Reviews (page 4 of 8)
Oh my god, this is so long, no album needs to be over two hours, especially one which sounds the same completely throughout
2 plus hours long and I never got tired of it. Perfect album to pop on sitting around the fire.
40 minutes of bluegrass is fine, but 2 hours is ridiculous. This album begins with 5 or so horrible tracks, before slowly improving. It felt like I was stuck in the Deep South. I kinda liked the 2nd disc of "Will the Circle be Unbroken?". Let this be the last long album I'll review in a long time. 2 stars for "Will the Circle be Unbroken?".
Zero replayability here - I can't replay the thing if I can't even make it through one full listen. What kind of band releases a 42 track album? That's heathen activity, downright despicable. The worst part though? I didn't hate it. They're giving it their all here. This is real Country, God's Country, just the way baby Jesus wanted. Maybe I'm in a good mood, or maybe it's just Thanksgiving. These Honkies can tonk.
För tråkigt, pallar inte att lyssna klart. En dubbel dessutom, blä! Etta!
My issue is the runtime. Disc 1 = great. Disc 2 = Essentially the same as disc 1.....
If I were keeping track of band’s albums from this list that featured the Confederate flag in the cover, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band would be up by one. Guess we’ll see if any Lynyrd Skynyrd albums make the list to give them some competition (I’m just assuming it’s featured in most of theirs).
Dull, dull, dull. How did this get anywhere near this list. I thought it would never end
That’s quite enough banjo and fiddle for one lifetime. 3/5
Probably a 3.5. Tons of country fun but a disc too long
**Album Review: *Will the Circle Be Unbroken* – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band** Released in 1972, *Will the Circle Be Unbroken* is not just an album—it’s a cultural milestone. A sprawling 3-LP set, it bridges generations by pairing the young, California-bred Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with legends of bluegrass and old-time country like **Mother Maybelle Carter**, **Doc Watson**, **Earl Scruggs**, and **Roy Acuff**. The result is a deeply rooted, emotionally resonant celebration of American roots music. --- ### 🎶 **Music & Production** Musically, the album is a masterclass in acoustic authenticity. The Dirt Band largely stepped back, acting as facilitators rather than stars, allowing the elder statesmen to shine. The instrumentation is organic and unpolished, with virtuosic performances on banjo, fiddle, and guitar. The inclusion of **between-song dialogue**—captured spontaneously by producer Bill McEuen—adds a layer of intimacy and historical context, making the listener feel present in the studio. **Pros:** - **Authenticity**: The album avoids commercial gloss, preserving the raw spirit of traditional music. - **Spontaneity**: The candid studio chatter enhances the album’s documentary feel. - **Musical chemistry**: The intergenerational collaboration feels natural and respectful. **Cons:** - **Length**: At 38 tracks, the album can feel overwhelming to casual listeners. - **Inconsistent pacing**: Some instrumental tracks may feel like filler to those unfamiliar with bluegrass traditions. - **Lo-fi production**: While charming to purists, the raw sound may not appeal to modern ears. --- ### 📝 **Lyrics & Themes** The songs are steeped in **grief, faith, and family**, echoing the sentiments of Appalachian spirituals and rural ballads. The title track, *Will the Circle Be Unbroken*, is a **funeral dirge** that questions whether loved ones will reunite in heaven. It’s a hymn of hope and mourning, capturing the album’s central theme: the **circle of life, death, and legacy**. Other standout tracks like *Wreck on the Highway* and *The Precious Jewel* explore **mortality and spiritual longing**, while instrumentals like *Tennessee Stud* and *Foggy Mountain Breakdown* celebrate musical virtuosity and heritage. **Pros:** - **Emotional depth**: The lyrics are rich with spiritual and existential reflection. - **Cultural preservation**: Many songs are rescued from obscurity, honoring forgotten voices. - **Intergenerational dialogue**: The album’s themes emphasize continuity and shared heritage. **Cons:** - **Repetitive themes**: The focus on death and salvation may feel narrow or heavy-handed to some. - **Lack of lyrical innovation**: The Dirt Band didn’t write much new material, sticking mostly to covers. --- ### 🌍 **Influence & Legacy** Few albums have had the **cross-generational impact** of *Will the Circle Be Unbroken*. It introduced 1970s rock and folk audiences to country legends, helping to **revive the careers** of artists like Maybelle Carter and Roy Acuff. It also laid the groundwork for the **Americana and alt-country movements**, influencing artists from **Emmylou Harris** to **Valerie June**. The album went **gold**, a rare feat for a triple-disc folk record, and inspired two sequels. More importantly, it became a **symbol of reconciliation** during a divisive era, with many listeners recounting how it helped bridge gaps with older family members. --- ### ✅ **Final Verdict** **Pros:** - A historic, heartfelt collaboration between generations. - Musically rich and emotionally resonant. - Helped revive traditional country and bluegrass for a new audience. **Cons:** - Long and occasionally uneven. - May feel dated or inaccessible to some modern listeners. - Limited original songwriting from the Dirt Band themselves. --- **Rating: 9/10** *Will the Circle Be Unbroken* is not just an album—it’s a **living document of American music**, a **spiritual journey**, and a **bridge across time**. Its influence is still felt today, not just in country music, but in the broader Americana and roots scenes.
Not my thing
Way too long
Yeeeeeeeehaw. Banjo-picking good.
a really awesome overview of early country music with some of the most important people in the genre participating. this is really a greatest hits of all the tunes of that era with some of the biggest, most important players in the space paying tribute to from whence they came. it's all really great, but the tunes that Mother Maybelle Carter sings on here are Capital S Special.
It’s good bluegrass. You one you’ve heard them all.
This was like listening to the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. This was enjoyable, especially Disc 2 on this set since it's more instrumental, but it was also exhaustive and excessive in its running time, reaching the absolutely and completely unnecessary 2 hour mark.
Decent bluegrass album. Enjoyed it
Their seventh album. Country / Folk. One of the tougher albums to get through of the two hundred and twenty odd albums I've had so far. Track three was a noodly, doodly, diddley doo instrumental, and at that point I knew I was in for a long two hours. Still, I did it. I've heard the album and it's filtered through my brain along with thousands of other albums I've heard in my life. This particular one will get filed away deep out in the back of my conciousness and gather some dust. Anyway, I've this strange urge to watch The Dukes of Hazzard so I am signing off...
Country, 1972 -> 2
I scanned a couple of tracks, but this would just be wholly unenjoyable to sit through two discs of this.
Actually not all that bad, the vibe is on point (although there is quite a bit of spongebob music on this thing). Swampy southern redneck country. This outfit can definitely play but two hours is a little much.. Also, minus a point for de confederate flag..
"Let's cut it up like a pie." Lots of pickin fun. Gorgeous version of Both Sides Now that feels so different from the rest of the album. The studio and stage banter is interesting, at times, but finishing an already long album with 8 minutes of it is unnecessary.
Aside from the fact Country Music is the only genre of music I loathe, the album is longer than the average feature film, contains some of the most ear-bleeding vocals I've ever heard, and is littered with senseless collaborations. This is the worst album in this generator I've heard so far. Favorite Track: "I Saw The Light".
I quite like a lot of bluegrass/country so when I saw t description of this I was quite excited. Afterwards I have sympathy for anyone who cannot stand bluegrass. 2 hours was a bit much. Still, loads of the songs especially tt instrumentation and instrumentals were great, plus the title track. I actually really enjoyed the latter few tracks which were mostly false starts and idle conversation. I reckon an edited version would be an easy 4 and I'd go back. Lots of familiar melodies in here too.
bluegrass is so much more fun than country. is this a safe space to admit that i kind of really fucking love a banjo? it’s the most whimsical instrument. overall, it’s impossible to stay in a bad mood with this album. on the negative side, this album is 4 working days long. it is three albums in a trench coat.
