Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Surprisingly pleasant to listen to

listened to half, maybe it's good i dont know

If I ever organise a barn dance, this will be the first album which I turn to. That is, however, probably the only scenario in which I would. N.B. we spent a thoroughly pleasant afternoon listening to this and making pasta. Good vibes

mid 4 love the live feel of these tracks, you really are just in the room. love the archivist sympathies of such a long project. naturally over 2 hours it gets old, but just dropping in its great. who says you need to listen all the way, that would be mental.

It's almost perfect but overstuffed with outtakes and things of that nature. The music from my tierra, and it speaks to my soul. The band may not be Southern but they brought enough legends in to make this immaculate.

Had a great time. This definitely overstayed its welcome for me, especially because all of the songs tend to sort of sound like one another.

Munspel är nice och många instrumentala låtar var ändå balla, men albumet är alldeles för långt och alldeles för amerikanskt. Gav upp efter drygt halva.

Min countryälskande kollega Johan som plågar mig med honky tonk bullshit dagarna i ända sa "Det här var till och med lite väl för mig". Men jag tyckte det hade nåt. Kul som stilstudie! Ännu en trea!

Det går inte att värja sig. Riktigt bra träsklåt i två timmar! Härligt rått och naket, så jävla kul att höra gagget mellan tagningarna. Av förklarliga skäl blev det inte mer än en genomlyssning, men 4an måste fram igen. Sugen på att tjacka banjo.

Fint med lite bluegrass även fast det inte är min favorit-genre. Skivan är också otroligt lång. Mellanmjölk!

dä va mycket country dä

Yeee-haaaw! Är ju svag för fiddle diddle doo. Fan vad de lirar. Allt mellansnack är ju guld också.

I have a hell of a lot of respect for what they did here, bringing together legends of an older sound and new artists. But I don’t need over 2 hours of it

42 country/folk songs in a row is far too much for me. It's too jolly for a 1 so 2 it is

One of my favourite anecdotes is from the making of this album. The band really wanted host of the Grand Ole Opry and country legend Roy Acuff to play on this album. His agent showed him their promos, but Acuff, being quite conservative in nature didn’t want to be associated with a bunch of hippies, as he saw them. The agent said, look let’s just go to the session, and you don’t even have to play. If you show up, they’ll pay you. And just see how you feel, Acuff turns up and is disappointed to see that the flannelette shirts, long hair and beards were not just promotion but how the band dressed. He kept his fiddle in the case and sat down, crankily. They nitty gritty dirt band start playing. Acuff's face turns redder with rage. Eventually he snaps. Goddamn it. This is country. Unpacks his violin and plays. And goddamn, he’s right.

Bluegrass! Well they turn coal to gold on this album. Yes - deserves a spot on this list. I saw this kind of bizaaar landing of sounds performed live by shy people in torn hats at the very back of a bar in New York after midnight circa 2019. There was a fiddle. Maybe a banjo. The players looked related and more scruffy than I can say. I wasn't sure we were allowed to be in the bar. It was just them and me, looking uncertainly at each. Bluegrass is an excellent magic genre, it's serious strange funny wonky howling and doubtful yet happy sounding - I think it's at its core a tragicomic satire or some kind of tearful smiling testimony. Either way. Here is highly unusual collection and it appears somehow a collection of some masterful players. Something very listenable has survived for us to enjoy. You can dance like a chicken to this. Or cry and smile. And marvel at how it all works. And find out how it soothes. Also Reminds me of raw reedy voices and interesting quirky stuff they managed to get on for O'Brother Where Art Thou film soundtrack. I like how they say "faingers" instead of "fingers". Make me smile.

For some reason I've never come across this before. Whoa, what an incredible record. A brilliant idea, brilliantly conceived. It is like an update on Harry Smith. To re work these tunes is one thing, but to bring in all the relevant players is the genius behind the record. The Dirt band can play both kinds of music and they play it extremely well. In amongst all the dross thrown up by this list this is easily the best surprise I've had. One of the best listening experiences I've had, mashallah. To paraphrase the good Admiral Porter, damn the torpedoes I'm going to listen to volume 2!

Dimery's arbitrary rule of "no compilations" in the 1001 albums really hurts the inclusion of some of the most important influences on popular music. The long-playing album doesn't rise as an important format for artistic expression until the mid-1960s, with singles as the most important medium for many influential genres, including jazz, blues, R'n'B, and (pertinent to today's selection) country. I would argue that there continue to be some genres where singles continue to be more important than albums (such as pop, funk and hip hop) and that important artists/genres would be better represented by good compilations. Happily, in this case the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have curated a pretty great survey of traditional country and bluegrass. Many of the great artists of trad country and bluegrass appear on this record (with the notable exception of Bill Munroe) performing a wide selection of classic songs from many of the great songwriters. It took me a long time to learn to appreciate country -- the penny finally dropped after some concentrated listening to Gram Parsons. But now that it has clicked, this type of trad and bluegrass is really to my taste. I really enjoyed spending a few hours with this record, which I had not been aware of before today. It's hard to argue with this cohort of legendary artists knocking out a collection of terrific classic songs. There are arguably some better compilations out there (e.g. the Anthology of American Folk Music or some of the excellent Smithsonian Folkways compilations) but, within the constraints of this list, this is hard to beat. I could live without the snippets of talk and I wish Bill Munroe had consented to participate, but these are minor quibbles. Five stars.

Very good bluegrass but so much of it

Ok 2/5

A lot of classic songs, almost too much for 1 sitting. 4 stars or B.

Such twang

not my people. I can appreciate them as musicians but I'll never listen to this again.

This is a steam engine. It goes and goes, without ever slowing down or even considering a long stop. Only small pauses at each station before beginning again. It continually builds on its own momentum. Maybe it can't stop.

Some great albums come to define and era. Others just capture a moment on time. And if you capture said moment with enough care and integrity - that moment can resonate. This album captures a very specific moment in time. A moment that can never be recreated or even approximated. Two worlds collide and expertly capture a past so divinely that it feels like it couldn't have actually been created - it just always was. And is. This album does not feature country hitmakers of the day. Instead they dig deep and go back to pioneers - Roy Acuff, Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Merle Travis and Norman Blake. I came to this album via a Steve Earle album from the mid 90s that featured Norman Blake - Train a Comin - arguably SEs high water mark. That album and so many others owe a debt to this album. The formula is simple - bring great players together with quality material and let em rip. And there is ripping here. Expertly captured - this is basically a live album. It all works so seamlessly you can't tell where the past ends and the present begins. It's just music - faithfully rendered and purely captured. The circle is truly unbroken.

Mrd

I was just thinking about how little country was represented here on this list. Then the list said ‘hold my beer.’ The length of this is intimidating, but it’s fairly comprehensive, covering a great deal of beloved songs sung and played by beloved artists from the old folk/bluegrass scene. Some of this Scruggs banjo can only be described as ‘Scruggin’. I was pretty happy throughout the whole runtime, but maybe that’s because I was born in heartland America, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Kentucky and Nashville. If you have no association with these places, you might find this type of heritage music grating. Your loss.

DNF

this album was a fucking challenge. it felt like the nitty gritty dirt band knew that one day i'd make repeated claims that i love music and decided to test the limits of my resolve. and honestly.... i'm not sure i passed their test. 1 hour, 49 minutes and 2 seconds of bluegrass might just be too much for me to handle in a single sitting. or at least as close as i could get to a single sitting, since it was so long i had to take a bathroom break in the middle. i managed to lock in for the first hour or so and was mostly enjoying it, especially the performances of merle travis' "dark as a dungeon" and "nine-pound hammer", but by the time the run of instrumentals in the second half had ended and the album moved back into more vocal tracks the fatigue had kicked in and it became a real struggle to continue. i wanna say i liked the title track and "both sides now", but it's impossible to judge how much of that was just down to their position at the end of the album and the knowledge that once i'd listened to them, i could finally take off my headphones and move on with my life. as much as i appreciate the band's goal of bridging the gap between generations of country musicians, by the end i was very much ready to clock out. unless you're a true country music head it's probably best to listen to this in the background while doing something else rather than attempting to fully engage with it... or maybe just skip straight to the bonus tracks for the blazing performance of "foggy mountain breakdown". imo they really fumbled the bag by not including it in the original release, but i guess even the dirt band must've hit their limit by that point. whatever the case, i think it's gonna be quite some time before i'm ready to listen to bluegrass again. good lord.....

Quintessential. A gauntlet for a single listening session, of course, but there are some absolute gems and gold-standard covers. Just wish I was listening on record so the sound fills the room like it should.

