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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Nobody makes sombre sound more exquisite than Alison Krauss. She's come an awfully long way from her days as a teenage fiddle prodigy, as her glamour gown on this CD's cover suggests and the bittersweet maturity of the music confirms. Krauss exchanges her bluegrass fiddle for the chamber strains of viola on much of the material, including four songs by Robert Lee Castleman (whose "The Lucky One," "Let Me Touch You for Awhile," and "Forget About It" were previously popularized by Krauss). Castleman's compositions showcase the emotional intimacy and interpretive subtlety of her breathy trill. The yearning harmonies on "Wouldn't Be So Bad" (written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings) and "Borderline" (written by Sidney and Suzanne Cox) reinforce the album's restless spirit of quiet desperation. Change-of-pace contributions by Krauss's bandmates are more deeply rooted in the bluegrass/folk tradition, with Dan Tyminski renewing Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away" and Woody Guthrie's populist anthem "Pastures of Plenty"; Dobro master Jerry Douglas leads the charge on his instrumental "Unionhouse Branch." Few bands in bluegrass can match the virtuosity of Union Station's interplay, but the artistry of Alison Krauss transcends genre. --Don McLeese
Review
Even before you press play, you know it's going to be good.
A cursory glance through the sleeve notes gives the first clue. Returning to the writers who have provided some of the finest moments in Alison Krauss & Union Station's output suggests that Lonely Runs Both Ways is not going to be a radical departure from the band's previous work. Good! Because the band which has defined the sound of contemporary bluegrass over the last decade or so raises the bar in acoustic music with every new record.
Robert Lee Castleman - who we have to thank for the exquisite title track from Krauss' Forget About It album plus other beauties like "Let Me Touch You For Awhile" and the Grammy Award-winning "The Lucky One" provides four of the songs here. Sweet and simple melodies allow Krauss' soaring vocal to deliver those killer lines about love that never quite meets expectations: 'I don't know the answer...but I know who to blame' ("Doesn't Have To be This Way").
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - who wrote the elegantly heartbreaking closer on their last studio album, 2001's New Favorite - provide another bed for the bittersweet harmonies of Dan Tyminski and Krauss here in "Wouldn't Be So Bad".
But there's none of this special guest business to disturb proceedings. Even former band member, banjoist Alison Brown, doesn't get a look in on the track she co-wrote with Krauss, "This Sad Song".
Perhaps it's the determination not to mess with the chemistry that makes Union Station the tightest band around. A virtuoso fiddle player blessed with uniquely angelic vocals, as a band leader Krauss is a perfectionist who plays to her trusted musicians' strengths. And when you're backed by Barry Bales on bass, Dobro ace Jerry Douglas and guitarist and vocalist Dan Tyminski (who, lest we forget, was the singing voice of George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou?), why change?
Consequently, all the tracks - whether sprightly bluegrass written by Del McCoury like "Rain Please Go Away" or the old Woody Guthrie favourite "Pastures Of Plenty"- have that Union Station stamp that seems to get slicker with every album they put out. Krauss has even put on a posh frock and had her hair done for the cover. Perhaps she's anticipating more awards ceremonies... --Sue Keogh
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
15 of the most sublime songs you will have heard all year. Being a 'country' or bluegrass fan, one takes alot of stick but I wish I could impress upon those who mock, how varied country can be and in Alison Krauss you'll find tub thumping fine sassy beats like 'Unionhouse Branch', songs of the most bittersweet regret like 'Goodbye is all we have' and 'Doesn't have to be this way' and the awe inspiring vocal heights displayed on 'Living Prayer'. I took a friend new to the AKUS phenomena, to see them play in Manchester this September; she was rightly blown away by the quality of the performance and Alison's angelic voice. I am all out of superlatives to describe how rich this album is; if only one person reads this and buys the album, I'll be pleased to have spread the word. Go on... you won't be disappointed!
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've been an AKUS fan since hearing them perform "Baby, now that I've found you" on TOTP2 some years ago (yes, I can actually say thank you to Steve Wright for something!). I was a convert, since when AKUS have opened up completely new musical horizons for me.
Having really enjoyed Forget About It (Alison's solo album) and New Favourite (Alison with Union Station) as well as the superb Live DVD, I honestly thought that AKUS could not surpass what they'd already achieved artistically and musically. I am so glad I was wrong. These people just keep getting better.
My personal favourites on the album are "Gravity", "Goodbye is all we have" and "Crazy as me", but every song has its own magical quality. Some wonderful solo touches in "Unionhouse Branch"...wow, all of this band know how to play. I would love to see AKUS become big in the UK and pray that one day I will get to see them live...please tour the UK sometime, music like this needs to be heard.
Alison and the guys, you are my musical heroes.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I have been listening to AKUS for several years now and Lonely Runs Both Ways is the best yet. I agree with other reviewers that it represents two quite different genres, but the magic of this recording is that they intertwine so gracefully you don't really notice.
The standout tracks for me are the ballads Borderline (penned by some of the Cox family) and Wouldnt Be So Bad (Gillian Welch and David Rawlings) - heartrendingly sad and beautifully written and performed.
But every track is brilliant in its own way. Don't miss this one.
The standout tracks for me are the ballads Borderline (penned by some of the Cox family) and Wouldnt Be So Bad (Gillian Welch and David Rawlings) - heartrendingly sad and beautifully written and performed.
But every track is brilliant in its own way. Don't miss this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
If music be the food of love.......give me Alison Krauss any day...
So many other reviews have so succinctly said what I fear I may fail to say. I was working her Birmingham 2005 concert when Restless stopped me in my tracks. Read more
Published on 21 April 2007 by E. L. Stoney
If you come across this by accident, think yourself lucky ..
All I can do when someone tells me they have never heard of Alison Krauss & Union Station is smile and realise how I am 'The Lucky One' 'Now That I've Found You' .... Read more
Published on 14 April 2007 by Robert Chisholm
Possibly the best yet
I must confess, I'm more of an Alison Krauss fan than a Union Station fan. Her voice is something very special and I tend to skip past the songs where she isn't singing. Read more
Published on 5 May 2006 by G. Lewis
Still on top of their game
I'm listening to this as I type: although this isn't a progression from other AKUS albums, it's still quite marvellous. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2004 by MisterKeith
Good, but not perfect
A huge fan of AKUS and this type of music I was eagerly looking forward to this album arriving in the post. Reaction on first listening? Disappointing. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2004 by Pieter Hounslow
Long-awaited, and not disappointing
Since the release of their last studio album in 2001, New Favorite, Alison Krauss & Union Station have been making themselves known across the world. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2004 by Dan Craggs
Top quality follow up to 'New Favourite'
Alison Krauss has an exceptional voice on whatever she performs but the key to this album (and New Favourite which preceded it) is the combination with the superb musicianship of... Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2004 by B. A. Woodhouse
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