I had no idea what to expect here... Then I heard the first track and my heart sank. Country nonsense. So I checked how long it was. It looked like about 7 hours. Gah. i hate that country twang vocal thing. Off it goes... However, I actually like the bluesyness and some of the guitar work is great. It's all upbeat, it's fun, some nice harmonies, reminds me of oh brother where art though. Oh no. I liked it. It was too bloody long though.
It's good, but feels far to long. It could have used a fair amount of cutting down to just the best, rather than the hour+ slog it is.
Oh Gritty, Where Art Thou?
Hell yeah, yeehaw, this is the shit! Musicians just having fun doing their thing. Singing about life, love and disappointment. What the hell happened to country music?! I understand things evolve but things have not gotten better. Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley eat your heart out. Anybody can make records and albums. This is MUSIC!
Sweet home
Tämä on perinteistä kantria banjoa Cowboy meininkiä
++: Grand Ole Opry Song, Keep on the Sunny Side, Nashville Blues, Black Mountain Rag, The End of the World, I Saw the Light, Nine-Pound Hammer, Losin' You (Might Be the Best Thing Yet), Hony Tonkin', My Walkin' Shoes, Lonesome Fiddle Blues, Cannonball Rag, Flint Hill Special, Togary Mountain, Earl's Breakdown, Orange Blossom Special, Lost Highway, Doc Watson & Merle Travis First Meeting (Dialogue), Down Yonder, Honky Tonk Blues, I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes, I am a Pilgrim, Soldier's Joy, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Both Sides Now, Warming Up for "The Opry", Remember Me +: You Are My Flower, Tennessee Stud, Sunny Side of the Mountain, You Don't Know My Mind, Avalanche, Way Downtown, Pins And Needles (In My Heart), Sailin' on to Hawaii, Wildwood Flower, Foggy Mountain Breakdown +-: The Precious Jewel, Dark as a Dungeon, Wreck on the Highway, Wabash Cannonball -: Sunny Side 9,0/10
Oooh I really enjoyed this! Very, very long though. Loses a star for that. Could have condensed this, especially the instrumentals Yeehaw 4 ⭐️
This is some classic bluegrass and gospel and country swing and it's great, but a double album is...a lot. I did like the first album quite a bit, though.
-i can’t believe i just listened to a 2 hour long bluegrass album. even more surprising was that i kinda liked it -i’ve always enjoyed bluegrass / banjo instrumentals but i feel like this album gave me a new appreciation for the genre as a whole, including the vocals which may be a huuugely acquired taste for anyone under the age of 60. very solid poster album for the genre imo -Favorites: Black Mountain Rag, Lonesome Fiddle Blues, Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Fiddles. Lots of fiddles. Banjo. Lots banjos. Pickin and slidin. Fun lane change.
The cover of this album gives off many "Civil War" vibes. Also, this is A LOT of bluegrass music at one time. Maybe an instrumental or seven could have been cut? This has a place in this book, as it is an excellent example of very quality bluegrass music. It's an embarrassment of riches how many artists are represented on Will the Circle Be Unbroken. I rarely know exactly who is singing (unless I look at the liner notes/Wikipedia) but that does not necessarily matter. I do not know how often I would sit down and listen to this album, but I will add it to my 1001 album playlist that I have created. Possibly going to leave out some of the instrumentals. I enjoyed this album though. It's hard to say what my favorite tracks were, so I'll just say I would recommend nearly all of them.
I get that bluegrass isn't everyone's thing, but some of these reviews are hilarious myopic. "ugh, I hate country this SUCKS." Earlets, lmao
Tried - but too country for me …
WAY TOO HICK! WAY TOO LONG! couldn’t even get halfway through ZERO!!!!! STARS!!!!!
Not great.
Not an “album” really but a very important document of what American music was like long before there were “albums.” Very well performed and produced.
Not for me
Wayyyyyy too long.
This list has been going truly bonkers with the albums nobody gives a fuck about lately. I've never heard of this album/artist before, and this is quite possibly the most lost I've been on a genre prediction. Is this gonna be a rock album? It vaguely reminds me of the first pressing cover for Beggar's Banquet, though I already know that I'm far off from the correct answer. Country. I should have known- TWO FUCKING HOURS? That's outrageous. I am forcefully bringing the end segment of my reviews to this point because I need to check why this is in here. Let's see. The book says that there were a lot of collaborators on this album, it sold well and brought country listeners together. Not sold yet - over to Wikipedia I go. Absolutely nothing on there. I guess this has some historical significance and the number of collaborators is pretty impressive, but hmmm. I dunno. I think we can do without a two hour country album. In place of this album, I humbly submit Full Speed Ahead by Pain for inclusion on the list. Anyways, this is fine. Very standard, formulaic country. Not to say that's a bad thing. The vocal performances are solid across the board, and I enjoy the prominent Gaelic influence in some of the instrumentals. Of course, that length is pretty inexcusable and there were more than a few times where I felt the album was just throwing whatever at the wall, especially with the instrumental slump that the album falls into midway through its runtime. Still, there are worse things I could do with two precious hours of my life. Whether it be the daunting tracklist or my ambivalence towards this genre of music, there wasn't much on here which really hooked me. Still, there were some alright cuts. I liked "Grand Ole Opry Song", "Avalanche" and "Both Sides Now". The rest of the songs on here were listenable, but unremarkable.
I despise country so this album was my worst nightmare. 42 songs that, to me, all sound the same. I can’t give it a one star rating because it’s terrible to me, but it’s not completely terrible. I can only take so much banjo, fiddle and nasal singing. A 42 track double album is about 10 times more than I’m able or willing to consume.
NO COUNTRY
Decent for a one time listen, but still this was a slog to get through.
Фігня
Not for me in the slightest, that being said I appreciate the live recording and chatter before some performances begin. If I cared about these people it would be so cool to hear. Still is tbf. “Nashville Blues” was pretty cool
Good ole country fun. I felt like i should be watching wacky races and cheering for the hillbilly gang. Im probably wrong as im not of the relevant age, location or musical genre.
Not my kind of thing. Ok for a few tracks, but it got very samey, and I did not need a double album of it.
Excellent instrumental tracks.
Entirely too long.
Quite enjoyed this as chilled background music - not hugely into country but it’s a nice soundtrack to a morning!
An album loaded with Nashville stars. If you like country bluegrass this album is for you. Loaded with classic songs Orange Blossom Special Black Mountain Rag Honky Tonk Blues Wabash Cannonball Grand Ol Opry and of course Will The Circle Be Unbroken
I'm afraid I only made it through half of this country rock (with a big epmphasis on the country) album. What possessed these guys to produce a triple album of this stuff is beyond me.
6 some good some really bad
No, because the Circle Of Trust doesn't work if you don't trust anyone in it.
Du bon stock. Je retire une étoile en raison de leur probable consciente connivence avec la CIA qui déployait une stratégie de "cultural cold war'' durant la guerre froide avec la Russie. La Russie faisait de même et les deux pays sont au même niveau machiavélique. Je conseille le balado journalistique "Wind of Change" de Patrick Radden Keefe qui part de la prémisse que la chanson Wind of Change de Scorpions n'a pas été écrite par Klaus Meine mais par la CIA. Je ne donne pas la conclusion... (On apprend dans ce balado que des artistes tels que Louis Armstrong et nulle autre qui Nina Simone ont été manipulés, à leur insu dans leurs cas, par la CIA pour participer à des événements de rapprochement USA-Afrique /// et Nina Simone qui renommait son pays United Snakes of America...)
Je comprends que c'est une sorte d'anthologie du bluegrass. D'excellents musiciens. J'adore les pièces avec la dobro même si l'accent sur les effets "slides" sont tellement prononcés que c'en est un peu kitscj. Exemple the end of the world. Version surprenante un peu baroque de both sides now bien jolie aussi. 2h9min c'est du costaud!
