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 enlarge | Artist: Alison Krauss
Label: Rounder / UMGD
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $8.88
You Save: $9.10 (51%)
New (45) Used (11) from $8.21
Rating:  179 reviews
Sales Rank: 248
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 610555
UPC: 011661055520
EAN: 0011661055520
ASIN: B000ND91SG
Release Date: April 3, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 179
 Good But Not Great April 7, 2007
C. Ferguson (Dayton Oh.)
71 out of 76 found this review helpful
This Girl sings like no one else, but this CD could use a little jacking up. If it's mood music you want this may do it but don't look for any peppy stuff in this CD. Had I heard what was on it I would have passed it up.
 Not sure about this ... March 9, 2007
J. Baer (Pittsburgh, PA USA)
70 out of 87 found this review helpful
First, I'm so glad Alison has released "Sawing on the Strings"; the 2004 Flameworthy performance was incredible, and might be worth the cost of this album all by itself.
But many of these tracks have been released before, especially in the Cold Mountain or Oh Brother albums. If the intent was to group them together for her fans, then the omission of "Jubilee" is difficult to explain. And I'm very suspicious of the tracks in which she's described as the "producer". Is she also the singer?
I guess we'll find out in April.
Alison's new collection - good, not great April 4, 2007
William Merrill (San Antonio, TX United States)
70 out of 76 found this review helpful
Alison Krauss' sweet singing style is something I love to listen to, really even more than her bluegrass work. As such, this is mostly a welcome collection, especially as it gathers together songs from a variety of sources such as soundtracks and tribute albums. I had heard many of them before, but a few were new to me, such as "The Scarlet Tide" from the Cold Mountain soundtrack (a real gem). There are many duets, some of which - with James Taylor on "How's The World Treating You" - work better than others (Brad Paisley). Then there are the five new songs... The CD starts right out with four of them, and they are pretty, but also fairly uniform in terms of being slow, weepy tunes. I guess that's handy for hardcore fans who already have the other songs on the CD, but I think the producers made an error in starting the disc out that way. It kind of gets the proceedings off to a sluggish start. I'm thinking that Alison would not do four brand new songs in a row in a concert setting - she wouldn't want to destroy the momentum. So why do it on a collection of some of her best other work? So the new songs should have been spread throughout the album. Still, the volume and diversity of the material on Hundred Miles makes it a CD that more than justifies its existence. (My final musing (rant?) ... The overwhelming dominance of 5-star customer reviews for EVERYTHING new that comes out on this site makes me wonder what it would take for some of those reviewers to EVER rate something less than five stars... It must be nice to live in a world where everything is perfect!)
 She's lost her way (temporarily, I hope) April 13, 2007
Douglas Allen (Kansas City, MO)
70 out of 80 found this review helpful
I had such high hopes for this album before it was showed up. Her previous releases with Union Station were artistic wonders - brilliant musicianship and thoughtful lyrics that required repeated listening to fully understand the complex relationships and stories that were presented. I couldn't wait to hear what they had been cooking up. Unfortunately, they didn't do any cooking on this album and I sincerely hope this is an aberration. I WANT to assume that someone simply gave her some bad advice or pushed her (I like to think kicking and screaming) to release some pabulum and make a quick buck. Until I hear differently, I'll continue to hold out hope that she's in the recording studio with Union Station working on another wonderful album.
The song writing here doesn't hold a candle to "New Favorite" and "Lonely Runs Both Ways" and the performances themselves are pleasant enough (upon repeated listening, about four of the songs on "Miles" are keepers) but they are not the excellent work that I have associated with her in the past. Alison has the capability to sing the most beautiful, clear tone and only occasionally (to good effect) let a breathy tone in. "Hundred Miles" reverses this trend as she over-uses a breathy tone and in doing so lowers herself into the sea of mediocre, but pleasant singers that she previously soared above. Her song choices (please tell me that someone ELSE chose this mess of tunes for this album) are an embarrassment. Boring tunes, with silly or depressing themes (the body count on this album is very high - by the end, multiple children and adults have committed suicide, been killed, or otherwise died) and on many of the songs, I found myself glancing down at the time elapsed on my car's CD player as the music droned on and on (well into 5 minutes on too many).
The best song? "Down to the River to Pray" - recorded years ago before the bad influences who produced this sorry lot got to her. The worst? Probably "Missing You" which is such a shock to the ears when the drums and electric guitar start pounding at the beginning of the track that I had to check the player to make sure I hadn't accidently hit a button somewhere and jumped to a top 40 radio station. What on earth prompted her to record (and then release) such a sell-out? Alison - the lure of popularity is NOT worth it. Please stay true to your artistic roots and never again make this deal with the devil.
P.S. What are people thinking to make a song like "Whiskey Lullaby" such a big hit? I agree that the singing is wonderful and I love both of their voices and the tune itself. But it's all wiped out by the stupid lyrics. Why don't these two people pick up the phone and call each other? What version of what religion has angels singing whiskey lullabies? Who writes the words "put the bottle to her head and pulled the trigger?" I am drawn in when she sings (in previous albums) "let me touch you for a while" or "when you cross over there's no turning back once that burning bridge is gone." THAT's poetry. This is sad, silly junk.
ok. sigh. April 15, 2007
C. Morgan
43 out of 49 found this review helpful
I will give Alison Krauss a million bucks if she will just release a straight-ahead bluegrass album again. Seriously. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAASE. Use your resonance. Use your range. PLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAASE.
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