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Raising Sand | 
| Artist: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Label: Rounder
Category: Music
New (30) Used (6) from £6.84
Rating:  116 reviews
Sales Rank: 71557
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.4
MPN: 619075
UPC: 011661907522
EAN: 0011661907522
ASIN: B000UMQDHC
Release Date: October 23, 2007
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| Tracks:
| • | Rich Woman | | • | Killing the Blues | | • | Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us | | • | Polly Come Home | | • | Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) | | • | Through the Morning, Through the Night | | • | Please Read the Letter | | • | Trampled Rose | | • | Fortune Teller | | • | Stick with Me Baby | | • | Nothin' | | • | Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson | | • | Your Long Journey |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass crooner Alison Krauss may not be the likeliest of musical combinations. But on this welcome collaboration album, they work beautifully together, wringing a kind of magic from other people's songs. The key to the album is its versatility. Between them, Krauss and Plant can handle a vast repertoire on their own, and here they take on the lot, from folk laments and country soul to searing blues and upbeat rock & roll. Overseen by Elvis Costello producer T Bone Burnett and backed by high caliber musicians like guitarist Marc Ribot and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, Raising Sand sees the duo create stellar covers of songs by Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Mel Tillis and The Everly Brothers, among others. Highlights include a killer version of Roly Salley's "Killing the Blues", and a cover of the Plant-Page collaboration "Please Read the Letter," though in truth, it's difficult to find a weak spot on the whole album. --Danny McKenna
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| Customer Reviews: Read 111 more reviews...
 Don't waste your money. November 28, 2008
I can respect Robert Plant for his work with Led Zeppelin (nearly 40 years ago) and Alison Krauss is a major talent with the Union Station but this just does not work. The production by T Bone Burnett is good but the material is poor and boring. It neither one thing (Rock) nor another (Country/Bluegrass). Having read the reviews beforehand I borrowed this CD from my library prepared for a probable disappointment and it certainly lived up to that.
 Raises the hair on your neck November 22, 2008
Sublime, intersting and flawless. For me, reminiscent of Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris in terms of depth, colour and spirituality.
 eclectic percy November 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?
An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity October 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.
This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.
There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?
I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.
Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.
Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.
Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...
Disappointed September 25, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....
Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.
It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].
It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.
If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.
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