Agréable en bouche mais là je me suis pas rendu au bout des 2 heures!
I'd forgotten all about this. Weirdly brilliant. Half history and half hoedown.
Way too long of an album. Anything that doesn't have the old masters should have been cut. I do like bluegrass though and there's not very much I've encountered anything like this on the list.
Ok but not brilliant
This has to be one of the best albums ever made. How is it possible not to like this?
This is the type of shit people mean when they say they listen to everything but country music.
6 Liked it a lot feels like it took me somewhere cosy
bluegrass. fiddle. banjo. jingle jangle!
This is pretty good for what it is, but I really don't get into this kind of stuff. It's nice in small doses, though.
So many great songs. Such a great album.
As far as old-school bluegrass goes, here's your mother lode. And this also includes exemplars and heroes, geniuses and visitors, brilliants and solids. If you want an intro to the form, this is a great place to start, intriguingly eclectic.
Unfortunately, this album became a bit of an albatross around my neck. Because this was the album of the day when home issues began to overtake my life. Circumstances dictate that during the day I have no Wi-Fi and patchy phone Reception at best. So it’s been very difficult to listen to anything. So the only time I Di have is a few minutes in the morning when making my cats breakfast. But of course it had to be the album where it’s 400 songs and 17 million hours long. For a few days I kept returning to the beginning to try and give it my full attention, until I realised how long it was. And then every morning it became a matter of “ oh God, I’m only seven songs in” or “ really, I’m only on song 12/17/26/32 - how much more already?” And it’s not like every morning became a different listening experience. I couldn’t really differentiate between many of the songs. They were fine but when could I move on? There were a couple of standouts, funnily enough the instrumentals: lonesome fiddle blues, both sides now, foggy mountain breakdown. Those are the ones I remembered. Pins and needles for the lyrics. But I’m not sure I should’ve devoted three weeks to finishing this album when I pretty much knew on day one what I felt about the songs. They’re fine, but now it’s time to move on.
The beginning of lonesome fiddle blues sounded like the beginning of the devil, went down to Georgia
Sure. Fun. Admittedly, as much as I typically love background chatter and hot mic stuff from recording sessions, the ones included here weren't nearly as enticing as I would have expected. And I guess I don't love this style of music, especially this nitty and gritty. A little more polish works better for me.
Nice gathering of country legends from several generations. The playing is great throughout, and it's nice to hear the interactions between the players. What's not to like?
I just love me some old time mountain music.
This is a a great album to have on the list. It's got a ton of skill and style and shows off a huge range. If you wanted something in a time capsule to encompass music, this covers way more ground than most albums. Painfully long, but I didn't dislike any of it. Very strong four.
Seeing a 2 hour listen pop up was pretty intimidating. When I figured out what it was it changed my mood. What an amazing homage to the Nashville sound. Bluegrass and Classic Country without being corny. Growimg up my grandparents and parents would randomly sing a bunch of these old folk songs. The way this was recorded is so good. Some of the best banjo picking ever, almost makes me tear up. Keep on the Sunny Side, Nashville Blues, Dark as a Dungeon, I Saw the Light, Earl's Breakdown, Orange Blosom Special, Wabash Cannonball, It's got It's blemishes, but it's a nice collection that pays respect to some of the greats. Good jumping off point if you dig into the credits.
A collection of old-timey songs that somehow manages to make nostalgia feel like a chore. The performances are earnest, sure, but by the third hymn you’re mostly asking yourself why anyone thought this needed revisiting. Comforting? Maybe. Exciting? Not even close.
Album No. 0037 on my list. I'll keep this review rather short. I get that this may have been an important album in country music, but I'm really not that much into bluegrass and this traditional country sound. And to be frank, 2 hours of it was a bit much. 2/5 stars.
2.4 - This was hard going. Sure they are great and its genre defining, but I guess it's hard to listen for such a long time
2.3/5
2h10min raakaa ja rehellistä kantria. Jos haluaa aivan perinteistä kantria niin ei oikeastaan tarvitse muuta kuin tämän levyn. Näin pitkään levyyn mahtuu monipuolisuutta vaikka monessa kohtaa levyä kappaleet tuntuivatkin toistavan itseään. Välillä tuntui hulluuskin iskevän kun kuunteli toista tuntia hillbilly banjo mayhemiä. Mutta kokonaisuutena hyvä perinteinen kantri kokoelma. Parhaat: Nashville Blues, Both Sides Now,
Als we dan toch country moeten luisteren, dan wel het liefst bluegrass. In die zin is dit met vlagen nog best een leuk album. Het feit dat het zo'n soort super samenwerking is, is voor de echte fans ook smullen neem ik aan. Het grote nadeel is wel dat het twee uur duurt en een soort van skits bevat. Dan kun je met nog zoveel goede wil beginnen aan zo'n album, maar uiteindelijk gaat het geknauw je wat irriteren en ben je opgelucht dat het er eindelijk op zit. Dat maakt zo'n album niet makkelijk te raten. Als je een beetje zelf een selectie hieruit maakt van een half uurtje dan valt hier makkelijk een 3, misschien zelfs wel een 4 uit te slepen. Moet je hier in één keer helemaal doorheen (als niet-liefhebber) dan is het lastig om op iets anders uit te komen dan een 2. Ik vind het eigenlijk toch wel terecht dat het in deze lijst staat. Als je dit koopt en je houdt hiervan dan krijg je wel waar voor je geld. Ik zal de individuele liedjes niet onthouden maar het album wel. Dus in die zin een geinige entry, maar dus wel slechts 2 sterren van mij.
TWO HOURS….TEN MINUTES….I will never get that time back. I hate the cover with the traitor flag! The music was awful and grating from the very beginning, and TWO HOURS AND TEN MINUTES later it was still grating. I think I deserve a cookie at the very least cause I actually listened to this album and didn’t give up. You can’t say I don’t take this list seriously cause I just kept telling myself it was gunna get better or that I was eventually gunna find something I like. I was wrong and I should be ashamed of myself for lying to myself like that. Ok, joking aside, this is by far one of the worst albums I have listened to because of this list. This album was so bad I had to see if this band ever did anything I would appreciate in any capacity and sadly they only got worse over time. This album is totally garbage but they pop country songs they released in the 80s should be a crime. Seriously, avoid this religious garbage at all costs.
one song is enough for me, but i get the love
So I have a whole week of albums to catch up on and then I get this two-f**king hour country shit to start with... God give me the strength... 01) Grand Ole Opry Song - 5,5 02) Keep on the Sunny Side - 6,5 03) Nashville Blues - 7,5 04) You Are My Flower - 6,0 05) The Precious Jewel - 5,5 06) Dark as a Dungeon - 6,0 07) Tennessee Stud - 6,0 08) Black Mountain Rag - 6,5 09) Wreck on the Highway - 5,5 10) The End of the World - 5,0 11) I Saw the Light - 6,0 12) Sunny Side of the Mountain - 5,5 13) Nine-Pound Hammer - 6,0 14) Losin' You (Might Be the Best Thing Yet) - 6,5 15) Honky Tonkin' - 5,5 16) You Don't Know My Mind - 5,0 17) My Walkin' Shoes - 6,0 18) Lonesome Fiddle Blues - 6,0 19) Cannonball Rag - 6,0 20) Avalanche - 5,5 21) Flint Hill Special - 5,0 22) Togary Mountain - 5,0 23) Earl's Breakdown - 5,0 24) Orange Blossom Special - 5,0 25) Wabash Cannonball - 5,0 26) Lost Highway - 5,5 27) Doc Watson & Merle Travis First Meeting (Dialogue) - 1,0 28) Way Downtown - 5,5 29) Down Yonder - 5,0 30) Pins and Needles (In My Heart) - 5,5 31) Honky Tonk Blues - 5,5 32) Sailin' on to Hawaii - 5,0 33) I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes - 6,0 34) I am a Pilgrim - 5,5 35) Wildwood Flower - 7,5 36) Soldier's Joy - 5,0 37) Will the Circle Be Unbroken - 7,5 38) Both Sides Now - 5,5 TOTAL: 5,61 (56/100) Current ranking: 592/699
This is way too honky tonk for me.
