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List Price: $17.98 | | Label: Sugarhill
Salesrank: 6922
Released: August 13, 2002 |
| Our Price: $10.27 |
| Used Price: $2.27 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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This Side Track Listing:
1. Smoothie Song
2. Spit on a Stranger
3. Speak
4. Hanging by a Thread
5. Should've Known Better
6. This Side
7. Green and Gray
8. Seven Wonders
9. House Carpenter
10. Beauty and the Mess
11. Sabra Girl
12. Young
13. Brand New Sidewalk
Editorial Review:
Whereas Nickel Creek's debut album established the young California trio at the progressive vanguard of traditional bluegrass, this ambitious, risky follow-up finds their acoustic artistry straying far afield. Mandolin player Chris Thile and the Watkins siblings--guitarist Sean and fiddler Sara--continue to impress with their intuitive instrumental interplay and lush vocal harmonies. Sean Watkins's title cut achieves the sprightliest blend of traditional bluegrass instrumentation and contemporary pop craft, while the ruminative melancholy of "Hanging by a Thread" and "Green and Gray" sound as though Thile has been listening to a lot of Elliott Smith (and reading the published poetry of Jewel). The album also features Pavement's "Spit on a Stranger," Carrie Newcomer's "Should've Known Better," and a traditional British ballad, "House Carpenter." However, much of the collection's original material lacks the maturity to match the trio's musical gifts, as songs incorporating influences ranging from neo-psychedelia to alt pop often suffer from self-consciousness. Kindred-spirit producer Alison Krauss plainly gave the project a long leash, and the results can be viewed as either sophomore slump or creative growth spurt--or perhaps both. --Don McLeese
This Side Reviews:
Absolutely great 
2009-06-07 - I like this album even more than "Why should the fire die". And that's a lot :)
A keeper after 7 years
2009-05-31 - The real test of a good record is if you still want to listen to it after a year. After seven years in our collection, I'm still listening to this CD and enjoying it tremendously.
The sheer virtuosity and polish is just remarkable -- that three kids could play and sing this well, AND write mature and thoughtful songs -- just hard to believe. Chris Thiele's mandolin gets the attention and the ink, but Sarah and Sean Watkins are every bit as special. "Beauty and the Mess" packs about as much musicianship as you'll ever hear in 2 1/2 minutes -- Sarah Watkins' vocals are crisp and perfect like a Granny Smith apple, the guitar and mandolin work is fantastic, the rhythms playful, the harmonies interesting. These guys were (and still are) real musicians' musicians.
This Side
2008-02-08 - I was introduced to Nickel Creek a little under a year now and I love this album! A wonderful mix of instrumental music and unique vocals. It is a shame the group broke up (egomania) but when I introduce new people to this group I use this cd.
grows
2007-04-13 - At first I found this below the par of the groups' 2000 debut, but I have grown to enjoy it just as much. Somehow every time I put it in the songs sounded just a little bit better. It's like a joke that you have to "get" first.
Not so good... 
2007-01-29 - I bought this album because i loved their self titled debut. Unfortunately, it really is nothing like their first album. There is only a hint of bluegrass sound, Chris Thile's vocals are straying into an alt-pop sound, and frankly, many of the lyrics are painfully insipid. Too bad, their first album was (and still is) one of my favorites. If you liked Nickel Creek (the album) for it's unique sound, don't buy this one.