Jeg ser hvordan dette kan stå som en slags Gral for spesielt interesserte, full av lore og mytos og en lengde til å understøtte det. For meg blir lengden bare en belastning. Det er faktisk flere spor her jeg likte. Under D-siden -- hvor vokal:banjo-forholdet er på sitt beste -- så kunne jeg sett meg selv gi det 4/5. Problemet er at hvis jeg skal bedømme skiva som en helhet, så er forholdet mellom ting jeg liker, ting jeg tolererer, og ting jeg misliker ikke like positivt. Ikke på langt nær. Hvis du plukker vekk det verste og lager en 40 minutters LP ut av dette, så finnes det en virkelighet hvor dette kunne fått en 3er -- spesielt hvis man sirkler ut sporene med banjo og eksluderer alle sporene med kvinnelig vokal (jeg er tydeligvis en chauvinist når det kommer til bluegrass). Som et White Album-type album hvor alt skal med derimot? Nei takk.

Syns dette er finfin musikk. CD 2 i Tidal er et stort knepp opp fra CD 1. Synd plata er en halvannen time for lang

Fuck it, cousin lovin' in for the 5.

Liked this one I lot more than I ought to have

What a relief было услышать это после Кендрика Ламара 🤮 ПРЕДСТАВЬТЕ САМОГО СТЕРЕОТИПИЧНОГО АМЕРИКАНСКОГО МУЖИЧКА с БОЛЬШИМИ УСАМИ, банджо, штанами затянутыми до пупа и подтяжками. ВОТ ЧТО ВЫ ПРЕДСТАВИТЕ когда услышите первый трек. Это самое эталонное кантри, по учебнику. Записанное, как оказалось, легендами в жанре и новыми музыкантами. Возможно двойной альбом такой музыки для НЕ-поклонника жанра это ту мач - но послушайте хотя бы 5-6 первых песен. Это великолепная атмосфера уже ныне утерянной американской культуры. Замечательно.

I liked some of earlier tracks maybe a bunch, could grow a lot. No bad songs, would be nice party/background music. Sent it to Anna who turns out loves their most popular song

Ok not for me and not to my taste for sure, but I appreciate their musicianship here and skill, I listened to most of the first disc which was enough for my 3 rating here.

This falls into the “I get what they’re after and they’re doing an incredible job but I’m not the audience for this” category. There was a long stretch of bluegrass instrumentals (probably side 3 of the LP) that I really enjoyed and the finger-style acoustic instrumental cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” was really quite lovely, even if it didn’t really fit with the rest of the album. If I rate this objectively, or from the perspective of the target audience, it’s an easy 5 stars. For my enjoyment it would be 3 stars. I’ll average them and land on 4 stars.

What a painful 2+ hours. If you're a bluegrass/country fan, I'm sure this is cool, but it is too long, and too bland. Absolutely good playing but I will happily forget this record. 2

Two hours of bad covers and studio improvisation? It almost doesn't matter that this is country which I'm not a big fan of, it's just not a great album, it's debatable if you should even call it an album.

There is some amazing pickin' and playing on this sprawling album. But it may be too much of a good thing. Two hours of it went beyond my appreciation and attention span. I also was kind of put off by the "captured live in the studio/onstage" aspect of it, it got pretty tiring and repetitive. I like the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack better because of its relative brevity. I mean, five instrumentals at the beginning of the second disc is...a little much. But, then again, I'm not a huge bluegrass and country fan so....

Wow, what a strings extravaganza. I cant believe I've never listened to this before. Such a brilliant compilation of old time, country, and bluegrass, with the first half leaning heavy country and second heavy bluegrass. An all-star lineup of musicians, especially Earl Scruggs on banjo, the incredible blind virtuoso Doc Watson on guitar, and Roy Acuff's magic country vocals - Wreck on the Highway is eerie as hell. Legends of their genres playing some all time classics, like some of Hank Williams's best. I also love the random interludes, like the clip of Watson meeting his hero Merle Travis. These guys were just remarkable, it's mind blowing to me that these were all recorded in one or two takes.

I want to join a dirt band

Blue grass. Lots of it

Sympa mais trop répetitif

Starts out as good 'gettin shit done' morning music. Blimey though, 42 tracks is a lot! And mostly variations on a single theme. Now feel as though I've run a marathon. By track 13 bluegrass fatigue was setting in. By track 25 I was in a sort of fugue state (fugue Tennessee probably?). By track 36 I was praying for the sweet release of being entombed in a collapsing mineshaft, or kicked in the head by a promising racehorse, 'fore they laid me in my grave. Perhaps that's me now, doomed to wander the earth in a hoedown purgatory, a head full of banjos, fiddles for fingers, and a foot stacked with stomp. Schrödinger's circle: simultaneously unbroken and also absolutely ruined. Can't decide if I like bluegrass now, or whether I never want to hear it again.

I'm a Georgia native, so the history of Appalachia fascinates me. I was not excited to listen to this album but as soon as I put it on, I was blown away. The sound of this is bluegrass and country staples played fairly straight but with plenty of skill from people who very obviously cared about these songs and their cultural significance. Some of these players had been playing these songs for nearly 40 years. This is real southern history to be proud of. Populist, beautiful, and full of human spirit. As Georgia becomes more suburbanized and tainted by the stink of capitalism and faceless corporations, as more and more of our resources and land is gobbled up for data centers, mining, and other industries, its sad to see that most of this history is forgotten in the wake. I tell everyone I know to listen to the Allman Brothers, or Blackfoot, or Atlanta Rhythm Section. I tell them to learn about Georgia's heroes before the big boom period of the 90s and now. I tell them to learn more about Jimmy Carter and his legacy outside the White House. This album will absolutely be added to that cultural canon. A little long for sure, but I wouldn't cut a single song or dialogue part.

Típico country y tal. Guay

It was like listening to the same song on repeat for over two hours. Was the song good? It’s not bad, but my goodness did this album go on and on. On length alone I want to give it a 2/5, but as I didn’t outright dislike it, I’ll give it a low 3/5. Side note: the version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” from Bioshock Infinite is better.

2/10 - it’s not for me. Usually I keep scores 2/5 or up if it’s not egregious (looking at you Aerosmith) but 2 hours for a runtime is excessive.

I don't like this; it's not my style of music and is far too long. 2/10

3.5

Is this album way too long? It sure is! But hey, the return of the king was 4 hours long and won 11 Oscars and it didn’t even have Doc Watson in it

Ken Burns probably could've just played this album for two hours instead of making his 12 hour documentary about country music. Nothing better to bring out the inner hillbilly than this. Also shoutout sneaking in Both Sides Now backed up by Foggy Mountain Breakdown. HELL YEAH.

It ain't my cuppa whiskey, but I do sure like the mash up of ole guard Nashville and more hippy country rock. 2 hours though ... it's a bit much and then some (2.5)

A masterclass in bluegrass. So fun, so powerful. 4/5

Cool, but not really for me unfortunately. Wish I could get more into country.

It’s a tribute. A love letter. Call it whatever but the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did an amazing work of music ethnography.

Very long. The dialogue was amusing to listen to at the beginning and end of some of the tracks. Old American style

This is a very long album, but kind of awesome. I love the way the recordings include some of the chit chat between the musicians between tracks. It's impossible not to feel like everyone involved with this project was having an absolute blast. I don't know if I'd want to listen to this on repeat, but I'm happy it exists - purely to document a group of musicians vibing on a level that almost seems impossibly inspired

Screw it 5/5. Yes it's over 2 hours long, yes there's a couple minutes here and there of just studio chatter, yes it stays in the same style throughout. Don't care. ELITE album. This album almost singlehandedly bridged the gap between the new hippie country rock of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the traditional bluegrass of the Scruggs, and is probably one of the most important country records of all-time. I love the sound of this music, firmly rooted in the centuries American folk tradition. It transports you to a rocking chair on the patio of an old country home looking up at the Appalachian. I enjoy side 2 a lot, as it opens up with a good number of straight instrumentals. If you don't like vintage American folk like "Lonesome Fiddle Blues", "Cannonball Rag", and their version of "Orange Blossom Special", then you just won't like this album.

Great album from start to finish. Americana at its finest.

I'm not familiar with this group at all. I like this, but I do enjoy bluegrass, and there's a lot of standards on this. I'm adding this to my list of albums to listen to again.

This feels like a nice little time capsule. Really a very well put together album and some of what they are doing musically just feels so right. I will come back to this one quite a bit.

