightly annoying, once the band launches into a song, there is little in the way of noise distraction and disruption with the exception of some minimal clapping along on "Bright Sunny South." The musicians, soundmen and recording engineer were all doing their jobs right and in professional workmanlike style on those two fateful days in Louisville.

Besides Alison, the band includes Barry Bales, Ron Block, Jerry Douglas, Dan Tyminski and on about half of the tracks, guest percussionist Larry Atamanuik. The appearance of this tasteful Nashville session drummer serves to reinforce the eclectic nature of this band's repertoire that is probably best classified as acoustic country, with occasional bluegrass selections. And, it is their instrumental virtuosity and vocal prowess that have personalized their sound and built their large fan base. Tyminiski handles the lead vocals on four tracks, and he's probably at his soulful best singing a song like "The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn." Ron Block sings his own composition, "Faraway Land." Music arranging has always been a clear strength of this band, and I always especially enjoy hearing how the group capitalizes on Ron Block's versatility as both a guitarist and banjo-player. If only he could play both instruments at once in a live show like this. Four instrumentals are included: Choctaw Hayride, Cluck Old Hen, We Hide and Seek, and Jerry Douglas' solo on A Tribute to Peador O'Donnell/Monkey Let the Hogs Out. The only thing I occasionally miss in AKUS' sound is more mandolin, but Dan Tyminiski does pick that instrument on five tracks. When one audience member shouts "I love you, Alison," another chimes in with "I love you more." After listening to this project, we'll all surely fall into either the former or latter category of fans. Satisfaction Guaranteed! (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

I never really followed AKUS, although I'm a fan of bluegrass, and just bought this album because it looked like a good introduction. After listening to it once, I was blown away. Once I was able to tear myself away from hearing "Baby, Now That I've Found You" I went out and bought all the original AKUS albums I could find.

Every single track on this album is better than the original version. The band is on fire. Krauss' vocals are breathtaking. You can hear the crowd is having a great time, but they get out of the way and let you hear the songs. It's the best of both worlds -- an outstanding "Greatest Hits" album for the band as well as the feeling of being at one of their concerts. And it avoids the cold, somber, somewhat over-produced and awkward feeling of the band's studio albums.

I can't imagine anyone hearing the versions of "Choctaw Hayride," or "Oh Atlanta," or "Maybe," or "Take Me For Longing," or "We Hide And Seek," on this album and not becoming an instant fan of this band. Plus, the beautiful "Baby, Now That I've Found You," and of course "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Down to the River to Pray" from the O Brother soundtrack are included too.

And if you become as big a fan of this record as I have, check out the Live DVD, which gives you the whole concert as well as interviews with Krauss & the rest of the band. It's really light-hearted and gives you the feeling that no matter how hopeless and depressing the themes of the songs are, the band's just out there to have fun.

Like many other listeners, I first experienced Alison Krauss' ethereal voice in "O Brother, Where Art Thou." I promptly purchased the soundtrack, which incidentally still gets frequent playing time in my home. Honestly, I hadn't intended to purchase Alison Krauss' work until until I caught a clip of this very same LIVE performance on television. I was so impressed with her musicianship (live shows are good at separating 'studio' artists from the real ones), her poise, the immense talent of her band that I went out and ordered this CD shortly thereafter.

Hands down, it's one of the recordings I've heard EVER. With 99% of the albums I purchase, there are a select number of songs I like, and the rest is sort of filler material. There is NO filler on this album. Alison's simple, expressive, angel-like vocals (but boy can she hollar too, make no bones about that!) are reason enough to buy this album, but there are also very fine performances by her bandmates and one guest artist. All in all, a perfect package.

Take it from one whose musical collection consists of anything BUT bluegrass or country, and whose musical training is centered primarily around opera, you will wonder why you haven't bought anything of Alison Krauss' before and thank your lucky stars for finding her now.

If you're still reticent, listen to "Maybe" on Disc 2. Have your credit card ready.