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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | The musical collaboration of the decade, Raising Sand is the sound of two iconic figures stepping out of their respective comfort zones and letting their instincts lead them across a brave new sonic landscape. Despite hailing from distinctly different backgrounds, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant share a maverick spirit and willingness to extend the boundaries of their respective genres. This spirit, expertly honed by producer T Bone Burnett, has resulted in an album pitched three steps beyond some cosmic collision of early urban blues, spacious West Texas country, and the untapped potential of the folk-rock revolution.
Supported by the unparalleled musicianship of Marc Ribot, Dennis Crouch, Mike Seeger, Jay Bellerose, Norman Blake, Greg Leisz, Patrick Warren, and Riley Baugus, Plant and Krauss -- as both solo and harmony vocalists -- tackle an intriguing selection of songs from such tunesmiths as Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Sam Phillips, Townes Van Zandt, The Everly Broth! ers, and Mel Tillis. Raising Sand finds Robert Plant and Alison Krauss exploring popular music's elemental roots while still sounding effortlessly, breath-takingly contemporary.
The song "Killing the Blues" is featured in the new JC Penney American Living Campaign. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Audio CD Release Date: | October 23, 2007 | | Studio: | Rounder | | Number Of Discs: | 1 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 650 reviews |
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| | Track Listing | | 1. | Rich Woman | | 2. | Killing the Blues | | 3. | Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us | | 4. | Polly Come Home | | 5. | Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) | | 6. | Through the Morning, Through the Night | | 7. | Please Read the Letter | | 8. | Trampled Rose | | 9. | Fortune Teller | | 10. | Stick with Me Baby | | 11. | Nothin' | | 12. | Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson | | 13. | Your Long Journey | |
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| | Features | Condition: Used - Very Good
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 650 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
260 of 287 found the following review helpful:
 Truly signficant Oct 30, 2007
By Dave Goldberg
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 found the following review helpful:
Everything You Wanted it to Be! Oct 23, 2007
By A*
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 found the following review helpful:
Raising Sand raises the bar for collaborative work Oct 31, 2007
By R. Kyle
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.
65 of 79 found the following review helpful:
 Good pairing? Yes! Exciting? No... Nov 09, 2007
By B. Niedt
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.
21 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Contrasts Complement Each Other Oct 28, 2007
By Ken C.
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.
See all 650 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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