I said this earlier, I do have a fondness for country like this, but this was just a bit too long... I survived the whole listen though. More than can be said of other albums I've had to deal with. Favorite tracks: Flint Hill Special, Togary Mountain, Earl's Breakdown, Orange Blossom Special, Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

After the five hour mark, I stopped listening. In all seriousness, this album should have been one disc with no candid chats and it would have been much improved.

me if i was an ol man on a farm: yeeeeeehaw!!!!

classic! all the american greats are on here! this is the standard and songbook foundation memorialized!

Wish I liked this a lot more, it was a very cool document but the sound wasn’t a sure thing for me and it did take me days to listen to it

I always remember seeing this thing at the record store and it was cool to finally hear it. never been a bluegrass guy which is weird cuz im a steve martin guy. these are the shortcomings I have to live with every day. I'm trying to be better, really... I am...

I tried but not my cup of tea especially over 2 hours of it.

I loved this album. The songs were cool, but also just the simplicity of it. They did a great job covering and "Documenting" in some ways the music from there. I liked what Apple Music said that they were bringing old-school country and bluegrass to modern-day mainstream. Definitely great.

Overall, not a bad album, sounds a bit outdated, but it's alright having it in the background. It's like how leaving the Red Dead Redemption 2 music in the background is pretty chill, kind of same here and it has a similar vibe.

Not bad, I just wish there were a few more intrumentals with a spirited banjo and a violin

Very long but its mostly pleasant so I don't mind. Favorite track: I Saw The Light

I guess if you are a real fan of this type of music you might really like it, but boy is it long. It is really long with little variation. Ding a ling a ling a ding. Maybe it’s good but I’ve had enough. Ye ha. I’ll give a 3 for their persistence. Now make it stop.

Two hours is a long time, but out of pure respect for the people involved in the project you have to tip your hat. A plus one for the stars and bars (and stars and stripes) on the album cover, a reminder that we weren’t always a nation of ignorant idiots and emotional pussies.

Too long

ну это ехало банджо через банджо точно не для меня))

one disc was enough for me, fun stuff but can't imagine listening to almost 2h of it!

I started listening to this when It came out in 1972 and just finished.

so looooong :(((

Uppskattar musikaliteten

Day800 - some of the all time great blue grass legends help on this album to make it wonderful. it’s a bit long but it’s easy to go back to

Classic tunes and easy to listen to but after a while I did find it all sounding a bit the same. (2.5 stars)

Love bluegrass. This album is a bit long, but a true deep dive into what makes this music so great. Could do without the confederate flags on the cover, although that was not such a divisive issue in 1972.

Country can be nice in small doses. Not in an album of a 2 hours and 9 minutes lenght.

Forbanna herlig plate! Hadde det vært et dobbeltalbum og ikke trippelalbum hadde det blitt klink 5 stjerner, men den får nøye seg med en meget sterk 4.

Interessant konsept. Spille inn historisk viktige coutry/bluegrass låter. Problemet e bare at de fleste av låtene har mye kulere originalinspillinger.

Kult. Men etter mange forsøk har jeg karret meg 10 sanger ut i plata. Klarer ikke mer.

Æ like musikken, men 38 sanga e 26 for mange. Tenk kor bra den kunne vært hvis dem sikta sæ inn på 35-40 min!

Kommer meg ikke forbi låt 5.

Trivelig, men veldig ensformig i lengden.

Just some good old boys playing out on the porch.

Bill, get all the frogs out of my voice. I see a deca man standing in there.

I'm sure this double album is pure gold for the true Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fans out there.

I wasn't liking the first couple of track, but I must admit "Nashville Blues" was quite enjoyable. The vocals, guitar and other instruments are good, but, at risk of sounding pretentious, sitting through 2 hours and 9 minutes for 42 70's country songs is not my thing, unless it's for a few specific artists that don't include the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Probably not an objectively bad album, but I don't care for it and I didn't like it enough to sit on the fence with a 3. 2/5

Totally pleasant. Beautifully recorded and performed. Wish there were more highlights and less patter.

Good if too overlong at the expense of distintive songs

honestly pretty consistently enjoyable when there's music. impressive musicianship. but just such a long album that i end up a little worn out by the end. i should have spent the entire album length to drive over to nashville and tell them to stop yapping

That’s some folk music alright

I do love bluegrass music, alongside more traditional forms of folk. Hell, I even think thst some of the early country rock artists were pretty good. I'm deeply anti-pop country, however, and I'm rather irked to see a number of 1 and 2 star reviewers talking about how much they don't like "country." Honey, this is bluegrass. You don't have to enjoy it, but it's Americana and unapologetically genuine. That being said, this album goes on way too long. There's no reason why the best 12-15 songs couldn't have been released instead, I'd consider giving that album a full 5 stars. Many of the songs are dull instrumentals which do nothing for me, and worse are the gratuitous tracks including vocal and instrument warmups. No thanks, I'm good. Best tracks: Grande Ole Opry Song, Nashville Blues, Dark as a Dungeon, Tennesee Stud, Will the Circle be Unbroken

Facing 38 tracks on this project is never a positive experIence. I am however a sucker for Banjo, so ‘Grand Ole Opey Song’ raises my optimism around how much of a slog this will be.this is somewhat dashed by the unnecessary chatter at thr start of track 2, but again once it gets going its quite pleasant. I enjoyed the sudden handbrake turn in Lonesome Fiddle Blues where it feels like it’s suddenly become a country sea shanty of a tune. I’m also a good 5 tracks into disc two, before i realise vocals are long gone. Unfortunately this exacerbates the increasingly ‘samey’ feel to the music. Suddenly we hit Lost Highway and the vocalist is back from his break. Whilst i appreciate the talky bits are supposed to the whole record as live ethos on such a long album they are unnecessary and annoying. If this album had been shorter and certainly confined to a single disc it would have probably been 4.5/5 but as it is it the duration drags the overall enjoyment down.

There is only so much honky tonk one can take.

The whiplash change of emotions during the first 5 minutes: - Oh, bluegrass! I should enjoy this! - 2 HOURS, 10 MINUTES! FFS! - Why is this song starting with a lady rambling about playing a song on the autoharp for so long? - Oh! It's Keep On The Sunny Side! I like this song. I am one of the people who went to see O Brother, Where Art Thou? and immediately went to buy the soundtrack when the credits started rolling. My Uncle, once retired, bought multiple banjos, taught himself how to play and would play bluegrass standards for us whenever we went to see him. I have seen Hayseed Dixie live multiple times. This is definitely My Kinda Thing... ... But not for over two hours on a weekday. I could have very happily listened to this while cooking Sunday lunch or doing housework at the weekend - it would have put a pep in my step! - but it outstayed its welcome on a Wednesday morning (and afternoon as it covered both my journey to and from work). There's a very good chance this could have been a 5, but the length and random chats from bluegrass stars knocked this down to a 4. 4/5

I'm sorry, I really did try and like this, but this album made me go slightly mad. I can appreciate the musicianship at certain times, but this gave me a headache.

The guest stars on this album are insane Maybelline Carter, Earl Scruggs however the album is very long

Lose a point for a Confederate general on the cover even if he was the only decent human in the leadership ranks. Interesting concept, music was well executed. Perhaps a few too many songs for me to get through but I appreciate what they were doing.

looooong but good and so cool to hear so many people from country music's history

Just not for me

1.5 I’m giving it what I’m giving because I want to acknowledge that I at least recognize the musical ability involved here. Obviously these are extremely technically adept musicians of their craft. But when I got this album yesterday, I jumped to Wiki to read the history and context of it. I read it, and thought “I bet I know exactly what this sounds like,” and goddamit, I was right. Just two hours of the same goddam thing. I get it! Make it 30 minutes long! So fucking endless! I’d get to a song I kinda perk up at, look to see where I was in the track list, and realize I still have 20 songs to go. It got so cloying. The banter before the songs, the jamming, the twangling and fiddling. 2 hours of that. One side was almost all instrumentals and that was the best part for sure.

6/10 Best songs: Nashville Blues, Tennessee Stud Bluegrass/country music from the early 70s. It's exactly what I think of when I think of this genre: banjos, yearning for lost loves, trucks, horses, and dogs. I do find that it drags a bit too long - 2 hours is too much for this, and somewhere in there it gets dull. That being said, I like it overall.

Not really my thing. Throwback music, like way back. Pickin' ain't in my wheelhouse. But I am aware of this being a popular album with influences. Period classic songs like "Keep On The Sunny Side", "I Saw The Light", "Nine Pound Hammer" can't save this one. This is what people listened to when they didn't have cars, or stereos, or TV's. No thanks I'd go postal if I had to sit through this concert live.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Here’s the rub, the music is fantastic. A real showcase of country. Two hours of excellent performances. Problem. It’s two hours. If you cut out the talking you’d probably save like 7 minutes.

