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Music Review: Alison Krauss and Union Station - "Live"
Recorded live in one of the most beautiful music venues in America (Palace in Louisville, KY), Alison Krauss and her
amazing companions have turned out an inspired live set. Spanning two discs and 25 songs, this collection
has a little bit of everything and is a great representation of Krauss' previous work.
Opening with a trio of her newer tunes ("Let me touch you for awhile", "Choctaw Hayride", "The Lucky One" works well.
These songs come alive in this setting in a way they couldn't on the studio CDs they came from. The band then
dips back into their catalog for the fan favorite "Baby, Now that I've found You". Again, this is a stellar
performance of a wonderful song.
Nine songs into the first CD, the band provides and nice surprise: drums. Larry Atamanuik joins the band for "Stay" and
"Broadway". Krauss then shows off her true vocal skill on "Ghost in this House"; one of the most heartbreaking
songs every written.
Disc two opens with a solo dobro song from Jerry Douglas. Jerry is widely considered to be the greatest living
dobro player and he shows why on this track. It is masterful not in its speed or picking pyrotechnics but in its
tastefulness and tone. Simply amazing.
The band joins back in and a couple of songs later Dan Tyminski takes over
for the crowd favorite "Man of Constant Sorrow". I've read some reviews that say the crowd noise on this song
takes away from the recording but the opposite is true. It is great to hear how into this song the crowd is. Recorded
in April of 2002, the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" phenomenon was still in full swing.
Other highlights of disc two are an amazing version of "Oh Atlanta" and the perfectly harmonized "Down in the River to Pray".
If you've never purchased an Alison Krauss CD before, this would be the one to get. 25 songs on 2 CDs is a great deal
and the band has never sounded better.
Review by Greg Adkins
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