Not All Who Wander Are Lost (Stereo) [Hybrid SACD]

1. Song for a Young Queen

2. Wolfcreek Pass

3. Raining at Sunset

4. Riddles in the Dark

5. Sinai to Canaan, Pt. 1

6. Sinai to Canaan, Pt. 2

7. Club G.R.O.S.S.

8. You Deserve Flowers

9. Eureka!

10. Big Sam Thompson

11. Bridal Veil Falls

12. Laurie De' Tullins

Tracks:

Song For a Young Queen
Wolfcreek Pass
Raining At Sunset
Riddles In the Dark
Sinai To Canaan - Part I
Sinai To Canaan - Part II
Club G.R.O.S.S.
You Deserve Flowers
Eureka!
Big Sam Thompson
Bridal Veil Falls
Laurie De' Tullins

Amazon.com

Set free from the bluegrass and folk conventions of Nickel Creek, Generation X's most prodigious mandolinist doesn't so much stretch out as explode. Yes, the barely legal Thile is surrounded by the most dominant players in acoustic music--Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, and Bryan Sutton--but this 12-song suite of "newgrass," Celtic, and old-timey instrumentals has Thile's searing stamp all over it. His lyrical, almost liquid style, even on the hottest seven-minute jams, accents melodic continuity over attack, intricate counterpoint over frenetic collision. And his compositions, as open-ended as post-bop jazz and as jiggy as a sweaty contra dance, inspire these genuinely great musicians to performances both refreshing and profound. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Amazing Instrumental Album.......2007-07-08

Being a big fan of Nickel Creek and Chris Thile, I had no doubt that I would like this album. The other instrumentalists are all top notch players and of course Chris is amazing as always.

There's a nice amount of variety in musical styles presented on Not All Who Wander Are Lost. Fans of Nickel Creek will find several of the tracks very similar to songs like Ode to a Butterfly, Scotch and Chocolate, or Stumptown. Other tracks branch out into jazz, blues and various other experimentations.

If you like listening to very talented and skilled bluegrass instrumentalists, you can't go wrong with this one.

This may never come out of the CD player........2007-03-10

I liked Nickle Creek, and had a little trepidation about Thile's solo project. Don't solo projects usually involve self-indulgence and self-conscious 'spreading out' into areas of music unlike the ones that drew you to the artist in the first place? Don't prodigies always sour?

No. And NO. Noting the presence of dobro god Jerry Douglas, banjo god Bela Fleck, and big cuddly bass god Edgar Myer, I decided it couldn't be bad. And much as I liked these guys, and Nickle Creek, I was unprepared for how wonderful this collection is. It's been in the car stereo for three months and hasn't come out.

Besides the virtuoso musicianship one would expect from the lineup, the wonderfulness comes from that rarity of rarities, a prodigy who is growing and becoming better all the time. Thile's tunes demonstrate a compositional skill almost equal to his unbelievable mandolin prowess. After an intial stunned listen-through driving across the desert at dawn, my son pointed out examples of counterpoint and inversion, rondes and scale and time changes worthy of classical composition. (things I would know nothing of)

This is about as wonderful as I can imagine. If there's better music, I'm probably not sophisticated enough to appreciate it. The first five songs are absolutely mind-blowing. About the only disclaimer I can think of is if you need noise, dissonance, or atonality to feel music is worthwhile, you will be disappointed. This is all pretty melodic, and Thile is unafraid to follow a composition all the way to beauty.

From surprise at the roaring power a string band is capable of as "Raining at Sunset" proceeds to the "How many guys are playing there?" intricacies of the Fleck/Thile duet "Riddles in the Dark", this is delicious stuff.

Chris Thile.......2006-08-27

Jan received a text message on her cell phone, from a student in Shaoxing who she used to teach. "Not all who wander are lost." That sounded literary to me somehow, so I asked Google. It's a quote by J.R.R. Tolkien. Also, it's a CD by Chris Thile. I checked the reviews and was so impressed that I bought it. Bluegrass jazz? Instrumental, quite mature, not repetitive or boring or New Age... But I repeat myself. It holds up quite well to repeated playing, which is amazing given my short attention span. It arrived at the same time as FOUR Slim Gaillard CDs, and yet Slim didn't obliterate it. I'm listening to both guys at the same time. (Well, not literally.) That should tell you something. Plus, anybody who can write a song based on Club G.R.O.S.S. (a Calvin and Hobbes reference) is quite obviously da bomb. Get this one. Right now.