Definitely not my thing.
if you don't love kentucky bluegrass country i feel bad for you son
Fuck this shit
A bit repetitive cause its long but really nice
Will the circle be unbroken
it sounded fine, and i’m sure i would’ve loved this if i was into this genre a lot or if i grew up with it, but i don’t and am not, 2 hours of hardcore country music was challenging
Bluegrass but good bluegrass - not my usual style of music but I enjoyed it a surprising amount.
Starting this challenge with this album makes it miserably hard to keep going. The third song reminded me of that one Wii Cow racing game, which made it quite a fun listen. By the fourth song, I was ready to bite my ears off…
This one’s tough, not only because it’s another 2+ hour album, but because that much country and bluegrass in one sitting is a lot to take in. There are a few enjoyable songs here, but as a whole it’s a bit much. Keeping all the rambling between tracks didn’t help either.
Ratings: 5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background Started strong...banjo + fiddle isn't something I listen to often. Wore a little long by the end (usually I try and listen at least 3 times through an album, but only 2x for this one). Not a genre I'll turn to often, but a great example of the value of working through this list.
Enough bluegrass to choke an entire Confederate army
Love the sound, less the godliness
Boring from 5th song
Bluegrass
The sound of America...when it's united. Been awhile.
Lubię country i folk. Folk lubię nawet bardzo, ale na Boga! Ponad dwie godziny ekstremalnego country to już lekka przeginka! Gdyby było to krótsze to dałabym może 5/10, może nawet 6 w zależności od doboru utworów, ale tak? 4/10 i nigdy więcej.
It's nice music but wow did you really need to make this much music for one album... I would have loved to listen to a concise album that was thoroughly curated
I'm not averse to a bit of old-timey country and I already knew a fair number of these songs (mainly through Johnny Cash), but this might be too much of a good thing. Cutting out all the studio chatter would have been a start in keeping this to a more manageable length.
Will My Patience Be Unbroken? No.
Probably the first album that has really surprised me. My genre of choice is 90's Electronica/Indie and always been wary of country/country & western. I was deflated when I saw it was going to be 2 hours of country music but I was proved very wrong. It was a foot tapper, head nodder, thought provoking album. Yes, it's probably too long and some songs don't quite hit the spot which marks the album down a touch. Would I listen to all the album again, probably not but definitely will add my favourites to my spotify list.
I actually quite liked this album, it was fun to hear this old school country! And it was quite long but it was pretty good still
Third fucking country album in a row. There are so many country albums in this list I'm starting to think whoever compiled it huffed gasoline and paint thinner in a Louisiana outhouse.
Yeeee-hawwww I'm 'ridin down my ma and paw's dirt road again.
5/10… Country / Folk
I'm not keen on their accents in the spoken intros. Is it wrong to dislike an accent?! But they can certainly play and 'Nashville Blues' is spectacularly good, as is 'Black Mountain Rag' and 'Canonball Rag'. So close to traditional Irish or Scottish music, the roots of this music must lie there. 'You are My Flower' is pretty and sweet. 'Dark as a Dungeon' is good. In general I prefer the instrumentals. There are so many singers here, some I like much more than others! 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' is the only song here I know, but I much prefer the Wonders tuff version!
Made me feel like I was in Red Dead Redemption 2. I rather enjoyed this. It’s a style of country that sounds like it could be much older than 1972. As a Brit I found their accents endearing, and while this was very long at 2 hours 9 minutes, I quite enjoyed the gaps of chatting between songs. I felt like I was getting to know the cast of a Western film, and the length meant it all had sufficient time to breathe and set the scene. It was like listening to a session of a band recording an album, rather than the album itself. Which would only work if you’re invested in the band, and despite me having never heard of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band before, I enjoyed their humorous quips and monologues. A bit like the ‘Get Back’ Beatles documentary, but honky tonk. I haven’t even mentioned yet the fact that these are incredibly talented musicians. It was clearly all recorded live, with lots of improvisation. The guitars, strings and vocals are all excellent throughout. A very enjoyable listen. Yee haw!
Loved this!
Classic country
The beautiful sound of fucking your sister.
Fun to listen to! But a bit overwhelming by the amount of songs
Very washboard band. Probably fun live
I've made onto disc 2, but yep, bluegrass is not for me. I understand the album is important because it bridges old bluegrass artists to the 70's generation, but itbis not too digestable. I wonder if Robert Dimery could not care to dig into bluegrass and just popped this album in the list as a bluegrass representative. 2/5
Refreshing look at some old classics. This was unexpected as I am not a fan of country music
dogwater
The inclusion of audio from the musicians’ conversations about recording and how to play certain songs strengthens the overall feeling of disparate groups jamming, jelling, into a fusion of America sounds. My main criticism of the album is the sheer length. As an archival treasure trove of an effort to unite sounds, it’s excellent; as a single collection of tracks, it’s overwhelming. Some standouts: Dark as a Dungeon, Wreck on the Highway, I Saw the Light, Tennessee Stud
Interesting old school country. Lot of behind the scenes cuts and collabs with country legends on classic songs. A little raw but ok.
to be completely honest i really pictured this band being all muppets. i don't know what this says about me but i'm pretty sure this belongs on a muppet show jug band segment
Some really good stuff in here. More of a compendium than an album. Still going to rate it highly since I appreciate bluegrass music.
A+ bluegrass sampler.
At first I didn’t appreciate it but several tracks in I got it.
3.6 1x liked it more than expected and flagging to listen through again. would like to see some of their concert footage too
Not bad, a whole lot of bluegrass and gospel standards. I also realized that the grand ole Opry is the Apollo theater for white people.
Can't say that Bluegrass is my favourite and I found everything on here super compelling but there was enough here to enjoy. Probably would have done with a bit of cutting from a triple to a double album though.
A lot listen. But there are some classics for me on this album like Keep on the Sunny Side.
Fucking hate this. Makes me wanna kick a horse
A two-hour, three-LP album sounds like a daunting task but this is such a rambunctious and at-times heart-tugging body of work that the length just doesn't matter to me. Sure, just start a bunch of songs chatting or plotting out what you're about to record. Take your time! Their interpretations of these Hank Williams tunes and various other traditionals feature incredible finger-picking and fiddling. The songs with Roy Acuff are real standouts. I make it a point to listen to these albums the way they were initially released (no additional songs added on later reissues) but got some faulty information and wound up listening to a few songs more that were not on the original. Oh well. I had a blast. Highlights: The Precious Jewel, Wreck on the Highway, I Saw the Light, My Walkin' Shoes, Foggy Mountain Breakdown (later reissue)
Even if the genre isn’t a particular favorite, the musicianship on display here is undeniable. As with most triple albums, this one’s a bit bloated, but the songs are breezy and not the least bit self indulgent, which prevents the listening experience from feeling interminable. It’s like eavesdropping on an intimate jam session where everybody gets a turn to shine—and they don’t disappoint.
Reverent collaboration between contemporary musicians and Nashville legends.
Two hours and ten minutes of bluegrass/country fusion, I feel like I just lived an episode of ‘Justified’. I think bluegrass is out of all of our wheelhouses. I never seek this out, but every time I listen to bluegrass, it’s pleasant enough. There were a handful of songs on here I’d listen to again, but this was a huge collaboration album with traditional country legends, and it seems like they recorded every song in one take. Lots of chatter and improv before and after the songs, which I guess is part of the bluegrass experience; it’s basically hillbilly jam band. All that said, it was fine, but too long and way too much non-musical talking in between songs to garner more than a 3/5 from me.
