This review is written by Kevin McCarthy, 6/99
"Kevin and Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews"
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With a foot planted firmly in both the folk and bluegrass genres, the music on this latest release by Allison Kraus and Union Station should sufficiently satisfy the desires of each camp. However, the element that overshadows all else on this recording is simply the soulful and resplendent vocals of Allison Krauss. Her expressive, emotive singing is what elevates this recording to a higher plane, above the customary folk or bluegrass offering.
The leitmotif here is lost love, failed love, and unrequited love--just a smorgasbord of unfortunate coupling and uncoupling. Mix that theme with this talented group of musicians, add Krauss' voice, and this amalgam produces a steady pull on the heartstrings.
Beginning with the title cut "So Long, So Wrong," driven by Krauss' lead vocals and Ron Block's banjo licks, the oft-visited reflection on love lost begins with Krauss singing:
"Deeper Than Crying" begins with:
So I'll be the one to pull our tangled lives apart
I won't dodge the angry words that hide a broken heart
And my calm fare-thee-wells cannot obscure
That deep inside, my heart is also hurtin' sore"
But it seems I missed you
By a coast and a song
When time gets so short
'So what?' turns to 'So long'..."
Love like a lesson learned
when we pass the point of no return
You can't always trust happiness
There in love's steady glow hides
the power to hurt us so
You can't always trust happiness."
The sweet spiritual "There Is A Reason" closes out the release. Again, it is Krauss' vocals that raise this cut above the ordinary.
If angels have voices, somewhere out there is at least one mute celestial being. Krauss has somehow borrowed a set of out-of-this-world pipes and let's hope, for our sake, she doesn't have to return them anytime soon.
Krauss on lead vocals, fiddle and viola, is assisted by Barry Bales on acoustic bass, electric upright bass and arco bass; Adam Steffey on mandolin and mandola; Ron Block on vocals, banjo and guitar; and Dan Tyminski on vocals and guitar.
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