Customer Reviews

Raising Sand [Vinyl]

5 star:		(355)
4 star:		(100)
3 star:		(54)
2 star:		(52)
1 star:		(89)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Much has been made of this "odd couple" pairing, but it's not all that surprising when one considers the gradual mellowing of Robert Plant's work. Moreover, he has dabbled in folk and country even as far back as his Led Zeppelin days. (Remember his duet with Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny on "Battle of Evermore"?) So his weathered tenor is actually a fine fit with Alison Krauss' Appalachian soprano. It's a successful collaboration, yet I can't help but compare it with Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris' excellent 2006 duet album, "All the Roadrunning", and unfortunately, to me "Raising Sand" comes up a little short. Whereas the Knopfler/Harris coupling was bright, slick and mostly upbeat, the Plant/Krauss team seems mostly more subdued, and there's only the rare spark of musical energy throughout the album. "Gone Gone Gone" is about as lively as they get, and it's a winner, a fun and rocking tune which was the advance single for this CD. Plant stands out on the cover of the rock-n'-roll chestnut "Fortune Teller", too, but other than those two tracks, things are often just a little too mellow. Not that there's anything really wrong with that, but I just expected a little more rockin', or at least a little more s**t-kicking bluegrass, from this pair.

Robert Plant fans best forget the heavy Led and embrace the light Zeppelin as their man collaborates with bluegrass star Alison Krauss for a surprising set of mellow-to-upbeat songs that, after repeated listening, grow on you. Krauss's voice was new to me -- but, to my surprise, Plant's distinctive voice was, too, despite the fact that I'd heard his rocking tunes many a time. You see, it's like this: here Plant slows down, puts his cowboy boots up, and sings the blues, a little country, and even some early 60's rock and roll. Can you say "eclectic"?

Among the covers from the past are such diverse numbers as Gene Clark's 1969 wailer, "Polly Come Home," the Everly Brother's 1964 sock-hop rocker "Gone, Gone, Gone," and Tom Waits's mellow romancer from 1960, "Stick with Me Baby."

Although there are a few upbeat numbers like the opening track from 1955, "Rich Woman," and the aforementioned Everly Brothers piece, this album is for the mellow-minded who like to relax with their music by taking a rich, oaky glass of red wine in a dark room and sinking into the couch as it plays. Or, if you will, a hot cup of coffee to the same couch on a Sunday morn when the kids are out and the spouse on an errand. Sip it in, in other words, and swirl.

Remarkably, despite being from different planets, Plant's voice and Krauss's complement each other. Best of all is the glue that holds bluegrass star and rock and roller together -- T Bone Burnett (producer) and his band, the Blue Glow. They are technically and artistically perfect in putting new wrinkles in this mix of covers and new music.

If you're a Robert Plant fan who's set in your hard-rocking ways, pass. If you have an open mind and admire a singer willing to take chances and extend himself (with a talented singer/fiddler in her own right, Ms. Krauss), buy and savor it slowly.

When I heard about this CD, in a really twisted way it made all sorts of sense. I had to get it. I wasn't disappointed.

I grew up getting stoned to Black Dog, Kashmir, Misty Mountain Hop, Immigrant Song, the whole shebang. In the eighties, while I was buying Robert's solo records, I discovered this odd-ball Texan named T Bone Burnett with his own take on life and morality and art that really made me sit up and take notice. And lately I've been turned on by a mean fiddle player with an ethereal voice named Alison Krauss.

The Brits have always been taking American music of all genres far more seriously than we ourselves have (what's that about prophets in their own land?), and feeding it back to us in ways both familiar and alien. If not for Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Slim Harpo, John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Howlin Wolf, etc. etc. etc., would we have ever had Led Zeppelin, The Stones, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Cocker, Robert Palmer, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, etc. etc. etc. (you get the point). And, if you had paid attention to Plant's solo albums, including the foray into 50's pop and ballads as The Honeydrippers, you would know that he is more than capable of handling subtler vocal stylings (in other words, he really can sing).

Alison Krauss (aside from the fact that if angels were capable of so base an emotion as envy, her voice would rank high on their hit list) has been, from the start, deeply grounded in the rich veins of musical and artistic ore that the Brits have been so profitably mining for decades.