Uncle Pecos from Tom & Jerry sends his regards. 4 stars

This was some fine bluesy country (one song Cash covered which really highlights a comparison between ok country and seminal stuff). But no matter how decent it was, it not listening to almost three hours of it.

didn’t dislike this at all. I’m a huge Old Crow Medicine Show fan, so bluegrass and old time country are absolutely in my wheelhouse. There’s a lot to appreciate here, and it’s cool hearing the legends and the younger band trading songs like it’s one long front porch session. That said, it’s also a lot. Two hours of classic country and bluegrass is just more than I’m usually looking for in one sit down, even when I like the style.

This is hard to rate, because about twenty minutes of this is great, lots of fun, relatively easy four stars. But two hours; come on. Nobody needs that much bluegrass.

A nice collection of music.

If you're in the mood for nearly two hours of straight, unfiltered hillbilly music, Will the Circle Be Unbroken delivers exactly that, and not much else. This 1972 triple album (or its various reissues) brings together the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with a who's-who of country and bluegrass legends like Roy Acuff, Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and Merle Travis. The intent was noble: bridge the generational gap between young long-haired rock/country fans and the old guard of traditional American roots music. In theory, it's a beautiful tribute to the circle of tradition. In practice? It's mostly just okay. The performances are competent and respectful, but the energy feels polite and a bit flat for such a stacked lineup. Too many tracks drag on with that same mid-tempo, earnest delivery, pleasant enough in small doses, but exhausting over the full runtime. The mediocre hillbilly music vibe is real charming for a few songs, then it starts blending together into one long, twangy blur. Standouts exist (the title track with its emotional weight, some of the instrumental showcases), but they're outnumbered by filler that never quite catches fire. 4/10

Very good and unexpected. A lot of very good songs. Best Track: I Saw The Light.

I Saw The Light

Just not really my cup of tea. Appreciate a lot of it was live takes, so clearly a group of talented musicians.

This is not my genre, but the musicianship is unmatched and the contribution to music history is indisputable.

I have a real soft spot for this classic county bluegrass, and this is a great version of it. Big fan of the banjo and fiddle work. Singing is catchy, and even some very appropriate feeling harmonica. Makes me wish I had some whiskey. I do have to dock it a bit for the length. 52 songs? maybe as background music, but I'm not capable of sitting and appreciating this much of one thing unless it really blows me away. I guess this doesn't make it. Solid 4 stars though, there was a lot of toe tapping through the 1st half. I'm starting to feel obliged to say that this is my 60th album and I have not been sent a hip-hop album yet. Feels wild, first hip-hop album might get an automatic 5 stars at this point.

Fuckers

how do they tell the songs apart

Another one I own on vinyl. Actually I own a couple of copies, because my grandfather played bass on this record. It’s a really incredible document of studio musicians at this pivotal time in the country music industry. Makes sense that it’s here because if I had to recommend a country album to any given normal person it would probably be this one, as it’s a cross section of generational talents that point to both the authenticity and showmanship of the genre, compared to what it is today.

Crap

Wow, what a refreshing bluegrass compilation album. There are several stand-out songs on this one. "Nashville Blues", "Tennessee Stud", "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and of course the album namesake "Will the Circle be Unbroken" all stand out as powerful testaments to American Bluegrass. I grew up Appalachia adjacent and this brought back so many memories of summer drives to fishing creeks, hiking trails, and swimming holes. I imagine this album would sound amazing on a high fidelity surround sound vinyl system. My only complaint is that it's two full hours. That's not really feasible to sit down and digest the whole album in one day. It's possible to hear the whole album, but not fully understand who and what is happening in each song. I will say that bluegrass is much less technical than it sounds and as stated in the album: "Every time you go through it, you lose just a little something... To let's do it the first time and to hell with the rest of 'em". My bias rating is 9/10.

not my style

Man there's some hot picking on this muggerfugger. While I am never choosing to listen to bluegrass on my own I've found that watching people jam on this type of music in a park on a summer day is pretty nice. The only way you can play this style is by putting the time in and I appreciate that. I'm not one to call the album list out because I know it's all subjective, but the author blew major chunks by not including anything by Alison Krause. If she isn't the gateway to bluegrass music I don't know who is. But anyway, if there's going to be any bluegrass music on this list, this is probably one of the better choices.

This was like going to the dentist whilst your grandparents talk you through a poweroint presentation on every type of grass there is in the Southern USA and exactly how each type of grass grows. Every now and then they stop to fiddle with the wifi.

A collaboration album with many bluegrass and country/western artists might be someone’s dream album, but it certainly isn’t mine.

4.5/5

Not really my jam, but I didn't mind it at all. Until I discovered there was another hour and a half to go. Ridiculously, self-indulgently long. Tight 45 to an hour would have been at least a 3.

This was decent enough. I didnt love it nor did I dislike it. I do feel like it could be the only bluegrass country album I ever hear and rhay would sum it up for me.

A bit of yeehaw was needed today. Brought back fond memories of when I was in Nashville, and just makes me want to go back. This is the type of country I adore, and with so many legends on the project, it's just brilliant. I also enjoyed the chit chat, it felt intimate, like being in the studio with all these folks. Only reason it's not a 5 is because it was just a tad too long, but the 2 hours actually went by faster than I thought they would. It didn't really grow tiresome :)

я занадто нон-амерікан, щоб вподобати таку музику. прослуховування цього альбому було дуже неприємним, мені не сподобалась ні музика ні вокал, ні тексти пісень

Eh, not my jam.

Gosh this is challenging to absorb in one day and I can't claim to have listened to it all. But although it's not my scene, I have to applaud what they have done here.

Man. I hate country.

The first thing I need to get off my chest about this is that it FEELS reactionary. I don’t think it is, so I’m not going to let it influence my overall take on the album. I think it’s more my current sentiment to the United States than it is anything about this album itself. It’s not NGDB’s fault, and I will try to not make it their problem. Ok anyway this is very sick. Doing everything in a take or two, with shop-talk commentary between old-head musicians left in, is very sick. Everything sounds alive and real. A project like this feels sort of cheugy from my millennial perspective, but really the early 70s was a time it could still be pulled off. Old country musicians were still truly from a different world. I’m imagining Conor Oberst doing this in 2009, and it sucks. I’m glad these guys did this. I’m knocking one star off though because it DOES feel reactionary.

This is like giving me two hours of Peruvian nose flute music.

Bluegrass bonanza!

Wait.. the late 80's mainstream country radio band that brought us Fishin' in the Dark were early 70s, traditional bluegrass, banjo shredders?? Fuck yeah! Sadly, I bet this album gets savaged on here.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t listen to this … at all. 2 hours and 10 minutes long, and it took me 20 seconds to know I was giving it 1 star and moving on. This really is NOT for me ! I can’t even be objectively constructive about it, I can not put myself through it. Nope !

Ok but not a massive blue grass fan

Note: I started writing this as a 3/5 and then I remembered how much I love the bluegrass bits. And ending on “Both Sides Now.” This is the real country music. That was an article of faith at Dad’s house growing up and I won’t disavow it. The songs, the artists, the style — yes. Yet I’ve never actually liked the album as much as I’m supposed to. Ani DiFranco sang: “People used to make records / like the record of an event / the event of people making music in a room.” As a historical event, this album is a 5/5 no question. It turned minds back to the foundations of country music and inspired all sorts of new artists and sub-genres. And that was a really important thing to do when the Nashville Sound dominated and when folks got all their music through albums or the radio (which wouldn’t have been playing a lot of this stuff at the time). It’s like a seed ark for country sounds. But there are now so many different ways to encounter this music that I don’t think the album feels nearly as essential as it once did. You can easily listen to the original recordings of so many of these songs or you can listen to more innovative covers. You have the access to labels like Smithsonian Folkways that will help you better understand where all these sounds came from… and WITHOUT the artificial barrier between the races. And alt-country and roots music are alive and well. The seeds have sprouted and thrived. So it’s not a record I frequently put on or recommend. I guess I process it the same way I do most of the live albums in the book… I’m glad it happened, I appreciate it as a student of history, but I’m not likely to return to it all that often.