I don't like bluegrass enough to give this a 5, but this was exactly what I needed this time of year. I usually like to work in some bluegrass in the fall, but get stuck with either super old stuff like flatt & scruggs or super modern jam band adjacent stuff like yonder mountain. This not only scratched that itch, but worked its way into semi regular rotation.
My third country album in a row (yes, I'm God's strongest soldier). Sorry, but there's no way I'll listen to all 42 songs on this; 17 were more than enough. Musically, it doesn't sound that bad (the best tracks were the instrumental ones), but as a whole, it's just not for me
Great stuff, but too much for listening to as an album. Good to keep in my back pocket when the mood strikes.
I like this yee haw shit and I am not sorry about it
Some damn fine music here, though I must admit I didn't get to the end - it lapsed into more pure instrumentals after a while and I lost some interest (will finish it off at work today). The mark lost is for the overly American Christian nature of some of the songs, which rankle due to the crap that the Christian right wing are perpetrating in the US today.
Not my kind of music. Sorry. ★
nashville blues
Any wokerati on here? If so they won’t be best please with this bands name. If they are wringing their hands in anger then this album has done its job so I salute it for that. But that is the best thing I can say about it. 1/5 13/8/25
Authentic country/bluegrass. It's quite OK.
Living in the south now I learned a bit about modern bluegrass and country and this is pretty cool. I didn't listen to all of it but I don't see the length as an issue because it's more of an anthology/playlist than an album. In that way if I'm ever in the mood for some southern folk I will definitely put this on. My favorite track so far is the Tennessee stud.
Let’s be real, this album is a full on front porch bluegrass jam session, the kind that feels right at home with hillbillies dancing around, moonshine in hand, and a few missing teeth.
To me, this is the best bluegrass album of all time and should be exactly what you recommend to someone who wants to know what bluegrass is. Since I have never heard a better BG album, I have to give this high marks. it is the standard. Pure Americana.
Why was that so long!?
Debated with myself a bit on whether to go two or three stars on this one. If it was half the length it is I would probably have been debating between three and four. I didn't have strong negative feelings about any individual track (and on most of them I skewed positive-of-neutral) but 130 minutes of this stuff... it's a lot. But I get that they were going for the whole campfire-evening-with-the-band vibe, and I respect that—it makes sense for the kind of music this is. Earns the three from me in the end.
Oh boy. This is VERY country - gritty or dirty it ain't - and there's a LOT of it. Bad start. But as far as positives go I liked many of the instrumental numbers, and was generally charmed by the quaintness of it all, particularly the earnest, amiable pre-song chatter. I have no idea who most of these people were but the sense of reverence between (who I presume to be) veteran bluegrass legends did rub off on me somewhat. Happy enough to have been introduced to this one, even though I won't return to it. 2.5
This one took me completely by storm; a must repeat listen!
I don't know how much I enjoyed this album, but gosh do I respect it. 2 hours of bluegrass was never going to be something I actively sought out, but having listened to this in It's entirety I'm taken aback at just how versatile and dynamic it is. There are points where you're whiplashed from a crooning ballad straight into dueling banjos. I was sure I'd hate this and I'm chuffed to have been proven wrong.
I couldn't make it through this one. 2 hours of folk music and conversation in between the songs. 1/5
Not my jam but has heart and charm
The album was considered a breakthrough in bridging generational and musical differences between the old guard of Nashville, Tennessee, and the younger country rock movement (of the 1970s). So important historically, but herp-de-derp country music doesn’t make my 1001 albums! 2⭐️ (for historical reasons)
Most excellent pickin'
The Muppets jug band has some serious chops
About 90 mins too much country music for me
Lots of banjo. Country standards
Better on each listen. Some very sad lyrics. Cracking musicianship!
Giving it a 1 for the genre more than the record. I managed 5 songs then tapped out, another one for the Guantanamo Bay resident DJ.
Insane to have a 40-track triple (quadruple?) album with like eight instrumental fiddle tracks in the middle. But even though this is really bloated it honestly feels like a staggering achievement, it's a piece of genuine history.
very long and nothing stands out but an enjoyable album to kick back and put on in the background. 3.5 stars
This makes me think of my dad. He really enjoyed American roots music, including spirituals, and I think this would have been right up his alley. Hell, it's possible we had a copy when I was growing up, I certainly recognize many of the tunes... that said, these are American songbook sort of tunes, the kind of songs that anyone who grew up in a certain time would know. Some of the performances of some of these tunes on the live Johnny Cash records are all time great!
Love it. Legends. But too much album for a 1001 album list 😄
His best album for sure
I really enjoyed listening to this, it's a piece of history
This is an absolute smoker of an album. If you are not already familiar with these legends, it just might blow your mind.
Never heard of this collab and it was so much fun. Not a country fan by any means, but this is way better than your classic country......because it's real country. Banjo, strings, harmonica, definitely your local barn hootenanny. This album is such a great idea, bringing together the old gen and the new gen to jam out, collab and bond for music. Kind of like the We Are The World collab. I really enjoyed hearing the bits before the tracks of how they approach the song as a way to connect the listener, because this album is about connecting the generations through music. I was scared of the 2 hour duration of both CD's, but this isn't an album you have to really analyze, it's importance is the collaboration of these great artists playing together and nailing all the songs in 1 or 2 takes.
Cozy.
2 fucking hours of banjo, no thanks
wow this is amazing
Not a regular country listener but really enjoyed this. Not everything was memorable but the vibe is lovely for a Sunday afternoon. Enjoyed the mix of tunes, instrumental bits and recording session chatter. It is an chunky listen at 2 hours so buckle in!
2 hours was a bit much.
I should be on a porch rocking in a chair with a beer
I'll be up front with my bias. I hate country and bluegrass music. With that out of the way, there was no way this album wasn't going to be my own personal hell for two hours. Also, this albums cover art is yet another reason to hate it.
Southern, good surprising
Love this, especially the songs w no vocals. Not what I’m used to from them but great
Interesting snapshot of a different time and culture. Some catchy tunes but I could do with a shorter run time and less chitter chatter.
You don't get to listen most of the music on this list without recognizing that the songs and artists this album pays tribute to are responsible in some way. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band put to wax the stories and intentions behind the songs that built country and rock with the people that wrote, sang, and recorded them. Kudos to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for recognizing that this music could be long lost had it not been shared with current and future generations. 5/5
Can't stand this whiney music
This whole album sounds like a Jimmy Dean sausage commercial.
Country folk. Great musicianship
Love it. Bluegrass at its finest. 4/5
Wow. That was amazing. I loved all the outtakes, it humanized professional musicians for me.
Досить цікавйи досвід. Я б навряд цей альбом з такими традиційним кантрів увімкнув би. Насправді дуже багато хороших пісень. Проблема самого альбому, що такий формат кантрі має свої музичні стандарти і звучить все не дуже варіативно. Якщо це додатково накласти на тривалість альбому, то в якийсь момент ці перебори гітарні потроху починають підгружати.
Ой ні, соррі.
Very nice
There are places for bluegrass in this world, but on a double album coming out of speakers in my home is not one of the them.
I absolutely did not need to listen to 42 bluegrass and old-style country songs. There's some genuinely great music on this bloated album, for sure, but not enough to earn it more than three stars.
I loved this album. Will definitely listen to again. Upbeat and fun!
Happy to add context to my 80s-flavored perception of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and I really liked a few of the songs, including Keep on the Sunny Side, You Are My Flower, I’m Thinking of My Blue Eyes, and Both Sides Now. I’m a Carter Family and Doc Watson fan, so most of their songs resonated. Roy Acuff not as much. While the title track is pretty good, it doesn’t crack the top three versions of that song, IMO. For me, bluegrass is the speed metal of country music, and I have limited patience for it. This gargantuan collection exceeds those limits.
