Raising Sand [Vinyl]

Robert Plant, Alison Krauss | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (October 23, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B000V9KE1U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (650 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,889 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #16 in Music > Blues > Delta Blues
  • #25 in Music > Blues > Acoustic Blues
  • #37 in Music > Blues > Traditional Blues

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that's one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies--almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for. --Alanna Nash

Product Description

UK-only Super jewel-case.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

260 of 287 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly signficant, October 30, 2007

By 

Dave Goldberg (40 miles north of NYC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Raising Sand (Audio CD)

This is wonderful listening. Even more, it's truly significant. That's in part because of the reaction _ I don't how many times in the last few months I've read about what seems to "critics'' and others to be a truly strange pairing. Something like: "You'd never expect two singers so far apart to team up, but it seems to work.''

That's nonsense (except the part about it working _ it doesn't "seem,'' it's real.) That's because the "critics'' and others put music in boxes and can't understand a pairing of "bluegrass,'' (the quotes are intentional) and heavy metal. This is Americana, but Americana as interpreted by Plant, Krauss and T-Bone Burnett that transcends category in a way that few albums do. Look on top. How many different categories does it rank No. 1. _ Rock, pop, folk, international. That's what music should be but too often isn't because the folks who run record companies and radio stations want to put music in the narrowest possible category.

It's also a breakthrough for all three artists, including Burnett, but especially Krauss, who in her last few albums has boxed herself in with very nice listenable material that's too often predictable. A couple of the albums won Grammys(she has 20)and they're incredibly well produced and performed, but after a while one Robert Lee Castleman song turns into another and the effect is underwhelming.

On this one, she uses all her talents, even, perhaps even as the excellent producer she is _ Burnett clearly took her advice and Plant's on some of the songs. Her country/bluegrass fiddle turns into gypsy violin on "Sister Rosetta,'' producing a haunting effect that's rarely heard in this kind of music.

Beyond that, I've never heard an album where the voices blend so well that it's hard to tell where one stops and the other picks up _ Tom Waits' "Trampled Rose'' is the exemplar of that and the most fascinating and haunting song on the album.

But it's almost all wonderful and it ends with what sounds very much like a little game being played by Burnett and Krauss in particular. The last number begins with Mike Seeger on autoharp leading into a Doc Watson gospel tune. Seeger discovered Elizabeth Cotten, who was his family's housekepper, and he was one of the pioneers who convinced record labels to record roots artists, Watson among them. It's also the most Krauss-like _ it's closest to what she does, right down to using a gospel number to close her albums (and her shows.)

But most of this is totally new territory for both artists. Maybe Krauss should have gone there a decade ago or maybe the timing is perfect. It's one of the few albums _ Luncinda Williams' "Essence'' is another _ that can get away with slow tempos and minor keys on two-thirds of the songs and not sound repetitious or boring.

Again, it's most important because it defies category. Other artists are trying _ Ben Harper and Norah Jones, with whom Krauss guested on a Bonnie Raitt show/CD/DVD are mingling pop, rock, country, gospel and reggae (in Harper's case.) The more the younger generation goes beyong genre and into "just music,'' the better off we'll all be. (Uh, no, Plant, at 59, isn't exactly the younger generation, but he's been looking for new frontiers for a decade or more.)

He's also a Brit and Brits tend to understand American music better than most Americans. In any case, people like Mark Knopfler, Steve Winwood, Van Morrison and even Jagger/Richard stay away from boxes. (And, by the way, I just heard Krauss do a wonderful version of Winwood/Traffic's "I Can't Find My Way Home'' on XM) It was issued three years ago as part of a TV Soundtrack. So yes, she's known for a long time that there's a big wide world of music out there.

This landmark album makes that point even more strongly.

144 of 164 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything You Wanted it to Be!, October 22, 2007

By 

A* (New York, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Raising Sand (Audio CD)

I have been waiting on this disc. I mean really waiting, like marking off the days on a calendar waiting. We don't have to go over the basics, how Plant and Krauss are gifts from the VOCAL GODS!! But what surprises me about this disc is how understated it all is. The music is the winner here -- well, the listener is.

The opening song "Rich Woman" with its elastic bass line and krauss almost purring into an oft-kilter bluesy tone is pure magic, but its also eerie as all get out. But so is most of this disc. It's almost as if Burnett turned up the gothic horror to a Tim Burton soundtrack and planted it down in the South.

Clark's "Through the Morning, Through the Night," gets more than an honest reading, the harmony between the two bleeds into one soft cushion that hugs the melody. And is honest and bitterly romantic. Wait's "Trampled Rose" gets another great reading, with Krauss howling just above a thumping beat. "Killing The Blues" gives Plants voice such softness and lilt that for some reason it reminds me of vintage Righteous Brothers.

The disc is excellent, and so far is my running for album of the year. They have taped an episode for CMT Crossroads and they have both stated that they are more than willing to work with each other again. And I will be marking off those days as well on my calendar. A gem of an album from two amazing singers with extremely rare gifts.

85 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raising Sand raises the bar for collaborative work, October 31, 2007

By 

R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Raising Sand (Audio CD)

A self-named "Led Head" friend of mine told me about this CD. His thoughts were that the world as we knew it was coming to end when Robert Plant joined up with a 'country musician'. Having somewhat more eclectic tastes--I didn't think so.

What a treat to open the CD and hear "Rich Woman" on Halloween. A.D.D's headliner review gives the best description of the Southern Gothic 'feel'.

Another particularly eerie song is "Fortune Teller," where Plant sings the tale of a young man who goes to a fortune teller and discovers that he will fall in love with the first woman he sees--which turns out to be the Fortune Teller herself--now he's happy as can be and he gets his fortune told for free. (Yup, corny as KS--but the sound is very cool!)

For the most part, the music will probably suit Alison Krauss fans more than Plant's, but Plant's fans need to listen--just to hear how strong the man can be on soft music.

The best of any profession are the people who raise the bar for the rest. The test of a great collaborative work is -- is the whole better than the sum of its parts? Plant, Krauss, and Burnett started out at the top of their respective forms, but this CD is truly a masterwork among their individual collections, too. "Raising Sand" is going to open the door for a long more mind-bending work.