Enjoyed listening

"Over 2 hours of hurdy-durdy tweedle twangy country??? NO. After the first hour I got the point, thanks." c

42 songs. They’re lucky this shit bangs. This is a 10/10 musicology album, an insane collection of songs and artists all collaborating and celebrating bluegrass/country-western music. It's so good, a rare example where you can just throw this album at someone and accurately encompass almost the entire history of a genre. This is such an obvious labor of love and it shows. Am I going to bump this every day? No. But if someone were to tell me they've never heard bluegrass music this is exactly where I would point them. I do like every song on here, for the record. This is a 5 off of genre importance alone and it's good, I'm giving it to it. Please see my disclaimer below though. Controversial take here, the south was wrong during the civil war and the fact that the confederate flag is on this album cover sucks. Heritage not hate does not work for me. I think this album is still deserving of reverence though, it's an important historical document despite not aligning politically/morally/socially here and a lot of the musical font of this genre is so beautiful and influential that it shouldn't be completely ignored because of their ancestors. Just wish this genre could agree to move on from venerating the Confederate army, which, to be fair, they've made strides to and this was released in 1972.

It kinda jams but also fuck this Will I listen to again: 0%

no

Not my vibe, but not bad. got my feet tapping

insuportável

No. There's something I should understand, but I don't.

country met banjo's en samenzang... er bestaat een markt voor... er mag gerust een gat in de markt komen om dit genre in zijn geheel te verzwelgen

What a box of treasures. Perhaps not an album to play from start to finish. Better to dip into it and see what comes up. But as a library of Americana greatness its irreplaceable.

liked the bluegrass vibes but admittedly didn’t listen for the whole thing due to the length. 3.5

Is this a life changing album? No. Is it enjoyable? For sure! I went to a bluegrass music festival with my family every year growing up so this is a very nostalgic, sweet sound to me. 3.5/5.

I'll admit that I rolled my eyes hard when I saw the tracklist on this, but... it is fucking magical. It's interminably long, and gets into some real yeehaw territory with the instrumentals on the second disc, but damn. The musicianship is incredible. It might even be a 5 if it were condensed to one disc.

70s country, folk. All the banjos, super traditional. Featuring loads of famous country and bluegrass players. Very long, technically great. Perfect to put on if you want some classy bluegrass and country.

*deep breaths* I made it through! What a saga. I don't listen to classic hoedown country music, and this album will not change that. While I tried to appreciate the artistry and the soundscapes, I just couldn't get into this one. Too many vocal breaks and choral crooning for my liking. The Joni Mitchell instrumental cover was a treat though! I'm the end I'm glad I listened, as this whole project, to me, is about expanding my listening habits and music knowledge. This just taught me more about what I don't like than about what I do. 3/10

I hate myself for loving this so much (les trop nombreux riff de banjo leur coûtent une étoile)

There's an entire album of songs I really like here! Unfortunately the actual entire album is 2 hours long, making the album of songs I love end up in the minority. The whole album is still a vibe! I fuck with it! But it's not all 5 stars.

I listened to this album while enjoying a chicken Caesar salad and a frozen strawberry lemonade. I was already and intimidated by this album before I even started listening to it: 42 songs, over two hours of music, is just too damn long. But I'll be, this album came about as close to being a 5 as a project this long can physically come. I have enough highlights here to fill out multiple albums worth of music, but there are a few runs of songs that don't click for me as much. But this album reminded he just how much I love bluegrass; it's a genre which I have never really sought out and merely find myself stumbling across (shout-out to The Bedquilt Ramblers, the fictional band from Kentucky Route Zero), but every time I hear it I become obsessed. Something about the bluegrass formula itches exactly the right part of my brain, with simple, meaningful, and percussively satisfying lyrics on top of instrumentals full of forward momentum and grooves that I have to stomp along with. The cherry on top of this album is just how simply lovely it is; the discussions between the band and the various legends working with them give each song even more personality, and the fact that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band organized all these collaborators as a love letter to a genre which the zeitgeist was leaving behind is incredibly heartwarming. Few albums on the list have made me feel as much genuine joy as this album has, and it says a lot that I will happily listen to this album again and again despite its formidable length. Highlights: Grand Ole Opry Song, Keep On The Sunny Side, The Precious Jewel, Dark As A Dungeon, Tennessee Stud, Wreck On The Highway, Sunny Side Of The Mountain, Nine Pound Hammer, Losin' You (Might Be The Best Thing Yet), You Don't Know My Mind, My Walkin' Shoes, Lonesome Fiddle Blues, Lost Highway, Way Downtown, Down Yonder, Pins And Needles (In My Heart), Honky Tonk Blues, I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes, I Am A Pilgrim, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Warming Up For "The Opry", Sunny Side Talk, Remember Me (When The Candle Lights Are Gleaming)

If they come to your club don't let them in.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken This is a great little discovery. I’d not heard of The Nitty Gritty Band or this album before, but I really enjoyed it. Even though it feels more like a historical record of great music and musicians, so that songs and voices aren’t lost, rather than an actual LP _record_ [1]. Although the number of times Lost Highway has come up on albums on the list that song certainly isn't in any danger. It feels a little akin to Lomax’s field recordings, but perhaps less folk-blues and more country-folk, particularly with the Appalachian music, and there’s a great verve and atmosphere across the whole thing, the pre-song chatter feeling genuine and giving the whole thing a sense of very appealing intimacy. I don’t know if this was an inspiration or influence on the soundtrack for Brother Where Art Thou, but there are a few songs on here that are on that soundtrack. It is obviously pretty long, and I can see how two hours of rinky tinky banjo and fiddle might get a bit much, but for me the two hours passed extremely pleasantly - the quality of playing can’t be faulted, there are numerous excellent songs; Keep on the Sunny Side, Dark as a Dungeon, Tennessee Stud, Wreck on the Highway, I Saw the Light, Orange Blossom Special, Lost Highway, Honky Tonk Blues, Will the Circle Be Unbroken and the delicate instrumental cover of Both Sides Now. And overall it has an unpretentious, straightforward charm to it, easily passing into the 4s. ⭕⭕⭕⭕ Playlist submission: Keep on the Sunny Side [1] wordplay

Unlike a lot of traditional country and bluegrass, this is an extremely warm album in a number of ways. Firstly, the band is exquisite, even more so when you discover all these songs were done in one or two takes (the way Roy Acuff teaches it should be done on 'The Precious Jewel'). In addition, the production is excellent - a lot of bass, and mids, and none of the grating trebles that harmonica, fiddles and banjos can sometimes bring. At over two hours it feels more of an archival exercise than strictly an album; and repetition is par for the course with such an undertaking. There is a run of instrumentals on side two which feel particularly alike and perhaps not all strictly required. There are Hank Williams covers by the band (without the special guests) which lack gravitas. But that's nit-picking. All the elements here lend themselves to this being a document of some o' the finest mountain music produced, and in spite of the bloat and a trailing off on side two, there is so much here to admire.

really enjoyed but then again i’ve always liked classic country and bluegrass, it felt genuine but i also think this is way too long no one needs 2 hours straight of bluegrass 8/10

I respect the talent here, and I do like some bluegrass, but this is waaaayyyy too much folksy, twangy, chattin' and chewin' bluegrass for me.

tym razem potezny albumik, ktory jest uczta dla uszu dawno nie slyszacych country, prawdziwego country jako glowny element muzyczny danego krazka, bo will the circle be unbroken z 72 to wlasnie taka kolekcja, a dlaczego potezna, bo prawie 50 trakow, 2 godziny muzykowania i postaci przewijajacej sie przez plyte pewnie w dziesiatkach, bo o ile nitty gritty dirt band, to 6 osobowy sklad, ktory juz przed tym albumem mial potezna dyskografie, bo to ich osma plyta, ale co jest nietypowego w tym projekcie to ile ludzi bylo zaproszonych do kolabu, a przez ludzi mam na mysli stara gwardie country, ktora slyszach zwlaszcza na pierwszym krazku, bo wydaje mi sie, ze tak jest podzielona plyta, pierwsza strona z ficzurami, wiec jest roznorako wokalnie czy instrumentalnie, a druga strona to bardziej coverowanie skladem bandy, plyta nagrywana z nashvillowcami w nashville, wiec musi brzmiec po nashvillowemu, nie ma tutaj zabawy w dopracowywanie i pucowanie brzmienia, plyta jest surowo prawdziwa, jakby wszystko bylo nagrywane na zywca bez zbednych zabiegow, wiec pojawiaja sie jakies gadki szmatki, dziwne dzwieki, ale to jest prawdziwosc tej plyty, ktora jest kompilacja dorobku gatunku i proba przekazania go kolejnemu pokoleniu, stad fajnie pasuje tytul jaki dostala, okladka unionowa tez moze miec jakis zwiazek z tym utrzymaniem ciaglosci i ogolnym patriotyzmem muzycznym, poza tytulowym na plejke dodam kilka trakow cannonball rag, i saw the light czy nashville blues

Aquela cabra que só fala cantando do filme da chapeuzinho vermelho

There is only so much bluegrass a person can listen to in a day, and this album pretty much triples that amount. Not for me.