3/5 - I needed to hear maybe 5 songs of this album, but certainly not 2 hours. This is like when someone suggests The Count of Monte Cristo for your bookclub. You've got an epic assignment of 1200 pages of classic material to consume, and you've more or less got the gist 1/5 of the way in, because it's all more of the same. There's not going to be any surprises on side B of this monster. This is a documentary-worthy piece of work that is important for all sorts of reasons, I'm sure. It belongs on this list. I'll give it a 3 because if I'm in the unlikely mood for some bluegrass, now I know where to go. That said, it can't go any higher because: a) It's more of a catalog than an artistic statement as an album and b) I hate skits on country/bluegrass albums as much as I do on hip-hop albums. Just play the song; isn't the album already long enough?
Actually good country.
It's pretty cool. This is still not my type of music, but at least this album is more energetic than country usually is, which I appreciate. It's definitely too long, and I prefer a couple of long songs over a bunch of shorter ones, but I still had fun. 7/10
Will This Album Ever End? I'm not listening to all that. First 5 songs were fine.
There was a night, I think searching out a faddish eatery, where I remember walking through the West End of London and being a taken aback, not by the garish vehicles or distracting relative cleanliness of the streets, but by the number of brands advertising that I’d simply never heard of. A whole universe of stuff that had never needed to tell me it existed, and so didn’t. I feel something similar with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; while I might expected to discover a flash in the pan group with a respectable couple of hundred thousand listeners, in fact the group has been recording music for 60 years and still reports monthly listeners in the 5-6 million bracket. Atop that, this record’s a kind of living museum piece. An ensemble cast of important musicians from genres as diverse as bluegrass and honky tonk (sorry, sorry), brought together to kind of live-instantiate the shift from tradition to electrification. With that said, the record itself feels appropriately self-knowing; obviously indebted to the hokey rhythms and bowing swings of what came before, but also clear-eyed about what it feels is the future of the genre (and often charming about pointing the way, too). Everything here is done with love. While I won’t soon rush to listen again, I feel grateful for the experience. (I was at one point reminded of The Magnetic Field’s “A chicken with its head cut off”; a silly ditty, but one obviously loaded with affection for the sort of thing conveyed by the Nittys.) I couldn’t tell you the name of a single one of those brands I saw that night in west London, but I can now tell you where you need to go if you’re looking for a decisive moment the history of the US’ dominant folk traditions (as they combined with rock n’roll) or need evidence of it in a retrospective format featuring key players drawn from across genre and generational lines. And that’s a lot cooler than knowing where to buy an overexpensive watch, for sure.
Really not a country fan. Two hours country is just too much
Have you ever been to Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom? That's what this album is. It's like listening to the Country Bear Jamboree or the music on the old Splash Mountain. And as enjoyable as those can be, I don’t want to listen to that for two hours straight. That's not to say this doesn't have merits. The guitar, violin, etc. playing is excellent, as are many of the harmonies. I just don't need 2 hours of this sound. Add in that it is a bunch of remakes and not original music, leaves this one towards the bottom of the barrel. Still giving it a 2 though, because this isn’t a band that is devoid of talent.
Yeah there are some good tracks on this but 2 hours of banjo twangs? I could live without
This album blew me away. No wonder it’s inducted into the library of congress. And when you learn more about what went into the creation of this album you appreciate it more. If someone can listen to this and not let out a Woo or Yee Haw after some of these songs, I don’t want to be friends with them.
Doodly doodly doo
There are 42 songs on the album. Around song 20 it became instrumentals only. This is the music that plays at Frontier town reenactments. They really love singing about dying and going to heaven and loved ones dying and going to heaven. So much so that I am starting to wonder if they are the ones sending them to heaven. Lots of Southern banter in between songs if you are into that kind of thing. Very talented musicians playing music that I just don’t really have any interest in. The best Christian country album I have heard. 6/10
Such an important musical document of so many legendary players. Shame there isn’t more country music on this list.
This was a surprisingly pleasant album to listen to. Just pure old country/bluegrass. I like the variety of artists that helped record this and everyone was masterful on their instruments. Some tracks are really good instrumentals, some are hokey old fashioned "simple country folk" themed, some are about the country itself. It's got a little of everything. The album really proves that in this genre you really can just look out the window and write a song about whatever you see as long as you make sure to tie it to God somehow. My gripes are that it's just a beast of an album, I don't want to listen to this for 2+ hours. I dont want to listen to anything for 2+ hours. Nothing sounds good for that long. I had to take a break before the second half to ward off old men's twangy voices from haunting my dreams. Next, I didn't love all the snippets of conversation before many of the tracks, its just distracting and takes you out of it. When your album is pushing 2.5 hours, I don't care what key your song is in and who should come in when, just get on with it. Finally, did I mention the twang? It's real twangy vocally. It just gets on my nerves after a bit. My favorites were the instrumentals like "Black Mountain Rag" "Avalanche" "Orange Blossom Special" "Both Sides Now" and a lot of the stuff on the second disk really. Get yer banjos, fiddles, and harmonicas out, it's a looooooooong but mostly enjoyable ride. 3/5
Was a bit apprehensive at first give it comes in at over 2 hours. But completely blown away so far! Some outstanding guitar, slide, banjo worn esp on 'nashville blues', 'black mountain rag' and 'lonesome fiddle blues'
1.0 - Awful
Americana/bluegrass. Definitely has a place on this list as it is a lengthy demonstration of this style of music, with a large group of musicians. Isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea, but very representative of the genre.
I have a lot of questions coming out of this one. Did it need to be two hours? How much shorter would it have been had they cut most of the instrumentals? How much shorter would it have been had they cut a lot of the useless studio chatter? And Who the hell do these people think they are? I'm sorry, but even if you absolutely love this genre of music, I find it hard to believe that you would also just be cool with this album being more than two hours long. Like, it's an insane listen. You couldn't possibly keep track of this thing. But let's take a step back. My ire towards this album is probably largely undue. I don't know the genre well enough to properly criticize or review this album fairly. I guess if you know all the country standards, that makes it a little easier. But I didn't know any of these songs until the title track, which comes at the end. It was a slog at times, and it's really easy to get lost in the instrumentals. They were fine, but there's too many. They felt like complete filler. This didn't need to be a triple album. I'm also left wondering if the band is even considered a standout artist in their genre. Their name feels corny and forced to me, but the musicianship is pretty incredible, I have to admit. The production, too, is stellar. But the content just isn't my thing. Make this a single album and I'm all for a fun country romp that ends after an hour. Double it in length, add filler in the form of studio chatter and instrumentals, and I'm out. Two stars. Standout Tracks: Nashville Blues, Tennessee Stud, Black Mountain Rag, You Don't Know My Mind, Avalanche, Togary Mountain, Earl's Breakdown, Will the Circle Be Unbroken
9/10 some reeeaaally really beautiful country you can’t help but love
Yeehaw but a little long
Good but probably about twice as long as I wanted it to be
I can appreciate the musicianship but it’s not a genre I enjoy
I liked it a lot more than i thought i would
Some great toe-tapping playing and fun banter from the musicians. Also another song about wanting to get with a 16 year old.
Shout out to Bioshock Infinite for pointing me in this band's direction back in 2013.
