Track Listing

1. Simple Love
2. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
3. Let Me Touch You For Awhile
4. The Lucky One
5. So Long, So Wrong
6. Empty Hearts
7. Every Time You Say Goodbye
8. Wish I Still Had You
9. Broadway
10. Baby Now That I've Found You
11. Sawing On The Strings
12. Restless
13. When You Say Nothing At All
14. A Living Prayer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #592 in Music
• Released on: 2009-07-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Running time: 114 minutes

CD Description
Essential Alison Krauss is a brand newinspired selection of songs [ut together by Alison herself, which displays her development as a vocalist, fiddle player and producer; from her early signing to Rounder Records at 14 years old, up to the present day. The tracks are drawn from her extensive back catalogue, truly representing Alison's commitment to Bluegrass and American traditional music styles, combined with her unique ability to contemporise the sound and take it to a very wide mainstream audience. She has a unique talent to select contemporary songs and sing them in a traditional style. It was these factors which drew Robert Plant into collaborating with Alison in the American roots world and the massive worldwide success of Raising Sand. What this collection proves more than anything is that Alison Kraus's music is timeless--her tracks from 1995 remaining as relevant today.

Customer Reviews

The Essential Alison Krauss
I'm just starting to get into country/bluegrass music a little bit (Nickel Creek, K T Oslin, Dixie Chicks), and this is the first Alison Krauss album I have bought on the strength of having heard some tracks on Ken Bruce's Radio 2 show a couple of weeks ago. Pre-ordered it on Amazon and it arrived today (Saturday 25th July), two days ahead of its release date!

I was already familiar with some of the tracks e.g. "Restless", "The Lucky One", "Baby, now that I've found you", "When you say nothing at all" having heard them on the radio in the past, and those tracks helped me to decide to buy this CD.

Not disappointed with the remaining tracks, and the first track on the album, "Simple Love" is probably already my favourite - moves me to tears.

Alison Krauss has a beautiful voice and I'm sure this CD will inspire me to buy other albums of hers.

Another essential collection from Alison Krauss
This compilation of Alison Krauss's music samples 7 original albums, a live album, and 2 previous collections, so Rounder Records are certainly cashing in on her current, if well-earned and deserved popularity. Most tracks feature the stellar Union Station, with Jerry Douglas, so the musicianship is flawless throughout. Added to that, Alison and the people she works with have an unerring knack of finding (or writing) great songs, from Sarah Siskind's lovely opener Simple Love, to Ron Block's A Living Prayer, and including a couple from the Cox Family.

It may be useful to indicate where the tracks here were first released, so here we go.

1. Simple Love - from: A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection (2007)
2. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us (with Robert Plant) - from: Raising Sand (2007)
3. Let Me Touch You For Awhile - from: New Favourite (2001)
4. The Lucky One - from: New Favourite (2001)
5. So Long, So Wrong - from: So Long, So Wrong (1997)
6. Empty Hearts - Forget About It (1999)
7. Every Time You Say Goodbye - from: Every Time You Say Goodbye (1992)
8. Wish I Still Had You - from: I've Got That Old Feeling (1990)
9. Broadway - from: Alison Krauss + Union Station Live (2002)
10. Baby, Now That I've Found You - from: Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995)
11. Sawing On The Strings - from: A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection (2007)
12. Restless - from: Lonely Runs Both Ways (2004)
13. When You Say Nothing At All - from: Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album (1994) and Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995)
14. A Living Prayer - from: Lonely Runs Both Ways (2004)

The enhanced version of this CD also includes a short bonus video

As can be seen, the tracks cover a development period of 17 years, from 1990's I've Got That Old Feeling, recorded when Alison was just 19, to her seemingly unlikely but critically and commercially successful pairing with Robert Plant in 2007 (though they had worked together previously).

This collection should serve as a great introduction to and overview of Alison's (and Union Station's) music, or maybe fill in a few gaps. The music is always 5-star, but as there's nothing new here (unlike the A Hundred Miles Or More collection) an overall 4 stars from me.

Essential Listening
This is a must have in anyone's record collection.Anyone who appreciates
music on a higher level,that is.Alison Krauss has an effortlessly
stunning voice,she has brought bluegrass music to the masses,so to speak.

I loved this album.My particular favourites are A Simple Love,
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us and the best track of all,A Living Prayer,
which made me cry.

This album will convert the listener to bluegrass,which is a special genre of music and not to be missed.

A heavenly listen.