In the 1980s, just when everybody was starting to roll their eyes, throw up their hands, and declare that the too-perfect, newgrass scene had lost touch with its roots, guitarist Tony Rice organized this crackerjack ensemble, mysteriously known as the Bluegrass Album Band, and cranked out album after album of the good stuff.  Banjo plunker J.D. Crowe, dobro whiz Jerry Douglas, fiddler Bobby Hicks, gospel bandleader doyle Lawson and bassist Todd Phillips were his cohorts, and their four albums rank as some of the best truegrass recordings of the decade, steeped in the lore of the elders.  Gospel tunes with extraordinary vocal harmonies comingle with dazzling, lively picking, evoking Bill Monroe and all his followers, and showing quite clearly that the modern bluegrass crowd still has the goods.  This CD reissue only samples from the BAB volumes 1-4; I strongly urge you to track down the original LPs, since a lot of great material has been left by the wayside... Also, it's lamentable that someone felt the need to "update" the band's otherwise-delightful name for the digital age, to the misleading "Bluegrass Compact Disc," which makes most folks assume this is some kind of compilation album.  Note to Rounder: a CD with several songs on it can still be called an album; the origial name was way cooler.  Anyway, this is a grrrreat collection, well worth tracking down and playing over and over again!