This is some fine pickin' but man does it go on way too long. This should've been split into 2 albums. Cool for a genre that this album came out in 1972 and still sounds like songs coming out today. Doesn't necessarily stick out though but a fine listen. 4.75/10 (2.375/5)
Would I listen to this again? Probably not, but this feels like a good record of Americana that is worth having been exposed to at least once, I appreciate its inclusion. Some really cool bluegrass in this. 4* Fun fact: I only know will the circle be unbroken from the excellent adaptation in bioshock infinite Highlights: black mountain rag, flint hill special, orange blossom special, both sides now (basically all instrumentals)
Over TWO HOURS? 42 SONGS? I thought maybe this was one of those deluxe edition albums with a load of live performances and outtakes padding it out (does anybody actually enjoy those?). But it turned out no, this is the album. I quite like bluegrass (in moderation!) and at times this was a lot of fun. At its best it made me think of O Brother Where Art Thou. At its worst, though, it felt more like Deliverance-level hillbilly material. They're clearly talented musicians and I can appreciate the value of what they were doing here, and all the collaborations they were able to include, but it's still a LOT of bluegrass for one day.
Skills!
The Good: It’s an easy question… The Bad: Uncertain if the band will like the answer… The Ugly: Double album... I knew of the band name when I saw the album pop up this morning… what I wasn’t ready for was the genre. I thought it was going to be some kind of stoner rock… Though I could spend minutes explaining why it is plausible that one should listen to this album at least once in their lifetime, I fear that I am going to be tarred and feathered, in good hillbilly style, for wasting people’s time. Yes, this is detrimental to American culture, so is throat singing to Bhuddist culture, yet I’m sure there isn’t a single throat chanting album on this list, and if there were, I am pretty certain it won’t last close to 2 hours… And to think that there is a Vol. 3 and Vol. 4 to this album… 2* for musicianship, it would have been 3 had it not been for that same annoying little mandolin lick being played...
Not my usual bag but I do appreciate me some Country Bluegrass. Classic.
Giving this album 3 stars while on vacation in Virginia. This is good driving music, but it is not my favorite type.
5 stars for the excellent musicianship; 3 stars for listening to so many country songs.
Not my fav
I'm sure this is a good collection of bluegrass classics by great musicians. As someone who doesn't have much contact with said genre, I don't really know. I can only say that I'm not impressed enough to listen more to all of it. It just sounds to similar and I hear many of these songs in better version by other artists. 'Tennessee Stud' interpreted by Johnny Cash is way cooler!
A joyous and really fun traditional country/bluegrass album with extremely good musicianship. It's an important album in the genre which brought together different generations. As an album, thoughy it doesn't really work that well - there are 42 songs which last almost two hours which makes it an extremely long album. Some parts are disjointed and not that consistent. So while I enjoyed this album musically, as an album it doesn't work too well. 3+ stars.
Thankfully I had a long solo car journey to break the back of this. But it was a slog. A triple album of banjo, fiddle, guitar and ‘harmonica’. And sometimes ‘voice’. 2 hours of monotony. Good skillful playing, but soooo repetitive and sooooo over long. I actually took the sat nav off mute so I would have an occasional "in a quarter of a mile turn left" to break the tedium. I will admit a couple of the tracks were ok. Exclusively they were instrumentals though, Nashville Blues and Lonesome Fiddle Blues were ok. And the version of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now was lovely (possibly because it was just a lone guitar - they didn’t let the rest of the band join in to fuck it up) But the majority, indeed all of the sung songs were just awful. And some tracks (My Walking Shoes springs to mind) were so bad I was tempted to crash the car to make it stop. Oh and the chit-chat tuneup tracks? Just why!? I don’t fucking care how you recorded it, or what instruments you like!! Just play the songs and shut the fuck up. Special shout-out though to the female singer. Maybelle Carter, I think was her name? Dreadful! Utterly tuneless. Tone deaf. They could have found a better voice in a dockyard karaoke bar. I don't know how she persuaded the executive to give her a recording contract, but it certainly couldn’t have been by singing. In summary I realise this album wasn’t recorded for me. And I understand that there are plenty brought up on this kind of music that love it. And good for them. But beyjesus, you should have gone for quality over quantity. 1½
Country be country
Cowgirls is the only thing I find appealing in cowboy life More or less the same song on repeat for two hors, interrupted by some old farts talking about nothing
confederate blues
Somehow two hours of bluegrass wasn’t too much bluegrass.
Only listened to the first disc as I felt the format was quite clear by then. By no means a bad album, I quite enjoyed it. I can definitely see this being super to play live or listen to in a bar. Maybe got a bit repetitive, and it’s way too long. But other than that it was nice! The problem I have is that there is no way for me to determine if this is good bluegrass or not. And if I ever want to put that on, I’m certainly not going to remember this exact album. So in the end I just don’t feel that I can rate this in a fair way. But a 3 feels appropriate as it was good, but nothing I want to throw myself on immediately and listen to again.
2 hours?! And it's not even some deluxe version of the album but the original? That is one long album. Honestly, I would've liked this more if it was a lot shorter. Perfect length for an album according to me is around 40 min. This is way too long. There are some nice bluegrass and country music in here but there are also some very long and tedious jamming sessions. It's not bad it's just way too long and overstays its welcome.
2 hours of the same sounding country music in the morning at work did not help my crashout
As a native of the American southeast I’m probably a little more likely to enjoy this kind of record that the average user on this project. I can imagine a lot of people aren’t exactly excited when they get this as the album of the day. I was elated. It helps that this one comes with a huge nostalgia factor for me. I grew up in a deeply religious and conservative household and it was rare for any sort of secular music to be allowed (pretty much The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel were the exceptions). My dad bought this record and it was a regular in circulation on car trips, as several of the songs border on religious enough to pass as acceptable I suppose. To me as a kid I assumed this songs were recorded in the 1800’s or something. They sounded ancient, but not in a bad way. They were enjoyable and fun, and some of the songs like Tennessee Stud were funny enough for a 7ish year old to enjoy (I mean it’s a song about a horse!). This was my first introduction to blue grass and traditional southern music, and I loved it and it helped inform some of my tastes today for musicians like Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell. Interestingly I always assumed the band was from the South, but I learned from this revisit that they formed in California, and the record was recorded in the early 1970s, not the 1800s like I thought as a kid lol. Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise on this list for me and a timeless classic in my humble book.
vier plus
Good album
Not too bad, some great songs. But the album was too long!!
Lots of pickin' and grinnin' and generally just a good ol' country hoedown.
Great album. Gotta say, it was a lot to be suggested a three LP record for my first listen 😅
I enjoyed this and listened to the entire album. I love this kind of music, and I liked hearing the musicians making small-talk between recording. A pleasant way to pass a couple of hours.
#650. I cannot explain to you why I liked this, but I did. 4/5: yes
I feel like the Coen Brothers heard this album and decided to make "O Brother, Where Art Thou!" This is a very interesting collection of the dream team of Bluegrass (can't believe I just wrote that) working through and spinning the "best of" catalog. It is well done, and it sounds great. But it also feels like going through an antique store when you come across some interesting pieces, contemplate the purchase, but inevitably decide to move on. Great experience, but I am not sure I'm buying.
It may be an important album but it’s just not for me.
my thesis is about western movies so this slapped while writing. but it's soooo long
It hit my bluegrass / old country spot. Which isn't my go to music. but every now and then I like it.
I imagine this is what John Marston was humming to himself in Red Dead 2 in those 20 missions before American Venom where he just builds a house and looks after his wife and kids. 5 stars.
Fine country/bluegrass. Just isn’t what I’m generally wanting to listen to
That was a whole lot of guitar pickin and fiddlin. It was definitely something different in this sea of Brit pop & rock. It was pretty dang long though.
i'm sure this is important heritage music but 45 minutes into this i literally checked to make sure i hadn't left spotify on repeat track because it all sounded the same to me
i really fucking hate this cover LMFAO but jackson is cute and the banjos got me after the one hour mark....
an exhausting listen. it wasn’t even bad, it’s just SO long and SO repetitive that getting through it was not a good time
I’m glad I found this album. Will listen again.
Its 2.5 hours of bluegrass. As advertised. Well-made but so f-ing folksy
Fun
I liked this one more than I anticipated. This was a long album, took 2 days to listen to. Definitely enjoyed disc 1 more than disc 2.
