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Amazon.co.uk Review
With Krauss and co. still riding high after the crossover success of the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, this two-disc live set features obligatory renditions of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (Dan Tyminski's showpiece) and the spine-tingling a cappella "Down to the River to Pray", here with Krauss' ethereal contralto harmonised by the men's voices. Elsewhere, much of the bestselling New Favorite album is performed, alongside a "greatest hits" selection of older material. Dobro genius Jerry Douglas takes a solo spot, but like the very best bluegrass this concert is a meeting of equals, and one not to be missed by any Country music fan. --Mark Walker
Review
Everyone who bought, or even heard, New Favorite will undoubtedly buy this album, and indeed it contains a large amount of that albums sublime songcraft. "Lucky One", "Let Me Touch You For Awhile", "Take Me For Longing" and many others are delivered with the level of almost carbon-copy perfection we now take for granted from musicians at the top of their game. What stops this being a mere retread of studio highlights is that indefinable quality one can only refer to as feeling.
While always true to their roots they offer far more than just another version of Bill Monroe's "Uncle Pen". Where someone like Ricky Skaggs would use country's old weapons of choice -sentimentality and religion - to sweeten the often labyrinthine complexities of Appalachian music, Union Station know how to utilise folk and jazz timing ("We Hide And Seek"), pop sensibility ("When You Say Nothing At All") and adult subject matter ("Let Me Touch You...").
Krauss' delivery of the Foundation's "Baby Now That I've Found You" takes the song into a realm so far removed from the original that by mid-way you've forgotten there ever was another version. The same goes for "Maybe" - possibly the stand-out track in an album of superlatives.
Certainly Union Station as a band go way beyond the average on instrumental numbers such as "Choctaw Hayride" and "Cluck Old Hen", yet this album works on so many levels. It's the blend of the band (combined with their own crystal clear production) that allows you to bathe in the warm harmonics or focus on individual performances. Krauss is not just a wonderfully emotive singer but a stunning fiddler; and Jerry Douglas' glistening Dobro runs (spotlighted on "Tribute to Peador O'Donnell/ Monkey Let The Hogs Out") go beyond words - as usual.
It's tempting to say that this is Union Station's best yet. After a week's repeated (ok, constant) listening it still keeps on revealing fresh delights. Maybe it's just that as a double CD, it never succumbs to the law of diminishing returns: more is definitely NOT less. It just makes you long for their next album. Don't leave it too long, guys. --Chris Jones
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Customer Reviews
However I decided that after reading some reviews on Amazon that I would buy but didn't think that a "live" album would be very good.I bought this purely because of the number of tracks.Believe me this is a stunning CD.The quality of Alison Krauss's voice is amazing. The music for a "live recording" is just out of this world.I wish I had been there.BUY IT !!!!
Of course there are a few miraculous standout live sets. Some artistes were made for live music; a theatre audience draws out of them some deep primal magic that the studio cannot capture. Most of the jazz greats were like this: John Coltrane, Miles Davies and so on. Elvis had it; so did Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen. Their best live albums made your heart ache that you weren’t there yourself, even as you were uplifted by the feeling that in a strange sense you were there yourself.
Now we have AKUS Live. And while the great FM-listening masses may not put them in the same class as the King or the Boss, this latest album has some of that same rare charisma. It’s very reasonably priced; the sound is outstanding; the performances are dazzling, and the audience presence is just enough to communicate a sense of excitement without swamping anything. Above all, you get about 100 minutes of Alison and the extended Soggy Bottom family at their incisive best.
They know how to play a song live, these guys - enough like the studio performance that you don’t ever get the urge to go, “Hey! That’s not right” (a common enough fault with live work, you don’t need me to tell you), yet with enough elbow-room for that extra free spark of creative genius to shine out. This is rivetting, gorgeous, exciting live artistry that makes you want to be there.
The song selection could hardly be bettered. Inevitably you’ll wish something had been left out for your special favorite. Mine is ‘Daylight’, and many people would have gone for ‘Momma Cried’. But hey, this is incredibly generous and virtually everything you really need is here (including Ron Block’s awesome solo hit, ‘Faraway Land’, and of course the obligatory ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’).
My final comment is this: You need have no fear that by buying ‘Live’ you are simply duplicating songs you already have. In fact, after just a few spins, these performances have become the reference versions in my mind, and the original studio cuts now sound relative tame and muted in comparison. To so redefine a set of songs, that the concert version becomes the standard by which the original studio recording is judged, is a rare achievement. Joni and Bruce did it repeatedly, and so did Neil Young. I think AKUS can hold their heads up in that company.
shows a great soul. Really great Cd. Read more
First I bought the dvd edition. Excellent quality of sound and
vision and a superb concert.
Now I have bought the double CD edition. Read more
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