Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Let Me Touch You For A While
2. Choctaw Hayride
3. Lucky One
4. Baby Now That I've Found You
5. Bright Sunny South
6. Every Time You Say Goodbye
7. Tiny Broken Heart
8. Cluck Old Hen
9. Stay
10. Broadway
11. Ghost In This House
12. Forget About It
13. Faraway Land

Disc 2:

1. Tribute To Peador O'Donnell
2. Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn
3. Take Me For Longing
4. I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow
5. Maybe
6. We Hide And Seek
7. But You Know I Love You
8. When You Say Nothing At All
9. New Favorite
10. Oh Atlanta
11. Down The River To Pray
12. There Is A Reason

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3859 in Music
• Released on: 2008-08-18
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Recorded in April, 2002 in Louisville, Kentucky, Alison Krauss + Union Station Live is, surprisingly, the sweet-voiced fiddler's first live album. Unsurprisingly, it's also a marvellous showcase of radio-friendly, popular contemporary bluegrass: Krauss' dreamy voice, the most gorgeous in all Country music, impeccably supported by some of the world's finest musicians. Bill Monroe-worshipping purists might prefer a more hard-driven sound, but with music as ravishing as this it seems churlish to complain about the odd missing mandolin.

With Krauss and co. still riding high after the crossover success of the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, this two-disc live set features obligatory renditions of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (Dan Tyminski's showpiece) and the spine-tingling a cappella "Down to the River to Pray", here with Krauss' ethereal contralto harmonised by the men's voices. Elsewhere, much of the bestselling New Favorite album is performed, alongside a "greatest hits" selection of older material. Dobro genius Jerry Douglas takes a solo spot, but like the very best bluegrass this concert is a meeting of equals, and one not to be missed by any Country music fan. --Mark Walker

CD Description
A key contributor to the popular upswing of bluegrass, Alison Krauss & Union Station found their stewardship enlarged even more with the explosive success of the O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? soundtrack. Now furthering the cause is LIVE, a 2-CD set that allows this gaggle of talented musicians to stretch and impress over the course of 25 songs. Recorded over 2nights at the Louisville Palace in Kentucky, this set list is an interesting mix of old favourites, traditional fare and some fun covers.
Blessed with a shimmering voice that oftentimes is reminiscent of Dolly Parton's, Krauss' crystalline phrasing makes for goosebump inducing versions of songs like the delicate "Ghost In This House" and more rugged "Take Me For Longing". Union Station members also get plenty of licks in performances ranging from Dan Tyminski's rich singing on the traditional "Man of Constant Sorrow" taken from the aforementioned film to Jerry Douglas' laid-back dobro instrumental medley "A Tribute To Peador O'Donnell/Monkey Let The Hogs Out". Of course, nothing says crossover more than a cover of the Bad Company nugget "Oh, Atlanta" which has become a Krauss staple over time.

Customer Reviews

stunning
I had heard alison krauss + union station on the radio many times and had enjoyed their music but not seriously thought of buying an album.
However I decided that after reading some reviews on Amazon that I would buy but didn't think that a "live" album would be very good.I bought this purely because of the number of tracks.Believe me this is a stunning CD.The quality of Alison Krauss's voice is amazing. The music for a "live recording" is just out of this world.I wish I had been there.BUY IT !!!!

AKUS Live DVD
This is an absolutely outstanding performance from Krauss and the other band members. I have no background in Bluegrass music but one can't fail to be bowled over by the material, the musicianship and the sheer magic that is on show here. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Brilliant.

THIS IS THE WAY THESE WONDERFUL SONGS WERE MEANT TO BE HEARD
Let me start by saying that I’m not generally a great fan of live albums. All too often they come across as little more than a cynical cash-in, in which all the best bits are spoilt by bad production, audience hysteria or (in the case of the traditional live rock album) 10 minute unaccompanied solos by the drummer, the bass-player, and even sometimes (heaven help us!) the singer.

Of course there are a few miraculous standout live sets. Some artistes were made for live music; a theatre audience draws out of them some deep primal magic that the studio cannot capture. Most of the jazz greats were like this: John Coltrane, Miles Davies and so on. Elvis had it; so did Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen. Their best live albums made your heart ache that you weren’t there yourself, even as you were uplifted by the feeling that in a strange sense you were there yourself.

Now we have AKUS Live. And while the great FM-listening masses may not put them in the same class as the King or the Boss, this latest album has some of that same rare charisma. It’s very reasonably priced; the sound is outstanding; the performances are dazzling, and the audience presence is just enough to communicate a sense of excitement without swamping anything. Above all, you get about 100 minutes of Alison and the extended Soggy Bottom family at their incisive best.

They know how to play a song live, these guys - enough like the studio performance that you don’t ever get the urge to go, “Hey! That’s not right” (a common enough fault with live work, you don’t need me to tell you), yet with enough elbow-room for that extra free spark of creative genius to shine out. This is rivetting, gorgeous, exciting live artistry that makes you want to be there.

The song selection could hardly be bettered. Inevitably you’ll wish something had been left out for your special favorite. Mine is ‘Daylight’, and many people would have gone for ‘Momma Cried’. But hey, this is incredibly generous and virtually everything you really need is here (including Ron Block’s awesome solo hit, ‘Faraway Land’, and of course the obligatory ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’).

My final comment is this: You need have no fear that by buying ‘Live’ you are simply duplicating songs you already have. In fact, after just a few spins, these performances have become the reference versions in my mind, and the original studio cuts now sound relative tame and muted in comparison. To so redefine a set of songs, that the concert version becomes the standard by which the original studio recording is judged, is a rare achievement. Joni and Bruce did it repeatedly, and so did Neil Young. I think AKUS can hold their heads up in that company.