The two-CD set combines the soft floating voice of Alison with the hard-driving bluegrass of a talented collection of musicians to provide a high level of entertainment, especially as morning or evening drive time listening in the car.

Ms. Krauss' voice is used to wonderful advantage in such tracks as "Let Me Touch You for Awhile," "The Lucky One," "Forget About It," "There is a Reason," and many others. One of my favorites is the plaintive "Ghost in this House." By the same token, the bluegrass instrumentals such as "Choctaw Hayride" and "Cluck Old Hen" can best be described as quintessential country-car-chase tunes.

For those who have never had the pleasure of listening either to Ms. Krauss or to bluegrass, this album is an excellent introduction to both and is an essential recording in every respect.


Hot Damn, It's the Soggy Bottom Boys!   January 28, 2004
Brian Sawyer (Westford, MA)
27 out of 28 found this review helpful

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.


Excellent Disc and SACD Implementation   June 19, 2003
David A. Goucher (Scottsdale, AZ United States)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

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


A MUST-HAVE   November 23, 2002
momwith2kids (Chicago, IL United States)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

You've probably heard this a thousand times, but if you like bluegrass, and you liked the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou," you MUST pick up this live double-cd. The sound quality is ultimate perfection, no annoying audience noise during the songs, the musicianship is immaculate, the melodies are beautiful, and the harmonies are utterly fantastic. The music will make your heart pound, it even may bring a tear to your eye...I kid you not. Alison Krauss' voice is angelic, and Union Station's music and harmonies just create this unbelievable wall of sound. It's truly a gorgeous cd. Some of my favorite songs on here are Choctaw Hayride, Cluck Old Hen, Everytime You Say Goodbye, and Forget About It, Stay, Take Me For Longing and A Tribute to Peador O'Donnell--outstanding dobro work. But really this whole double-cd is great and I always listen to it all the way through. It cheers me up, makes the day seem a little brighter. I'm not exaggerating here. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for your friend. Buy it for your folks.


Satisfaction guaranteed!   April 13, 2003
J. Ross (Roseburg, OR USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

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)