But for me, the real clincher on this deal was T Bone as producer. Yes, his success as producer (O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, the Johnny Cash / June Carter biopic Walk the Line soundtrack, Roy Orbison's A Black and White Night, and for artists like Counting Crows, Los Lobos, Gillian Welch, Marshall Crenshaw, The BoDeans, and Bruce Cockburn to name a few) gives him more than a little "Americana" cred. But to really get the picture, you need to listen to his own recordings. Listen to Proof Through the Night and T Bone Burnett and the rest of his critically lauded work (though apparently not many people have) if you want to hear where this CD is grounded, why it can seem optimistic and dark in the same breath. T Bone is an artist's artist, a producer's producer. In the same way that Daniel Lanois elevated U2's and the Neville Brothers' game, that Brian Eno elevated David Bowie's and Talking Heads' games, that John Hiatt and Nick Lowe elevate each other's games, T Bone as an artist / producer brings a depth of feeling and a certain sensibilty to this weird combination that makes it work on so many levels.

This is one of those serendipitous occasions when the right people and material find each other, the planets line up, you draw against all odds to an inside straight, common sense and commerciality are thrown to the wind, and the CD stores and radio stations can't figure out which pigeonhole to stick the damn thing in.

I won't take up more space rehashing the kudos other reviewers have heaped on particular cuts, and I haven't listened to it enough times to develop my own favorites. I will say that I will be merciless in making room on my iPod for this entire CD.

If you have any faith in the essential goodness of man, any hope that art is a good thing, a taste for good music regardless of the labels slapped on it, experience that love will break your heart, but you'll fall into it anyway, and a suspicion that Rounder Records has more artistic sense in its (figurative) little toe that all of the major labels combined, you'll buy this CD. And besides, looking at the jacket photos, I have to wonder if Robert and Alison don't share a hair stylist.

The music here doesn't try to 'match' anything either artist has done before, so I'm not suprised a small group of people are not as happy as I am with this one. I too would like to have heard some more upbeat songs, but anyone who has followed Robert's last several recordings know that he's not the mighty Led Zep powerhouse rocker he used to be. Do we really want him to be?? As far as I've heard he can still handle the classic songs live, which is all I need. His voice (of course) has changed through the years, but I'm glad that on this one he's not trying to over-power himself with the whine~~~ that used to work when he was the young Plant! He sounds adult and very confident on this one. Some of my favorite artists of all time are getting older, and it appears that Robert is accepting and embracing his age with grace. I've been a fan of this guy... well almost forever as far as my life is concerned.

As far as Alison... Well I've been a fan since WAY WAY back. Some people wouldn't even recognize Alison from way back. I remember about 10 years ago or so she started to appear to enjoy her fame much more and looking into the camera and smiling more and looking more confident. I was so pleased to see that. She's always been cute as a button and her voice is that of an angel. Her music ability, well, do I need to say anything there??? She was born in my hometown of Decatur, Il (maybe even the same hospital~~ there's only 2). She has more grammys than any other female in history I believe. Well deserved, and I won't be suprised if this one chalks up a few.

Together they have made an album that lifted my eyebrows a bit, and that's not easy to do anymore. I was pleasantly suprised. I wouldn't mind hearing more from these two together!

Note: This one is recomended for people who enjoy folk music as well as Robert and Alison's works.

Raising Sand is an album I'll be coming back to again and again to savor its treasures. I rarely give 5-star ratings in these customer reviews, feeling that a product needs to be not merely good but remarkable to earn the highest rating. This new collaborative work definitely qualifies. And it's a collaboration of three musicians, with producer T Bone Burnett playing just as important a role as the two headliners. One of many things about the disc that struck me most powerfully the first time thru is the subtlety of Robert Plant's vocals and how well he harmonizes with Alison Krauss. For such a screamer, I didn't expect quite this degree of gentleness from Plant. The harmonies on slow songs such as "Killing The Blues" and "Through the Morning" are breathtakingly beautiful. Vince Gill has nothing on this guy! As for the incomparable Mr. Burnett, his contributions both as a musician and as producer and arranger are huge. Just listen to a song like "Trampled Rose" to hear what I mean. A lonesome dobro and shuffling percussion set an authentic, old-timey mood that perfectly complements Ms Krauss' plaintive cries, but the credits also list toy piano and pump organ as instruments played on the song. Those sounds fill in little spaces in the song, adding an extra element of atmosphere and mystery. Burnett undoubtedly also contributed heavily to the choice of songs for Raising Sand, a selection that travels through "americana" and many of its styles, from rockabilly to country, folk, soul and various other stops along the way. "A T Bone Burnett production" has come to mean a particular and significant thing, and this new CD is yet another addition to an already impressive resume.

