The CD has some great tunes. Like every smooth jazz CD in my collection I have my favorite tunes and this one is no different. Great to add to your collection.

This album is good but not great. ALL the early stuff was beyond great. They are, in fact, my favorite instrumental group. But after Nick Webb passed away, AA became just 'ok.' If you get all their earlier stuff, and want more, then get the post Webb stuff. But not before! The order they came out in was: 1. Red Dust and Spanish Lace. 2. Natural Elements. 3. Blue Chip. 4. Natural Elements. 5. Reference Point. 6. Back on the Case. 7. The New Edge 8. Against the Grain. That was the last great album. On all 8 of these there is not one bad song. More than that, more than half of them are just sensational. A careful, thoughtful weaving of melodies you can't forget, with bridges that take you someplace else. Great, great, great. The group was actually started by Webb and Simon James. The current leader, Carmichael, came along after James left the group. Webb always played the steel string and James...and later Carmichael....played the nylon string guitar. In my opinion, the group was always about Webb. He played lead on the vast majority of songs. Wrote most of them too. After he left, the whole chemistry changed. Not bad stuff, but not the best instrumental group ever, IMHO. There's an interesting compilation of the pre-Carmichael stuff called Early Alchemy. Not bad stuff either and you can hear earlier versions of some of their classic songs. Get these 8 albums. You won't be sorry.

I saw this at the library the other day, and since I had heard of them, but had never actually heard them, I thought I'd give it a listen. All I can say is that if you like Kenny G and elevator music, you are bound to like this. Otherwise, there are five million jazz discs out there that are much better than this dreck.

Steering away from relaxing acoustic music, the group starts getting a bit 70s elevator sounding, with noticably more vocal and sound effect injection. Things are definitely more electronic sounding (even rappish at times) than what first attracted me to the band. Very enjoyable, but within the first few listens, nothing jumped out as an "AA Classic". Great addition the the collection, but I prefer their earlier breezy, acoustic pop stylings. I would have to say after owning all of their releases, I like this one the least. If someone were to hear this Acoustic Alchemy release before the others, it may not attract them to buying more.

As a longtime AA listener starting with "Red Dust and Spanish Lace", I always marveled at the melodic sounds that two acoustic guitars could produce. Unfortunately, that sound is lost in this CD. While I realize that musicians have to grow and experiment with new sounds, AA's historic sound has always been acoustic guitar. That's what always drew me to their music, I just don't hear it in this CD. There is too much electronic mixing and not enough "pure guitar work". I am not even sure I would call it a smooth jazz CD, not really sure how I would categorize it. I'm not saying the CD isn't good, it's just disappointing. Not what I expected or hoped for.