Not for me. 1/5

542/1001

The opening tricked me. I thought it was all going to be 'jeebuz lurves me' country music when that woman started. It was actually quite fun for a bit, but nobody needs two hours of banjo-wielding hillbillies. It went awn fur so lawng that ah furgawt ahm even English. Gyuck! The jeebuz woman comes back too for some cyclical cringe. Like hippies but with added inbreeding. What a horribly tacky American way to end a record. Bleh! Oh god! I thought that circle being unbroken was the end. It has another 5 tracks after! The early middle part gets a 3. The length and woman gets a 1. Balanced out at 2 - not listening to that again.

Too long man

2/5 Há poucas músicas que realmente contém melodias ou instrumentação interessantes. A maioria é formulaica e passa desapercebida. O álbum, além disso, funciona mais como uma grande compilação do que uma unidade.

These were some nitty gritty old songs.

So much Honky Tonk so little time… I generally like bluegrass music but I guess I like it in smaller doses. With over 2 hours of banjo picking here, there were obviously some good tracks but a lot of it blended together. It was fine.

Overall it was good, it was just a lot for someone that is not a complete bluegrass fan. It is all very similar in sound, which isn't bad but 2 hours was a lot. I really liked Nashville Blues and the banjo. Avalanche had a good fiddle and harmonica. The banjo came back and was special in Flint Hill Special (they are special!). It was a lot of classical bluegrass songs and it was nice to hear a different interpretation but they didn't do anything that pushed it over into amazing.

Well that sure was a honky tonkin’ hootenanny’n jamboree. I felt like I was traveling between O Brother Where Art Thou, A Mighty Wind (The Folksmen specifically), and Frontierland at Disney World. All enjoyable in their own right. It did feel unnecessarily long, especially because it all sounded largely the same, but it was a fun time.

No sé cómo se llama este estilo, creo que bluegrass, pero me parece algo muy incómodo de escuchar. No sé si es bueno o malo, simplemente no estoy preparado para entenderlo.

turns out i like banjos

Awesome album, feels like a good background sound to have on. I can't listen to this type of music all the time, but it's still nice.

Because sometimes you need a little banjo in your life

Really good set of bluegrass songs. Long and sprawling but never gets old.

Mislim da sam imala jednu vrlo dugu disocijativnu epizodu da ovo preživim.

After a while all the tracks became the same. How fast can you pic a banjo string. I didn't realize this was a 2 disc set, then bonus tracks. I liked the Joni Mitchel cover.

Way too long of an album but great

Make it a single disc and it's a 5

Not actually terrible but I wish I could listen on 2x

I really enjoy this kind of music even allmost 2.5 hours of it. Listening to this gave me some great ideas for what my album will be upon completion of the list. Because I can think of 4 or 5 albums that I like just as much for this style of music shouldn't lessen my rating for this classic album.

was a great hootin hollerin time until around song 24/25--then i needed a break :'(

I do like some bluegrass music. For example, the album Train a' Comin' by Steve Earle is a perfect album that I love - which is heavily indebted to this type of music. And I do like some old timey country acts like Hank Williams, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash and stuff like that. And I like some more "modern" alternative country like Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt. And I also like some even more modern artists like Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers who mix in this style to their songs. So, when I saw this come up, I was very curious to hear it since it's supposed to be a lot of the artists that started/popularized the bluegrass style brought together by the Nitty Gritty Dirt band as a labor of love in the early '70s. It's basically Bluegrass All-Stars playing Bluegrass Classics. 1st reaction: This is WAY too long. After about the first hour of it I was waiting for it to be done. The version on Spotify has 42 songs but I read on the Wikipedia article that the original release had 38 songs and ended at the "Both Sides Now" instrumental. So I decided early on I would only listen to the first 38. 2nd reaction: I kinda like the instrumentals because they just sound cool and don't have the silly, nasally, twangy voices. But, after like the third or fourth instrumental I started thinking that even all the instrumentals sounded pretty much the same so started losing interest in them too. 3rd reaction: For the songs that I already knew - such as the ones by Hank Williams - I like the originals better. I also like the Byrd's version of "I am a Pilgrim" better than this version too. I also like Willie Nelson's version of "Down Yonder" (from Red Headed Stranger album, 2 years later in 1975) better. 4th reaction: I wonder if Springsteen was aware of the song called "Wreck on the Highway" - since he has a song of the same name. The only similarity between this song and Bruce's song is that the premise of each song is about coming upon a car crash where someone died. 5th reaction: I generally like the songs that Maybelle Carter sings the most. Her voice isn't as annoying as some of the guys. And it's cool to see she was still active in the 1970s. Her original recordings from the 20s and 30s sound like they were beamed in to earth from an ancient time and place - so I was excited to see she was still sounding great after all those years. Doing the math, she was actually only 62 years old when she recorded this - which is only slightly older than I am now. Wow. 6th reaction: The "Sailin' to Hawaii" song was cool - if only because it was a break from the wall of banjo and fiddle sounds. The instrumental guitar version of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" (which was the last song) was cool - and was also a nice break from the sound of the rest of the album. 7th Reaction: the song "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" - an instrumental - definitely reminded me of the Charlie Daniels song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Seems like Charlie was certainly inspired by this number. I checked it out online and it turns out that is true. 8th Reaction: I find that some of the more contemporary artists that do "bluegrassy" kind of stuff (like the ones I mentioned in the beginning) are more interesting - I think because the arrangements are better and also the lyrics tend to be better and less corny. At the end of all of this and after 2 listens front to back, I did end up clicking "like" on 16 of these songs - meaning I wouldn't mind them showing up on my automated playlists. On any other record that would basically be a perfect album. This record would have been better as 3 different albums - it's just too long. I read that when it was originally released it was a 3 album set - so I guess they couldn't decide what to cut. And then they later went and did 2 more albums like this with another 20 songs on the 2nd one, and another 28 on the 3rd one. These guys didn't scrimp. Glad I got to hear this - despite it's length. I still added 16 "new" songs to my collection. My dad grew up in a small town in Kentucky. His mom was a holy roller type who wouldn't really let them listen to the radio because it was the "devil's music" - but I like to think some of my ancestors probably got into this kinda stuff back in the day :) Liked songs on Spotify: 16/38 Rating: 2/5

the kind of shit i usually like, ruined beyond recovery by a horrible singer and an absolutely unjustifiable running time

if you cut out all the bull shit it's only 32 minutes long

dnf, not for me

I could do without the Confederate flags. Given the huge cast of musicians and songwriters they drew from, and the repertoire they're playing, it's actually shocking there's not a single black musician represented. It may be top tier bluegrass and string band music, but it also kinda seems like a low-key white identity album.

Really solid music, better than I expected. Album (double) was unbelievably bloated and exacerbated by the track/studio chat included throughout. 3.5/5

I could listen to this all day. Absolutely love bluegrass and they sound like they are having a lot of fun

never been a country guy, but that was some fine music

It's fine. I much prefer the new wave of bluegrass. This take on Bluegrass is to by-the-book, goofy, and safe. Listen to Billy Strings, Kitchen Dwellers, and Greensky Bluegrass if you want a modern, good take on American Bluegrass music.

I'm not sure how I feel on the inter-track chat. The odd few seconds here and there is probably atmospheric, but the near ten minutes of tuning up chat at the end drags on and on and I would skip this if I were replaying this album. Other than that, bluegrass/ american folk is not a style I love, and I feel that if this was a 30-40 minute album by any one of the artists involved, I would loathe it by the end. However, the variety of voices and styles was compelling. I was expecting to burn out at the halfway mark, but that only came when I got to the last three tracks, where it devolves into something that was probably added to pad out the last side? Reminded me of watching the Dukes of Hazzard, or Deliverance, or indeed many shows from that era. I think in the grand scheme of things, I hate traditional american country music with a passion, but Duelling Banjos is something I could listen to over and over again. This album was like that but dragged out to over two hours. Scrapes four stars I guess.

I went into this not expecting to like it, but I actually kinda loved it. Not usually my type of music

I guess I'm just not that into country.

There is nostalgia but I’m a BMFS guy

This is a breath of fresh air. Being a musician , this is inspiring. I like how it feels we are sitting there with them. Classic bluegrass country. I don’t know who came first but if they were first, they definitely inspired The Band. Probably Billy String and Chris Stapleton as well. I don’t have a favorite track, that’s my only negative. It’s like we are just there for the jam. I very rarely appreciate that

Liked it more than I expected. It was either the stories, the singing, or the instrumentation, and for a few songs it was all three.

