Paper Airplane

Alison Krauss and Union Station, Alison Krauss | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder
• ASIN: B00484HYPS
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (145 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,347 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #5 in Music > Country > Bluegrass > General
  • #57 in Music > Rock > Country Rock

Editorial Reviews

2011 album from the Grammy-winning Bluegrass artist and her acclaimed musical cohorts Union Station, their first album together since 2004's Lonely Runs Both Ways. The players are five distinct personalities who come together to form something truly unique as a band. Each bandmate has his own bustling career, but when these singular musicians come together. they're an airtight unit devoted to the process of making music together. Indeed, their connection is so dose and deep that they've come to think of each other as family Produced by Krauss and Union Station. with studio legend Mike Shipley engineering and mixing, Paper Airplane contains 11 songs of poignancy and austere beauty. chosen with the impeccable taste and unerring intuition that have characterized her entire body of work, delivered by this world-class unit with an immediacy that goes beyond mere virtuosity.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 96 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE the 17 Track Version! April 13, 2011

By Michael J. Black

Format:Audio CD

I guess I'm fortunate I still buy CD's and do not download. I went to the Target Store today and purchased the new Alison Krauss and Union Station CD. I bought the last one they had in stock with the 6 Bonus Tracks. I especially love "These Days". It is actually better than some of the other 11 tracks originally released. There are 3 additional new tracks in all, and 3 live performances from their live concert CD from 2003. Tracks I really enjoy from the main 11 songs are, Paper Airplane, My Love Follows You Where You Go (Very Upbeat), Dimming of the Day, Sinking Stone, and My Opening Farewell. Of course, Alison displays that Angelic voice in "Dimming of the Day". This will surely be a major hit. Buy the Target CD, it is very much worth it. All three of the new bonus tracks has Alison on lead.

58 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Catch a Ride on This Airplane April 12, 2011

By Rudy Palma

Format:Audio CD

(Note: A 17-track version of the album - including three songs that did not make the cut of the standard CD - is available at Target stores as of this writing.)

In the simplest terms, Alison Krauss and Union Station have once again made an immaculate, blissfully crafted record with "Paper Airplane," their first studio release in over six years.

This may be the most notice a Krauss album gets - solo or with Union Station - thanks to the unprecedented success of "Raising Sand," her Grammy-guzzling 2007 collaborative effort with Robert Plant. Happily, this has not given rise to a more commercial sound. There is no noticeable alteration to the gorgeously textured bluegrass palettes or evergreen melodies that are by now synonymous with Krauss and Union Station.

The profoundly beautiful title track is buoyed gently by Krauss's honeysuckle voice, as is the calming lullaby of "Dimming of the Day." The overall sound of the album is more aggressive in tone and feel, however, exemplified by the haunting, pungent "My Love Follows You Where You Go" and "Sinking Stone," which just avoids country music cliches with its end-of-relationship goodbyes thanks to smart, thoughtful lyrics, buttery harmonies and, as always, intense, well-oiled instrumentation.

"Lie Awake," an examination of being stuck at a major crossroads, accentuates the album with a great deal of tension yet, as with quieter selections such as "Lay My Burden Down," the end result is intoxicating - a pleasure for the ears even without considering the lyrics.

Three selections are sung by Union Station member Dan Tyminski with control and a sincere, unstudied quality that is most pleasing. They keep the pulse of the listening experience invigorated and free-flowing. In fact, as a whole the album is a tight, fast-moving one that rounds the bend very quickly. It gives the intended effect and is gone.

Some will say that "Paper Airplane" does not offer insightful, provocative themes or new ground for Alison Krauss or Union Station, and while that is not incorrect that is also not a valid reason to be critical because track by track, the album is close to flawless. It is on par with the best of what these gifted musicians have offered us before, which says a lot. This is not music made for sales' sake but for the pleasure of real music making, and the results handsomely reflect that.

74 of 89 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Barely Takes Off April 23, 2011

By A reader VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

How can Alison Krauss and Union Station go wrong? Impeccable talents all, their fantastic ensemble skills are very much in evidence here. And of course there's Alison's gorgeous voice. Why then only 3 "It's OK" stars? Well, Alison has set the bar so high over her long career that I just expect much more from her. Her spectacular fiddle skills have largely gone by the wayside since her early hard-core bluegrass days -- a shame, in my opinion -- but I guess somebody decided it's not ladylike for a country diva to wail on the fiddle like her male counterparts might get to do (if there ARE any male counterparts who both sing AND play fiddle as well as she does.) So what we've got here is a beautifully performed but middle-of-the-road album with occasional high moments but, on the whole, a monochromatic effort. Dan Tyminski contributes a few good lead vocals, and Jerry Douglas on dobro is always welcomed. But Alison phones it in. I miss the soulful wailing of "Oh, Atlanta." Overall, the song choice is not inspiring, certainly not as interesting as it has been on albums like SO LONG SO WRONG, for example. And on a great song like Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day," the result is pretty, but lackluster. Listen to Bonnie Raitt or Linda Thompson sing this haunting tune and understand its true meaning. It's all there in the poetry, but Alison sounds like her mind was on something else. On a positive note, I kind of like "Sinking Stone," and the last cut, Jackson Browne's "My Opening Farewell," has a message I can relate to.

I've been following Alison's career since she was a teenager and have seen her in person more times than I can count. She's one of my all-time favorite artists. In conjunction with Union Station she has produced some of the finest bluegrass and bluegrass-crossover recordings ever made. Perhaps she's been hanging around Nashville too long. Please Alison, stretch out and return to your roots, if only for a short time, and give us some of that hot fiddle playing that put you on the map, and round up the band for some high and lonesome bluegrass harmonies.

Alison will always be welcome in my home, but PAPER AIRPLANE barely takes off and will, for the most part, be relegated to the hangar (shelf).