Maybe 1.5. Not the worst but def not for me
I can't believe how much I enjoyed this. Could be 8 hours long for all I care. Good ol' boy music.
It's got some energy to it, and they're musically talented, but... *dramatic sigh*
Very long, but very good
Nice
Grasspilled
Loved it, especially the first disc with all the singers on it.
Über zwei Stunden Country ist schon ein bisschen heftig. Eine Auswahl der Songs hätte es auch getan und ich hätte einem kürzeren Album mit den besten 15 Stücken wohl auch eine bessere Bewertung gegeben. Ich mag auch nicht, wenn am Anfang eines Songs noch Ausschnitte vom Aufnehmen im Studio zu hören sind. Das kommt bei diesem Album leider sehr oft vor.
I did not know what to expect hear, but I gotta say I really dug it. I would definitely like to add it to the collection.
no listened
I appreciate the band's history, and as far as county music goes, it's far superior to a lot of it. However, still isn't something I'm going to sit around and listen to.
I don't really like this, not my style of music and is far too long. 2/10
Oh yes, this is a nice country album. It's fun in between. I can understand other reviewers who, when listening to this music, wish they had a horse and wanted to ride lonely across the prairie. But firstly, I can't ride, I live in a big city and prairies only exist thousands of miles to the east. Secondly, the music reminds me of a scene from the movie 'Deliverance', in which one of the big city tourists gets into a banjo fight with a moronic hillbilly and loses. The scene seems somewhat depressing against the background of the events described later. I might actually listen to this album again later. However, I won't listen to it for 2 hours in one go. 3/5
A relentless barrage of country and bluegrass. This was released on six sides of vinyl. Imagine flipping three discs one by one and hearing the same twang-diddle-iddle for over two hours.
I'm not sure that I am a correct person for this album really. I mean this is like absolutely other far universe of music and it's COMPLETELY impossible to become a part of it for me. The only thing I love is sound of guitar BUT THAT'S ALL. I'm done with it after four songs.
Not my usual style, but I have to say, as far as Bluegrass goes, I like this a lot! A really long album but it does not bore thanks to the diversity of songs and musicians (many of them legends). I read this is recorded live in the studio with only one or two takes per song on a basic recorder, maybe that helps explain the authentic feel. Not music I will often play, but for a folk/bluegrass album there's nothing to fault. Reminds me of the fantastic film 'The Broken Circle Breakdown' (watch it if you can find it, you may like the genre a bit more afterwards).
OOOH JA, Old school country. Wel 2 fucking uur.. Even aanzien of dit allicht voor mij zerlfs teveel van het goede wordt. Heerlijk eerste nummer overigens, ze springen er direct in. In het 2e nummer in ene een vrouwelijke zangeres, ik hoop dat die afwisseling blijft. Leuk. Tennessee Stud is wel een parelnummer. Het is wel echt allemaal heel hillbilly country. Begrijp mij niet verkeerd, ik houd er van, maar 2 uur banjo gepingel... Ben bang dat ik dat niet ga volhouden. Sorry, ondanks dat ik echt zeer van deze muziek houdt, is dit album echt veelste lang en veelste van hetzelfde. Binnen country zijn er genoeg manieren om af te wisselen, maar dat heeft deze band niet geweten. Deze nummers zijn door continue hetzelfde banjo riedeltje niet van elkaar te onderscheiden. Dit worden helaas 2 sterren. Was het een album van 30-45 min geweest 5. FAV: Tennessee Stud, I Saw the light
★★★¾
More than TWO HOURS of country music?? I didn’t mind everything on here, but this is just a way too long runtime.
guys im so tired of the banjo and the oklahoma dad music.... it wasnt terrible but TWO hours??? criminal. fav: Nashville Blues
Lots of pickin' and old tymey shit but it has its place
The banter is kinda fun on this one. I've rediscovered over the last ten years my appreciation for this style of music that left me in my teens and twenties, and this is a great album of the genre, albeit a little long for a full run through. The musical talents in here are fun.
A nice eclectic mix of country and bluegrass tunes. I wasn't fussed on all the dialogue between tracks, and for that reason I'm not going to give it five stars, but anything less than four would be unfair, given the high standard of artistry on display.
This is so awesome. I wasn’t intending on listening to the full two hours but it’s so compelling. Really skillful playing but also just hearing the joy and the banter between musicians and talks about what inspired them was really special. I loved it.
NGL, this is fire
2,5
Wasn’t planning on listening to 2 hours of country music on a sunday but here we are. Not bad.
9.5/10
The bluegrass tracks are really good, but the old-time-baptist-church-music, while well-executed, is just not my taste (PTSD). Combine that with a gargantuan runtime and copious studio chatter, and unfortunately this gets a mixed review. Still, this is an eternity and a half better than the utter swill spewed forth from the auto-tuned maw of Morgan Wallen. 2.5/5.0: Mixed
going in only knowing one song by this band i have to say they defied my expectations in the best way. This is a wonderfully done bluegrass album and features some country/bluegrass legends. my main complaint is the length of this album. Being two hours doesn't lend itself well to listening through the full album. i split the album up and listened in two sessions and i think that allowed me to more fully enjoy it. my other complaint is the talking sections that pop up on the occasional track. if it was once or twice i wouldnt bring it up but it happened quite a bit and a few of the tracks were nothing but this in studio discussion. it was infrequent enough over the two hours that i wont ding them a star for it but it certainly detracts from the enjoyment of this otherwise great bluegrass album.
on the one hand, this is a lot of fun. eating beans from a tin can music. getting a hay ride at a fall festival music. fallout music. on the other hand it's TWO HOURS AND NINE MINUTES LONG. it took me all weekend to chip my way through this. that's too much music. that's three heaping plates of music. i'm stuffed!! and yet... can i really say i didn't enjoy myself for most of it? it was a kooky little time. no idea if this is a culturally significant contribution to the list but it was a fun contribution to my weekend. 🪕
This was enjoyable in medium doses, but 130 minutes is longer than any movie should be, let alone an album of country/bluegrass music. the musical guests on this album bring a lot to the table and it's fun to hear some of the studio chatter, but like everything else on this album, it gets old after you've heard it a half dozen times. when it's all said and done, i think i ended up enjoying the instrumentals here the most. favorites: grand ole opry song, tennessee stud, the end of the world, earl's breakdown, orange blossom special, will the circle be unbroken, both sides now
Excellent bluegrass and country-western album. This is one of the better country albums on the list so far. The performances are so good. You can tell that they got the very best people in the room for these sessions. I love all the talkback and studio chatter too. It starts to feel like you’re hanging out with friends. Hearing them talk about what key to sing a song in, or who gets a solo, gave me an appreciation for the craft. It’s cool to hear them in the midst of creating. They sound like professionals, but they also sound like they’re having a ton of fun. “Sunny Side of the Mountain” was a highlight. I love how the singer drags out certain words: “Don’t forget aaaaaaaaaall the promises you gave me.” Jimmy Martin is the lead singer on that one, and I kept noticing his vocals after that. He’s fantastic.
Nice collection of consistently strong bluegrass / traditional country tracks. I enjoyed this throughout, but I have to admit the mix was a little different than what I expected. The vocals on some tracks are too prominent, on others too distant, and some of the supplemental instruments come in and out with weird and surprising volume shifts. It's a nice old classic sort of "everyone gather around this one mic and move closer and farther from it from time to time" kind of idea, but it made me focus just a little too much on the production and not the compositions. That's my only gripe though!
4.5, only issue is that it's a little too long
J - 2/5 Best Track - "I Saw The Light" F - 1/5
3.08
5*
We enjoyed this a lot, especially given we initially had misjudged this one from the album name and cover art. Doc Watson's contribution is recognisable here and overall the album is satisfying on the ear.