Every Time You Say Goodbye

Over the course of her first albums, including her fourth, 1992's Every Time You Say Goodbye, Alison Krauss probably did more than any of her contemporaries to attract mainstream-country attention to bluegrass. A traditionalist might say this is because Krauss and her band, Union Station, offer a kind of "bluegrass-lite" that's cut with pop sensibility, absent any manic-fast picking, and awash in Krauss's goes-down-easy vocal. Nonetheless, this is a solid album that pushed Krauss deservedly further into the limelight. Highlights include the title track, Union Station banjo picker Ron Block's fine gospel number "Shield of Faith," and the traditional instrumental "Cluck Old Hen." --Anders Smith-Lindall