Alison Krauss & Union Station continue their winning streak on the aptly titled Lonely Runs Both Ways.
While they have in some part grown away from their earthy, rollicking bluegrass roots, they've been able to craft a really polished and honest-sounding brand of mid-American adult contemporary that never dips into the schlockiness of mainstream AC or the formula-driven sound of young country.
Instead, Krauss, co-songwriter Dan Tyminski, and the Station dig deep into the classic themes of rural American music, polishing them with terrific production, the finest instrumentation, and two of the best voices around.
Lonely Runs Both Ways shifts back and forth between Krauss' angelic love songs and Tyminski's earthier tales of rain, roads, and rivers, with one blazing Jerry Douglas-led instrumental entitled "Unionhouse Branch." Banjo player Ron Block takes a vocal turn on his own "I Don't Have to Live This Way," but allows Krauss to take vocal lead on another of his songs (and the album's highlight), "A Living Prayer." This gentle lullaby rocks the album to sleep with its light instrumentation and quietly soaring vocals, appropriately putting the ribbon on the whole tidy package.
Although bluegrass purists may long for the days when Krauss rosined up her fiddle with the Cox Family, the pure beauty and craftsmanship of Alison Krauss & Union Station's more commercial sound is undeniable, and somehow they manage to avoid sounding slick and formulaic, still retaining the spark of honesty that seems to be missing from the recordings of so many of their contemporaries.
While the group made plenty of longtime fans nervous with its sexed-up 2001 release, New Favorite, Lonely Runs Both Ways should reinstill their faith in the fact that this band is far and away the best contemporary bluegrass act recording today.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravity | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 2 | Restless | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 3 | Rain Please Go AwayDel McCoury | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:28 | 5 MB | 16 MB |
| 4 | Goodbye Is All We HaveSarah Siskind | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | Unionhouse BranchJerry Douglas | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:55 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 6 | Wouldn't Be So BadDavid Rawlings, Gillian Welch | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 7 | Pastures of PlentyWoody Guthrie | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | Crazy as MeMelanie Castleman, Robert Lee Castleman | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 9 | BorderlineSidney Cox | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 10 | My Poor Old HeartDonna Hughes | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 11 | This Sad SongAlison Brown, Alison Krauss | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:20 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 12 | Doesn't Have to Be This Way | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 13 | I Don't Have to Live This WayRon Block | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:03 | 4 MB | 13 MB |
| 14 | If I Didn't Know Any BetterJohn Scott Sherrill, Mindy Smith | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 15 | A Living Prayer | Alison Krauss, Union Station | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 47 mins | 109 MB | |||||
| 47 mins | 294 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Bales | Bass, Bass (Vocal), Bass Instrument, Member of Attributed Artist, Tenor (Vocal), Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Brendon Bell | Assistant Engineer |
| 3 | Ron Block | Banjo, Composer, Digital Editing, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, Slide Guitar, Vocals |
| 4 | Alison Brown | Composer |
| 5 | Neal Cappellino | Digital Editing, Engineer |
| 6 | Melanie Castleman | Composer |
| 7 | Robert Lee Castleman | Composer |
| 8 | Sidney Cox | Composer |
| 9 | Jerry Douglas | Composer, Dobro, Lap Steel Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 10 | Woody Guthrie | Composer |
| 11 | Robert Hadley | Mastering |
| 12 | Elaine Hensley | Set Design |
| 13 | Donna Hughes | Composer |
| 14 | Thomas Johnson | Assistant Engineer |
| 15 | Steven Jurgensmeyer | Design |
| 16 | Alison Krauss | Composer, Fiddle, Member of Attributed Artist, Primary Artist, Viola, Vocals |
| 17 | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Audio Production, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 18 | Jason Lehning | Digital Editing, Engineer |
| 19 | Del McCoury | Composer |
| 20 | Scott E. Moore | Set Design |
| 21 | Karen Naff | Design |
| 22 | Gary Paczosa | Audio Engineer, Engineer, Mixing |
| 23 | David Rawlings | Composer |
| 24 | Norman Jean Roy | Photography |
| 25 | Doug Sax | Mastering |
| 26 | John Scott Sherrill | Composer |
| 27 | Sarah Siskind | Composer |
| 28 | Mindy Smith | Composer |
| 29 | Dan Tyminski | Baritone (Vocal), Guitar, Mandolin, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 30 | Gillian Welch | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |