Yonder Mountain String Band starts out paying homage to the Bluegrass greats of the past with their new CD “The Show”. The opening track “Out Of The Blue” sounds as traditional Bluegrass/String Band as you can get, all the ingredients are there, the Banjo runs and the Chicken Pickin Flat Top seem to be hitting the right stride. But this straight ahead Bluegrass doesn’t last long, a more radio friendly almost Pop Country sound emanates from my speakers with track 2 “Complicated”. This schizophrenic style continues throughout “The Show”.
There are moments of pure bliss and others that left this listener a little flat. I’m not saying this is a bad album, in fact it’s quite good, but it’s not great. It’s beautifully produced and full marks go to the musicianship. I guess what I’m getting at is that, while they seem to be trying to please everyone they run the risk of isolating some listeners. But I guess in this age of downloading individual tracks, rather than buying the album, the lack of continuity may have little effect.
[rating:3/5]