Bluegrass! The banjos! Keep on the sunny side of life. Oh, it's like 2 hours long? Maybe they didn't have much else to do, so they recorded every rhythm and lyrical composition, that they could think of? For me it's fine to listen to in the background and at a normal album length. But there's too much sameness in the music, that it didn't keep my attention, so I DNF.

3.5

Country superstars of the past come together in a pickin and strummin masterclass

As an historic document this is quite interesting. It’s a style of music I generally enjoy, especially the more bluegrass and folk elements. But there’s just too much of it to make an album. And it’s just not a coherent album on any real sense. Which makes it a less good album than the music deserves.

Lowkey reverant.

Musicanship is on point, but good lord, this did NOT need to be 2 hours long

This might very well be my final country album in this challenge. I've had a strained relationship with this genre throughout, with occasional albums I've enjoyed among most that I hated. This is an interesting one to end on. Despite some mentions of Nashville, this collection is rooted more in Appalachian bluegrass than anything else from the challenge so far. It's hard not to enjoy it at least a little. The closest thing that most younger listeners may know similar to this is probably the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" It's the kind of music that inspires images of working in the mines and coming home to the ranch for a big family barbecue. Or something like this, it's pretty far outside of my own background. It's a romantic image that's fun to picture yourself in. It is long though. I get that it's an anthology of older music with a nearly forgotten generation of musicians. But the novelty does start to wear a little thin if you attempt to listen straight through. If you could go back in time to the heyday of bluegrass in West Virginia, you might love it for a while before you start craving modern conveniences. That's sort of what this album was like. But hey, it was fun for a little while. For exceeding my expectations, 4 stars feels fair here. I'd really have to be in the right mood to listen again but maybe someday.

New favourite album ever. It sounds like the tv show Please like me but in a good way

Fun

This album feels like a relic now, but I think it's a bit of a forgotten treasure. It was an update of a lot of traditional American music forms, it still sounds great, and it's really well played.

Not my bag, I liked the purely instrumental tracks but I can’t handle two hours of this.

Bluegrass, with some talking tracks sprinkled in

2 valandos 😭 iš esmės nieko blogo, tikrai geros atrinktos country dainos, bet klaisytis tiesiog jų nieko neveikiant labai sunku.

bluegrass. almost two hours of bluegrass. oh boy. my favorite. even if more time passes, i just can't get into this genre. it's just not for me. i can safely say that these guys know how to sing, and how to harmonize and all... it's just a personal thing really. this was a chore for me to just listen to. and when you're looking at the whole thing and it feels like it's been hours but the album isn't even a quarter over... i'm sorry. it's not for me too much.

Guilty pleasure

Loved it.

Has to be the comprehensive musical encyclopedia of bluegrass history. Some of it isn't really for me and it's super long but I definitely appreciated the musical talent. Favorite track: I Saw the Light

actually loved this. some strong banjo and fiddle tracks made me feel like I was watching it live

Didn’t expect to like this as much as I did.

Gillade väldigt mycket mer än vad jag förväntade mig.

Wasn't having the best day before listening to this. Didn't help knowing in advance that is was legitimately 2 hours long. Of country music. And it's an absolute BANGER! Lifted my spirits almost immideately and kept them raised with the beautiful playing and singing. The instrumentals are a ton of fun to listen to, and the studio banter throughout makes it seem like you're sitting with them, playing the listener. Masterpiece and definitely worth the 2 hours

meu DEUS 2 horas de álbum meu senhor FAVS (top 3): you are my flower, Tennessee stud, losing you (might be the best thing yet) menções honrosas: grand ole opry song, dark as dungeon, nine pound hammer, my walkin shoes, way downtown, down yonder, im thinking tonight of my blue eyes compraria o vinil: gente... isso da uns 40 discos seria caro pra PORRA obviamente NAO, e msm se n fosse eu n compraria pq nunca q ouviria tudo isso KKKKKKKK MUIYO GRANDE cara. 2 horas de musica country. BABADO dms, eu gosto mas 2 horas é de maissss; ouvi na areia com vento batendo na minha cara mt gostoso eu amo deu uma vibe legal; nao vou ouvir esse album inteiro dnv pq acho q n teria momento certo pra isso mas eu curti; senti q o "disco B" foi mt mais instumental do q o "disco A" o.O nota final: 3.5/5

I was just transported to a dock on the shore of the lakes of ozarks with a beer in my hand.

Just fantastic! Loved being in the studio with these guys!!

2 hours?!? 2 HOURS?! No.

When this page opened up to a 2 hour 10 minute long country folk album, I had to take a deep breath and consider my choices. I could skip it completely, I could choose popular selections, I could sit down and listen to a movie feature-length work, or I could break it up over a few sessions and actually try to take it in. I chose the last option, and by golly I'm glad I did. This really surprised me! I grew up in Alabama and live in Tennessee currently, so this is not foreign to me. My grandparents loved this kind of music and I actually recognized a lot of the songs. I appreciated that it leaned more into the bluegrass/folk rather than the country I'm used to hearing in Nashville. The best thing this album has going for it is the quality of the recording. The mixing is SO CLEAN. Levels are really great; you can hear each instrument so clearly, and there are a lot of instruments going on at once. Really nice on the ears, both through headphones and speakers. Great performance as well. The banjo never fails to impress me. I enjoyed the vocal harmonies and the instrumental numbers. Like most, I thought it was just too long. 2 straight hours of bluegrass is fatiguing to just about anyone, I think. I had to break it up or I probably would have hated it. My other complaint is the amount of chatting. Don't get me wrong, I think it's cute and quirky to have a little bit of studio chatter at the beginning or end of a few numbers, if it actually adds to the performance. But having entire tracks dedicated to listening to the banter is a little much. I skipped through some of those sections that felt too long. This is definitely the magnum opus of country music. I'm glad I listened to it and I think it was enriching. I will probably pull songs from this in scenarios where some bluegrass is warranted. Just wanted to shout out "Both Sides Now" as being heartbreakingly gorgeous and is definitely going on my sad day playlist. Can't believe I'm saying this, but 3.8/5 rounded up.

Enjoyed as a bluegrass fan despite NGDB being a bit of a bubblegum bluegrass band. Once saw them live at a free concert at the state fair so I’m going to be a little generous with the rating

I’m a sucker for this instrumentation and these traditional. Really enjoyed the format too.

Had never heard this before. Outstanding record.

alchilito no lo voa escuchar y me da ansia tenerlo no rateado así q le pondré 1, perdón u-u

I do not like this type of folk music. It reminds me of too much of the movie sinners

Too country For me

There are few genres of music more wrapped up in their own history and tradition than country music, and so there have been many attempts over the years to rediscover or revive the roots of the form. None have ever been more successful than this album, which assembles an all-star cast from country and bluegrass’s early days. Performing almost entirely covers and traditional folk songs, the album sways between instrumental virtuosity and simple balladry with equal acumen. It’s also extremely long, traditional to a purist level, and not really an album in the normal sense. But that’s all fine with me. Some may complain about the studio chatter that bookends songs, but that’s part of the entire point, documenting the voices of these old legends before they pass away or retire. This ain’t for everybody. For my money, it’s an essential recording, a humble yet epic tribute to country’s origins. And it was all pulled off by a band of west coast hippies? Hoo-wee. Music truly forms a new circle.

Warm, reverent performances built from acoustic guitars, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, and close, unpolished harmonies—vocals shared gently among generations—move this country-folk album like a lovingly curated museum exhibit of rural Americana, earnest and respectful in tone.

Someone get these guys a producer with the balls to say 'no'

𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 is a remarkable document of country and bluegrass history, bringing together some of the genre’s most respected players in a warm, unforced studio setting. The performances feel genuine and deeply rooted, with the guests adding authenticity and character to every track. The only drawback is the sheer length — the album can feel a bit sprawling, even if almost everything on it has musical or historical value. Still, as a snapshot of a tradition passed between generations, it’s hard not to appreciate.

Nice at first but I tuned out pretty quick

Worthy idea to introduce the old time country and bluegrass stars to the country rock audience. With the passage of time (this is my parents generation paying tribute to my grandparents and I’m old enough to have children on this list) its clear the Carter Family, Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs are better known than the Nitty Grittys. In fact the Nitty Grittys wouldn’t have made 1001 albums if this album didn’t give the compilers the opportunity to recocognise some pre album greats. It’s an enjoyable record. I think nowadays the producers would scatter a few contemporary songs into the mix because ultimately the original recordings of the songs they chose are better than these versions.

Hard to judge since this kinda of music doesn't really resonate with me

The start of the album was better than the rest. I started to lose interest around the 4th song, and this album is loooooooooong.

