Following the success of the startlingly popular traditional old-timey soundtrack for the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, contemporary bluegrass pioneers Alison Krauss & Union Station moved in the opposite direction for their 2001 release, New Favorite.
While Krauss and Union Station guitarist/vocalist Dan Tyminski got deeply in touch with their dust bowl Americana roots for their work on the film, their follow-up studio album is certainly the slickest, most progressive work they've recorded to date.
New Favorite seems almost neatly divided into two albums: one following the same path as Krauss' 1999 contemporary country solo album, Forget About It, and the other helmed by Tyminski, bringing a progressive slant to Union Station's traditional bluegrass feel.
The whole album is well crafted (with the exception of Tyminski's laborious, drawn-out "The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn") but will certainly not sit right with certain elements of the band's core audience, who has come to know them as the strongest traditionally based bluegrass act still recording.
The whole album feels a little too slick and reverbed out; the brilliant dobro work of Jerry Douglas seems mired in echoes, and at times Krauss' vocals seem to be coming out of some deep studio well.
The musicianship, however, is beyond top-notch.
The players (specifically banjo player Ron Block and guitarist Tyminski) are among the best in the genre, and the harmonies between the two vocalists are stunning and chill inducing.
Their call and response vocals on "Daylight" serve as the highlight of the album, traced delicately by Douglas' dobro and chilling to the end.
Unfortunately, the collective spirit that was so evident on their 1997 release So Long So Wrong seems to be dissolving, and the award-winning fiddle playing that brought Krauss to the nation's attention seems to be becoming almost a background instrument (if it shows up at all).
While there are intriguing moments in the album, it lacks the spark that So Long So Wrong had in spades, and even their few moments on the O Brother soundtrack seemed to breathe more life into the band than New Favorite does.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let Me Touch You for AwhileRobert Lee Castleman | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 2 | The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe CornTraditional | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | The Lucky OneRobert Lee Castleman | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 4 | Choctaw HayrideJerry Douglas | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 5 | Crazy FaithMark Simos | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 6 | Momma CriedBob Lucas | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | I'm GoneEric Kaz, Wendy Waldman | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| 8 | DaylightBob Lucas | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | Bright Sunny SouthTraditional | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 10 | StarsDan Fogelberg | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:55 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 11 | It All Comes Down to YouRon Block | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:46 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 12 | Take Me for LongingMark Simos | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 02:53 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 13 | New FavoriteDavid Rawlings, Gillian Welch | Alison Krauss, Alison Krauss & Union Station | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| 45 mins | 104 MB | |||||
| 45 mins | 267 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larry Atamanuik | Drums, Percussion |
| 2 | Barry Bales | Bass, Bass (Upright), Vocals |
| 3 | Eric Bickel | Mixing, Mixing Assistant |
| 4 | Ron Block | Banjo, Composer, Guest Artist, Guitar, Tenor (Vocal), Vocals |
| 5 | Neal Cappellino | Digital Editing |
| 6 | Robert Lee Castleman | Composer |
| 7 | Rob Clark | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Jerry Douglas | Composer, Dobro, Guest Artist, Lap Steel Guitar |
| 9 | Dan Fogelberg | Composer |
| 10 | James Guthrie | Assistant |
| 11 | Robert Hadley | Mastering |
| 12 | Thomas Johnson | Assistant Engineer |
| 13 | Eric Kaz | Composer |
| 14 | Alison Krauss | Arranger, Baritone (Vocal), Fiddle, Primary Artist, Producer, Viola, Vocals |
| 15 | Alison Krauss & Union Station | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 16 | Jason Lehning | Engineer |
| 17 | Bob Lucas | Composer |
| 18 | Tracy Martinson | Editing, Engineer |
| 19 | Frank Olinsky | Art Direction, Design |
| 20 | Gary Paczosa | Engineer, Mixing, Production Coordination |
| 21 | David Rawlings | Composer |
| 22 | Doug Sax | Mastering |
| 23 | Chris Scherbak | Assistant Engineer |
| 24 | Mark Simos | Composer |
| 25 | Pamela Springsteen | Photography |
| 26 | Traditional | Composer |
| 27 | Dan Tyminski | Baritone (Vocal), Engineer, Guest Artist, Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals |
| 28 | Union Station | Producer |
| 29 | Wendy Waldman | Composer |
| 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). |