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Rare Bird Alert Image
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: Comedian Steve Martin with his banjo joins bluegrass band The Steep Canyon Rangers on their first album together after having performed together on A Prairie Home Companion.
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  • Record Label: Rounder
  • Genre(s): Bluegrass, Country, Pop/Rock, Contemporary Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass
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Top Track

King Tut
King Tut (King Tut) Now when he was a young man, He never thought he'd see People stand in line to see the boy king. (King Tut) How'd you get so... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Jun 30, 2011
    80
    Whether your primary interest is in the comedy or the music, this is a solidly enjoyable album.
  2. Jun 30, 2011
    80
    Rare Bird Alert is every bit as good as its predecessor, and it's a delight to hear Martin and his band on form.
  3. Jun 30, 2011
    70
    Country music as pure as the kind heard on Rare Bird Alert is rare indeed, and worthy of consideration--even if it does come from a pretty odd duck.
  4. Aug 18, 2011
    70
    A pleasant, enjoyable album from a multi-talented man.
  5. Jun 30, 2011
    60
    Martin is just too instinctively amiable to muster the passionate furies that animate the best of his genre, and too quick to deflate whatever momentum he does gather with a joke.
  6. Uncut
    Jul 15, 2011
    60
    Rare Bird Alert, recorded with the Steep Canyon Rangers, is a more rounded than 2009's mostly instrumental The Crow. [Jul 2011, p.92]
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Apr 10, 2014
    8
    This is a rare album indeed. A mixture of funny and moving songs, with "Yellow-Backed Fly" and "The Great Remember (For Nancy)" as standouts.This is a rare album indeed. A mixture of funny and moving songs, with "Yellow-Backed Fly" and "The Great Remember (For Nancy)" as standouts. Steve Martin proves a solid banjo player, but he does well in leaving most of the singing to others. Also, plus for including a live version of old favorite King Tut. Expand