Love Tennessee Stud. Rest of the album is pretty alright. Should only be an hour long at most.

verrrrry fun but entirely too long. Can't wait to break this out again in the summer. A cool premise too, can't think of modern examples aside from maybe "goat rodeo"

Doesn't need to be 2 hours long

Country/bluegrass fusion, lots of live-instudio energy

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is the seventh studio album by American country music group the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Bluegrass, traditional country, Appalachian folk music and gospel are the Wiki-listed genres. The album was a collaboration of the band with many famous bluegrass and country-and-western players and was a breakthrough in bridging generational and musical differences between the old guard of Nashville and the younger country rock movement. The core Dirt Band was Jeff Hanna (vocals, guitar, washboard), John McEuen (banjo), Les Thompson (guitar, bass, mandolin), Jimmy Ibboston (bass, accordion, keyboards, drums, vocals) and Jimmie Fadden (harmonica). The celebrity-laden collaborating musicians included Roy Acuff (vocals, fiddle), "Mother" Maybelle Carter (vocals, guitar), Doc Watson (vocals, guitar), Earl Scruggs (banjo), Randy Scruggs (guitar), Merle Travis (vocals, guitar), Peter "Oswald" Kirby (guitar, dobro), Norman Blake (stringed instruments), Jimmy Martin (vocals), Vassar Clements (fiddle), Ellis Padget (bass) and Roy "Junior" Huskey (bass). Commercially, the album reached #4 on the US Billboard Country Chart. The album opens with Jimmy Martin on lead vocals in "Grand Ole Opry Song." The fiddle and mandolin. A scooting bass and banjo. Great backing vocals. There's no doubt they're going to the Grand Ole Opry. "Mother" Maybelle Carter takes over lead vocals and acoustic guitar in "Keep On the Sunny Side." Some more strong backing vocals. Lovely playing especially the dobro and autoharp. It's Roy Acuff's turn for vocals in the waltz-timed "The Precious Jewel." Clement shines on the fiddle. Doc Watson gets both the girl and horse in "Tennessee Stud." A plodding bass and guitar and great interplay between the fiddle and harmonica. Hey, I've heard "I Saw the Light" before. The great Earl Scruggs on banjo. Strong vocals by Acuff. The band slow and speeds up. And we get a bass solo. Yes sir! I now know where the Charlie Daniels Band ripped off the fiddle solo in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." It's in the instrumental "Lonesome Fiddle Blues." Clements on fiddle and Ellis Padget tears a bass jam. "Orange Blossom Special" unleashes the hoedown. Fast drums and banjo. Up and down the scales with the fiddle. The album crests with the self-titled "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Everyone in the chorus as family, community and spiritual bonds forever endure. Carter on the autoharp and great dobro playing by Pete Kirby. An inspired gospel-country song. This is an album with 42 songs, clicking in at over two hours and is an absolute joy to listen to. Each song takes you on a trip. The mostly traditional songs zip by with different lead singers and personalities. There's slow, waltz-timed songs and songs with an extremely fast pace. The lead instruments change from fiddle to banjo to guitar to dobro. The playing and interplaying are just exquisite especially the fiddle, banjo and harmonica. Finger pickin' of the highest order! There's a loose vibe with the mic left on with lots of talking before songs. If you're a country or bluegrass fan, this is a must listen. Heck, if you're any music fan you'll probably enjoy this. A very high recommendation.

Good but getting docked a point for being too long

this album went on forever but it was an okay listen

I liked it but it was way too long. Musicianship was neat, cool to be “in the studio” with the chatter. Good atmosphere to kind of throw on and vibe to in the background for awhile. Neat to learn about its fence on modern America (Alison krauss, old crow medicine show, o brother where art thou?, avett brothers)

5/10 fun but won’t really listen to

This is the kind of classic country that I love, I just wish that it was not also done by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

I love the idea of bringing in the Old Guard of bluegrass with the New, so that these legends get heard again. Their banter is intriguing as well as their antiquated music. I love bluegrass but that's a lot of bluegrass. I often times wondered if the Duke Boys would get away from Boss Hog & Ennis. I kid. 3

Hippies recording with the Opry stars that influenced them. Lovely, particularly on Christmas Eve.

i can’t do this vibe

6/10 Favourite: Dark as a Dungeon Least Favourite: I Saw the Light

Thank you, next

This album was too long. 42 songs is kind of crazy. But the jams are good. And it does go bye relatively quickly.

Long album with a ton of material. Some of it is five star some isn’t. It’s a lot for one sitting and best served broken up.

Me cago en el que se le ocurrió hacer un album de 42 canciones y me cago también en el que permitió hacerlo. Las canciones me recuerdan a los capítulos de los Simpson en los que aparece Cletus. El banjo está guay, da buen rollete. Pero enserio, ¿42 temas? 🥲🔫

this is the shit they use to train generative AI

Fuck you

Culturally interesting, just not at all my thing.

When the snow starts a'falling There's a man you should be calling That's Kil-547-96, let it ring Mr Plow is a loser and I think he is a boozer So you better make that call to the Plow King

classic county and bluegrass with a lot of standards

This sounds like the music that will make me go "wut n tarnation" when a rabble-rouser gets on my proper so I have to tell my horse to "go on an git". I'd rather not listen to over two hours of bluegrass but taken in bits and pieces it's pretty decent. I like the occasional banter in between songs for an all-star cast of blues, country, and bluegrass. I don't know much about this type of music but it's good enough and hopefully it doesn't ruin my Spotify recommendations. Overall: 3/5 Favorites: Grand Ole Opry Song, Nashville Blues, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Way Downtown

this was so very enjoyable and an excellent soundtrack to my hometown adventures

This was a bit of a journey! This wouldn’t have been an album I would have otherwise stumbled across but I quite enjoyed some of the tracks, and even the ones that I was only so-so on were inoffensive background music.

2 stars but only because I have heard of them but, this album isn't really that good.

I always like the band's name. Too bad it's country. It's not bad music, it just so rarely is appealing to me.

Yee haw.

It may be a long album, but it's chock-full of great bluegrass. I tend to prefer the instrumentals here to the songs with lyrics, but even so you get some good lyrical songs like the titular Will the Circle Be Unbroken. I don't think this is an album you listen to straight through in the normal sense of an album; I think this is one to take in bits and pieces, enjoying as you go.

1/5

Nah. I do not like this. Way too long. Way too twangy. I mean I'll always say this. This type of country is still way better than modern country. But I still do not like this stuff. The instrumentals were a little more bearable, but still. I do not like country at all.

Thankfully I did my research before diving in today's album. From what I read, there were two versions of this album, the original which is an hour long, and the rerelease which was the full two hours. After listening for a few minutes, while not horrible, I elected to stop after the first hour. There is nothing offensive here, but it's not at all a favorite genre of mine so I could only take so much. It was well done, and the between songs banter made it clear they were all having a very good time making it. But for me it all kinda sounds the same and after a while I'd had enough of the fiddle and the banjo. I'd take this any day over most modern country or bluegrass, but it'll never become something I'd want to sit down and listen to on my own without it being part of this project.

Very interesting to listen to, banter and music alike.

I liked how each track had studio conversations before or after to bring the humanity to the music. The folk songs and intense strumming was fun to listen to.

my cryptonite

I’m not listening to this for 2 hours

Good though a lot of very same-y music.

#18 I heard the first few seconds and could not be arsed to listen to the rest.

From the first notes of this I knew I was going to struggle to finish. I really did not need two hours and nine minutes of music that I hate with all my being. This was an album that made me question my vow to listen to each of these records all the way through. I will say that some of the instrumental parts were not bad but I still can’t get on with the down home, traditional Americana country. I can see that some people would really love this album, I am no one of them. 1.5/5

I like this one. I think I'm going to give it a 4. Pretty good. Definitely need to check out more of them.

What this album taught me is that I like country and bluegrass and American folk if it’s got that throwback, old-school, classic style. I typically don’t like country much at all, and was apprehensive going into this, but on the other hand, I always loved the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack and have enjoyed bluegrass bands live. This album will likely end up my new “go-to” when I feel like country — which admittedly, isn’t often — because the instrumentals, songs, and recordings cover just about everything I could want from this style. I’m surprised…pleasantly so! Must-listen #257.

Enjoy blue grass - for awhile

I guess keep on the sunny side was nice. I really didnt want to listen to more than 5 songs- maybe I would like it idk.

Too long

Great old time good time music.

This isn't an album, it's a chore. I like bluegrass. I also like water. I don't want to be waterboarded.

It's a fun listen. A bit long and churchy. I was done after about 12 songs, but still had 31 more to listen too.