Drive | 
| Artist: Bela Fleck
Label: Rounder / Umgd
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $12.36
You Save: $5.62 (31%)
New (33) Used (8) from $8.49
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 34326
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 610255
UPC: 011661025523
EAN: 0116610255232
ASIN: B0000002IS
Release Date: February 14, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW Factory Sealed - Ready to be shipped within 24 hrs from California - Average 5 workdays delivery time - Excellent customer service - Buy with confidence!
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| Tracks:
| • | Whitewater | | • | Slipstream | | • | Up And Around The Bend | | • | Natchez Trace | | • | See Rock City | | • | The Legend | | • | The Lights Of Home | | • | Down In The Swamp | | • | Sanctuary | | • | The Open Road | | • | Crucial County Breakdown |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
When Bela Fleck produced this little-known gem in 1988, the New Grass Revival was winding down and the Flecktones had yet to be formed. Fleck's previous solo outings had strayed from his bluegrass roots to varying degrees, but what makes Drive so special is how closely it hews to traditional bluegrass in sound and instrumentation while still allowing for exciting new ideas, crisp ensemble passages, and brilliant improvisation. The musicians who help out are all tops in their field: Dobro player Jerry Douglas, flat-picker Tony Rice, mandolinist Sam Bush, fiddlers Stuart Duncan and Mark O'Connor (who team up for a twin-fiddle sound on two down-home cuts), and bassist Mark Schatz. There's not a missed note (or superfluous one for that matter) anywhere, from the steamrolling opener "Whitewater" to the minor-keyed, jazz-based "Natchez Trace" to the warm ballad "Lights of Home" to the powerful "Crucial County Breakdown." The much heralded, classical-influenced Strength in Numbers record came less than a year later and included Fleck, Bush, O'Connor, and Douglas, but Drive certainly deserves a spot next to it in your newgrass collection. --Marc Greilsamer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
Listen at Your Own Risk February 14, 2005
Wayfaring Stranger (Portland, OR)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
My brother and I popped this CD into the deck of a rented truck as we headed from Jackson, WY, out toward the Wind River Range. About three tracks into it, we realized we were going nearly 90 miles an hour. Our recognition of this fact perfectly coincided with a state trooper's recognition of us. All we could tell the guy was that we were blasting some incredible bluegrass and that its hypnotic power sort of caught us off guard. Sorry, officer. The cop looked at us for a minute, smiled, and gave us a firm warning to slow it down, and strolled back to his cruiser. We exhaled in relief. Then, the cop spun around just as he was about to get into his car and yelled, "I suggest you boys try some Perry Como!"
"Drive" is the tightest, most frenetic, river-water-rolling, sleekest, greatest frikkin' 'grass disc out there. Please listen responsibly.
"Drive" is a must-have for any human being. August 12, 1999
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
If you're deciding whether or not to buy this album, let me tell you this: buy it right now. This is my favorite album of all time, and my life is better having heard it. Every time I hear a bluegrass or newgrass album, I'm slightly disappointed because nothing is as good as this. Bela Fleck has written some incredible music for this album, ranging from rippin fast tunes to beautiful, expressive pieces. Bela Fleck is truly poetic, and Mark O'Connor's violin solo on "Sanctuary,"(track 9) gives me chills every time. And as the title suggests, it is awesome to drive to, roads near mountains in particular. So, if you have a car, and/or you like music of the bluegrass variety, and want to experience something amazing, and the money is not an issue, then there is no reason to not buy this album. I promise, you need it.
Some Kind of SWEET! June 18, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Bela Fleck's "Drive" release is obviously one of the greatest productions in this man's brilliant career. His choice of progressive-bluegrass musicians to accompany him here was every bit as respectable as the music itself. For example, the impeccable improvisation and signature "rhythm chopping" of Sam Bush is a priceless adornment to this acoustic layout. Also, the ability of Tony Rice to maintain that blues element in his hard flatpicking without damaging the spirit of the tune, makes any piece a masterpiece. Mark O'Conner and Jerry Douglas leave their usual effect upon the listener: "How in the world does he do that?" And Bela's lack of hesitancy to utilize the familiar single-stringing and jazz ornamentation in whatever he desires is, as always, appropriate and well-placed. Nothing imaginable is left to be desired here!
Interstellar Classic March 18, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Bluegrass and Bluegrass-related music has take some fascinating turns over the last two decades, guided by some of the truly creative and accomplished musicians on the planet during this time. Bela Fleck is right near (or at) the top of this list of distinguished players/composers (also, see Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Conner, Tony Rice, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, David Grisman). "Drive", and Strength in Numbers' "The Telluride Sessions" are, in my opinion, the two most important and amazing instrumental "newgrass" releases of all time.
What a GREAT album!!!! April 29, 2004
W. Lang (CHATHAM, IL United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I stumbled on Bela through a friend and this album by luck. If you can wear out a CD you better buy two and, yes, it deserves more than 5 stars. This is a kind of 'modern' bluegrass style, totally instrumental (no singing, thank you so very much), which is a total joy to listen to. If Bela would produce more albums of this type, I'd purchase everyone of them. It's not often that you can purchase a CD and say that you like every song on it but you will this one. If you like bluegrass, buy it. If you like 'some' bluegrass, buy it. If you're on the fence and not sure, like I was, BUY IT.
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