Great bunch of musicians.......2006-08-16

Chris Thile is an amazing talent, and so are the other folks playing with him. This CD demonstrates how remarkably versatile the mandolin can be.

Surprised, but not in a good way.......2006-04-23

Please pay heed to all of the reviews here, INCLUDING the negative ones. You'll see that the glowing reviews are generally by people who love Bela Fleck, while the Nickel Creek fans tend to run hot and cold. I fall into the latter group. Listening to the samples on Amazon provides a feel for the musicianship on this CD, which is superb, no question about it. Nobody can rip Chris Thile for his ability to play the mandolin. But what the samples don't clearly indicate is the complex nature of the melodies, typical of a Bela Fleck performance... probably closer to contemporary jazz than bluegrass. They are certainly nothing like Nickel Creek's initial release, which is one of the best recordings I've ever heard... more of a sing-along style, with warm melodies that really stick with you.

If you are a Nickel Creek fan, but you aren't familar with Bela Fleck's music, be cautious about getting this CD.

Average customer rating:

self-important, self-indulgent BS
Two great discs in one

Not All Who Wander Are Lost (Stereo)
Chris Thile
Manufacturer: Sugarhill [Country]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

Traditional | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Nickel Creek
This Side
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground

ASIN: B00009L1T1
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Tracks:

Song for a Young Queen
Wolfcreek Pass
Raining at Sunset
Riddles in the Dark
Sinai to Canaan, Pt. 1
Sinai to Canaan, Pt. 2
Club G.R.O.S.S.
You Deserve Flowers
Eureka!
Big Sam Thompson
Bridal Veil Falls
Laurie De' Tullins

Customer Reviews:

self-important, self-indulgent BS.......2006-11-05

When I heard the first Nickel Creek album, I was enchanted. When I heard this first Chris Thile album, I was enchanted--until I got past the first cut. Song for a Young Queen is a gem, and could make a young woman long to be loved by this guy. But the rest of the album is a collection of material got up by a promising young artist who has fallen under the unhappy and corrupting influence of the Dreaded Bela Fleck. It screams, "It doesn't matter if anyone else likes it. If I like it, it is, by definition, good." Unfortunately, Chris has implanted his Bela influence onto Nickel Creek, and they will fail as a result. They may even break up, which would be a sad thing. Bela Fleck has the capacity to remove all traces of humor and comprehensibility from the music he generates, and that resulting music is utterly self-regarding (as well as totally disregarding of the audience). But the self-congratulation remains. You can see it in Chris' internet postings, in which he claims, for example, that his greatest inspiration is "a pickle." Say, what? Poor Chris should have stuck with the great Bluegrass roots and foresworn the self-referrential BS. A genuine prodigy does not need to make a break from his roots. Doc Watson knows this. Chris Thile does not.

Two great discs in one.......2003-08-29

This album rocks. I don't need to go into all of that here. If you are looking for that try the review of the regular (non-SACD) recording.

This disc contains not only the wonderfully fantastic excellent music of Chris Thile and friends, it also contains alternate recordings of some tracks on the SACD layer. If the technological superiority of SACD (~3,000,000 vs. 44.1 k samples per second etc.) is not worth buying an SACD player then the music this disc should be. It is great. __Insert glowing recommendation here.__ Blah blah blah.

My only caveat is that this is not a multi-channel recording so some might think its audio is not quite as super as it could have been. All I can say about that is that the performances and music stand on there own merits in stereo. Leave that high tech stuff for less talented musicians to dress up their performances. (No offense Nickel Creek, I was referring to Pink Floyd)

Anyway, this disc is stellar. Buy it. If you already own the regular CD give it to a friend like I did and buy this hybrid disc. When you find someone with an SACD player you will be thankful.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Average customer rating:
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Dewey Decibel System
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000G8PBFU
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

Make It Shine
Blues on the Highway
Funky Jerome
Swordfish
Coming to Terms
Springwater
Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Music Album:

Music Album