Not every album I grow to love is a "love at first hearing" affair. I had heard great raves about this cd for several weeks and jumped on buying it when I saw it for the first time. That said, I was disappointed some upon first hearing the cd. Looking back on my first hearing it several weeks ago, I really think I was a little disappointed in it because--hell, your guess is as good as mine.

The cd is a multi-layered undertaking. Consequently, one doesn't hear the nuances immediately. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed hearing this cd more with each listening. When that happens, somebody is doing something right.

I've long loved to hear Allison Krauss. If there's an angel in heaven who sings better than her, then God better give me better heavenly ears because these will burst with joy. However, Robert Plant is the one who has pleasantly surprised me to more. As someone who does a little singing myself I can tell you at least two relevant things regarding this cd: 1) The best singers can harmonize well. Harmony most times is a lot harder to sing well than melody. Here we have two singers who are used to singing the melody. They blend together exquisitely, nevertheless: one singing harmony, the next time perhaps the melody. These two individuals can "sang" people. I was pleasantly surprised by the nuances in Plant's voice in particular.

2) The best singers can sing more than one genre masterfully. Robert Plant, he of "Black Dog", "Whole Lotta Love", and "Lighten Up" fame can sing country with the best of them. Indeed, by and large, I'm really not impressed with most country singers. If every one was like Plant though, I'd buy every thing coming out of Nashville. Country can be an awesome genre: Plant reminds you of that on this cd. In my opinioin, well-sung bluegrass and country is the hardest genre to sing well (with the possible exception of classical/opera.) The fact that Plant excels at it tells me of how extraordinary a singer he is.

You know, I'm going to add a third thing: 3) The best singers can sing in an understated manner (ever notice how the worst singers seem to do it "over the top" more often than not?) Plant in particular knocked the understated thing out of the ballpark. It takes some doing to compete with Allison Krauss on a country/bluegrass song. Plant does more than hold his own. He excels at it. So impressed with his singing that I often find myself attempting (emphasis on "attempting") to sing along with him rather than listen to Krauss' angelic voice.

Allison Krauss is her usual brilliant self. If you haven't learned to appreciate her yet you're either deaf or have been living in a hole somewhere the past five years.

I could say more but it's dinnertime. A great cd I look forward to listening to for years. Oh, one last thing: the last song is one of the most beautiful songs ever sung by human beings. Buy it and find out what I'm talking about.

I'll admit it...when I first heard about Robert Plant and Alison Krauss collaborating...I thought...surely you must be kidding. Yes...I know art and music are not supposed to go in "boxes"...but even the most open minded music fan had to find this combo a bit unlikely. However, after several days of listening I am convinced I am listening to a truly classic work that will be talked about for years to come.

T Bone Burnett's production leaves plenty of room for the vocals to shine. The instrumentation is very lean but manages to set the mood perfectly for each song. His mix of vintage and modern recording techniques creates tracks that are at once familiar, yet defy direct comparison. Perhaps even more impressive is his song selection. Burnett's chosen tracks go back decades in many cases and are often most beautiful in their simplicity. It adds to sense that this brilliant record could have been produced this year...or 50 years ago...with the same stunning result.

Alison Krauss is outstanding as always. As a big AKUS fan, I was happy to hear her explore some new ranges but also bring the sweet, airy bluegrass voice I know and love. To say she sings like an angel still doesn't describe how amazing her voice is in its ability to be soft, vulnerable, dynamic, and effortlessly controlled at the same time. To hear Alison Krauss sing is to be blessed.

However, having said all that, my highest admiration in this project is for Robert Plant. I would have never imagined he could cover the range of material found on `Raising Sand'...but he does...and does it well. The edge is still there when needed but more impressive to me is the depth and sincerity that comes through in a stone cold country song like `Through the Morning, Through the Night' and the traditional bluegrass gospel track `Your Long Journey'. There is not one moment of artificial twang or ever a sense that Robert is out of his element. The tone is one of a man who has found his new muse and it fits him just fine.

If the purpose of art is to stir the emotions, then Raising Sand is art of the highest caliber. From melancholy to hopeful and points in between, it moves you without seeming contrived to do so. If you don't get occasional goose bumps while listening, you may need to check your pulse. This unusual and wonderful collaboration leads me to predict that next year you will see the lead singer of Led Zeppelin and the angel of bluegrass cross the stage at the CMA to pick up country music album of the year. (Now be honest...did you ever think you would see that in print???)