Lonely Runs Both Ways

1	Gravity / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:35
2	Restless / Alison Krauss & Union Station 2:51
3	Rain Please Go Away / Alison Krauss & Union Station 2:28
4	Goodbye Is All We Have / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:52
5	Unionhouse Branch / Alison Krauss & Union Station 2:55
6	Wouldn't Be So Bad / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:10
7	Pastures of Plenty / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:44
8	Crazy as Me / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:13
9	Borderline / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:25
10	My Poor Old Heart / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:07
11	This Sad Song / Alison Krauss & Union Station 2:20
12	Doesn't Have to Be This Way / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:33
13	I Don't Have to Live This Way / Alison Krauss & Union Station 2:03
14	If I Didn't Know Any Better / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:48
15	Living Prayer / Alison Krauss & Union Station 3:34

Barnes & Noble

In the realm of exploring what the heart yearns for, Alison Krauss and Union Station have few peers, and Lonely Runs Both Ways, in both title and content, emphasizes that fact most profoundly. This time out Krauss turns to one of her favorite songwriters, Robert Lee Castleman, for four songs of typically penetrating insight into romantic and spiritual longing, including the somber, searching "Gravity" and the slow-boiling, dobro-rich "Restless." Castleman's "Doesn't Have to Be This Way," all moaning dobro and keening, heartbroken singing, is one of the most moving explications of utter loneliness and desperation Krauss has ever committed to disc. Dan Tyminski takes the lead on Del McCoury's soaring bluegrass toe-tapper "Rain Please Go Away," Tyminski's appealing mountain vocal (certainly familiar to fans of O Brother) supported by Krauss's vibrant fiddle solo. Tyminski shines again on a spare, evocative version of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty," and Union Station's secret weapon, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ron Block, jumps in for a stirring vocal on the terse, driving "I Don't Have to Live This Way"; Block also penned the album closer, "A Living Prayer," a quiet, gospel meditation for finger-picked acoustic guitar and Krauss's soulful whisper of a vocal. If it seems like Alison Krauss and Union Station can do no wrong, well, it's not an illusion. They're in a powerful groove right now, and the competition seems forever to be in catch-up mode. Instrumentally and vocally, for technical virtuosity and deeply felt emotional commitment, this band is simply incomparable. David McGee

All Music Guide

Alison Krauss & Union Station continue their winning streak on the aptly titled Lonely Runs Both Ways. While they have in some part grown away from their earthy, rollicking bluegrass roots, they've been able to craft a really polished and honest-sounding brand of mid-American adult contemporary that never dips into the schlockiness of mainstream AC or the formula-driven sound of young country. Instead, Krauss, co-songwriter Dan Tyminski, and the Station dig deep into the classic themes of rural American music, polishing them with terrific production, the finest instrumentation, and two of the best voices around. Lonely Runs Both Ways shifts back and forth between Krauss' angelic love songs and Tyminski's earthier tales of rain, roads, and rivers, with one blazing Jerry Douglas-led instrumental entitled "Unionhouse Branch." Banjo player Ron Block takes a vocal turn on his own "I Don't Have to Live This Way," but allows Krauss to take vocal lead on another of his songs (and the album's highlight), "A Living Prayer." This gentle lullaby rocks the album to sleep with its light instrumentation and quietly soaring vocals, appropriately putting the ribbon on the whole tidy package. Although bluegrass purists may long for the days when Krauss rosined up her fiddle with the Cox Family, the pure beauty and craftsmanship of Alison Krauss & Union Station's more commercial sound is undeniable, and somehow they manage to avoid sounding slick and formulaic, still retaining the spark of honesty that seems to be missing from the recordings of so many of their contemporaries. While the group made plenty of longtime fans nervous with its sexed-up 2001 release, New Favorite, Lonely Runs Both Ways should reinstill their faith in the fact that this band is far and away the best contemporary bluegrass act recording today. Zac Johnson