Originally appeared in the Bowdoin Orient (Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, orient.bowdoin.edu)

By Louis Weeks

This may sting, so let’s get it over with. We’ll do it fast, like a band-aid. Ready, set, go: celebrity duet. While each on its own possesses enough venom to kill a full-grown album, the two together have been known to maim even the artists themselves-just ask Willie Nelson. Duets have become a swan song for popular musicians. Like elephant graveyards, they are now the last stop for artists who are “on their way out,” and you can pay your respects at every Starbucks in the world. While the duet seems to be an orange-mocha mistake, there is one upside to the genre: The record industry has, for the first time, saved you money. Like Hannah Montana, duets allow you to buy one disc and hate two artists. So with that extra 10 dollars that the suits have saved you, I recommend that you forget everything I have just said, haul ass to Bull Moose Records, and buy Robert Plant and Allison Krauss’s “Raising Sand.” ||Continue reading||

Originally appeared on nashville95.com

By Mandy Phillips

There’s no doubt that the pairing of rock legend Robert Plant and bluegrass queen Alison Krauss is a unique match-up. In fact, the new album might well have been titled Raising Eyebrows instead of Raising Sand. But with their respective tenor and soprano powerhouse vocals, a Plant / Krauss match-up is a musical match made in heaven.

Raising Sand feels a bit like the two artists’ personal music playground, as it flirts with various styles, arrangements, and musical concepts from track to track. There is no continuity with the album, but somehow it works. The listener is left wondering what will come next - will it be a blues-infused track, a country losin’ song, or a melody that sounds like it could have been pulled straight from one of Plant’s Led Zeppelin albums.

For those who have been exposed to the released single “Gone Gone Gone,” don’t expect the same upbeat, cheery sound to resonate through the entire album. In fact, the single - which sounds delightfully like every bit of the ol’ Everly Brothers tune that it is - is one of only four up-tempo selections on the 13-track album. Plant and Krauss meet in the middle in terms of style on “Gone Gone Gone,” blending country-ish vocal arrangements with edgier instrumentation. On several other tracks, though, Plant drifts into Krauss’ country territory, while Krauss makes her way into the world of progressive rock.

And in an era when a lot of popular music sounds a lot a like, be prepared to hear some very unique songs and styles on Raising Sand. From “Rich Woman” - which could have been a 1960s country hit if not for the modern instrumentation - to “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us” - which is both eerie and entrancing in its arrangement, there are very few traditional songs on this album.

But fans of Krauss who are seeking a bit of the Alison they know and love won’t be disappointed. “Trampled Rose” offers plenty of country appeal, while several other tracks dip into the folksy waters that Krauss often visits. And if you’re a fan of Plant’s stylings, be prepared to enjoy several tracks like “Nothin’” and “Polly Come Home.”

In the end, Raising Sand offers a rare pairing of two of the most reveled vocalists in modern popular music, and while the album may not necessarily strike a chord with every country music fan, it does showcase an exciting and unique musical experimentation.

originally appeared in The Free Lance-Star/fredericksburg.com

BY MATT CAMERON

Last year was so packed with great releases that it has seemed nearly impossible to get to all of them–particularly the less glamorous albums that take time to truly appreciate. One of these, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ duet album “Raising Sand,” released on Rounder Records, had long intrigued me, but never actually made it onto my playlist.

A little background on “Raising Sand” is certain to raise, if not sand, then expectations. The duo behind the CD is Robert Plant, the lead singer of the legendary rock ‘n’ roll group Led Zeppelin, and Alison Krauss, perhaps the most successful female country-bluegrass artist in history.

That such a collaboration was able to occur is, itself, a triumph for music. “Raising Sand” quickly became one of 2007’s seminal albums and an example of how successful a collaboration album can be when done correctly.

After listening to “Raising Sand” several times, it became apparent to me that the album is an example of a more traditional style of music–one that hip, young ears seem to have turned away from.

Sadly, that shift in musical focus means that younger listeners might be missing out on some of the purest sounds that exist today. “Raising Sand” is a disc that requires a level of patience, but will reward listeners with a stunning display of musical aptitude if given a chance.

The magic of the disc lies in the delicate musical bond that is established between Krauss and Plant. For the most part, it is a soft and slow album that picks up only on tracks like “Fortune Teller” and “Gone Gone Gone,” on which Plant’s blues prowess stands out from Krauss’ mellow bluegrass approach. The interplay between the duo’s voices is captivating when laid over smooth guitar rhythms, and these few rollicking numbers offset the rest of the album nicely.

Perhaps the album’s best track, however, is one of its slowest, “Polly Come Home.” It is minimalist, to be sure–but Krauss’ and Plant’s voices manage to evoke a quiet and solemn atmosphere of solitude.

Overall, it is this musical atmosphere that makes “Raising Sand” worth delving into. It might take more time to appreciate than the latest indie rock or hip-hop release, but it might eventually sound better than either.

Matt Cameron is a junior at James Monroe High School.

Originally appeared in Commonwealth Times (Virginia)

by Roberto Curtis

Led Zeppelin co-founder Robert Plant and Grammy-winning record-holder Alison Krauss have taken their profound understanding of rock, blues, country, bluegrass and folk and released an album that is truly worthy of Grammy contention for best album of the year.

In the album, “Raising Sand,” the duo grazes the emotions with the slightest touch of instrumental texture and vocal harmonies while letting the gravity of their musicianship hit hard. Krauss’ haunting voice in “Trampled Rose” induces goose bumps while flecks of banjo keep the feel grounded in Appalachian heritage.

Fans of Zeppelin will be pleased to know that Plant’s ability to stir souls is still present. While his vocal quality has matured like a fine Cabernet, Plant’s old style still defines songs such as “Fortune Teller” and “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On).”

The album features both up-tempo grooves and stalking ballads. Minimalism is the key to unlocking perfection in slower songs, which feature the best vocal blends.

The writing and arranging are spectacular. Spicy elements of the revolutionary rock of the ’60s, of the Beatles, of bluegrass and of the Allman Brothers all blend to achieve a tasty end result.

The album tugs and thrashes emotions throughout with wicked guitar riffs a la Jimmy Page and sick violin and banjo commentary, especially on “Nothin’.”

Plant and Krauss surely live up to critics’ expectations with this album and most likely will please anyone with a willing ear, especially your parents.

Grade: A+

Originally appeared in Kitsap Sun

By MICHAEL C. MOORE

At its worst, “Raising Sand” plays like a T Bone Burnett record with some mightily high-powered guest vocals.

At its best, it’s like the soundtrack from a romantic fantasy movie about singers from different generations and backgrounds who meet by chance in a backwater club and hop on stage to sing with the house band.

A more unlikely allegiance — 59-year-old Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and 36-year-old bluegrass princess Allison Krauss — is unimaginable. But their two voices, and their two attitudes, seem in perfect harmony as they tackle a list of roots rock, alt-country, folk and antique pop selected for them by producer Burnett.

“Raising Sand” might not have been the best album of 2007, but it probably was the damnedest. And, ultimately, the meeting of two revered musical minds is a success — “Raising Sand” holds the listener’s interest almost without letup through its 13 tracks.

That success is due almost entirely due to the work of Plant — whose vocals are restrained, relentlessly sweet and melodic — and Krauss — her characteristic beautific self on material that is much closer to her comfort zone than her vocal partner.

The two singers trade melody and harmony chores, at times taking the lead on songs seemingly more suited to the other. The choices they make on how to collaborate often are more intriguing than the actual combination of their voices.

Krauss’ lilting soprano is on display on Sam Phillips’ haunting “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us,” and Plant is at his most tuneful on Townes Van Zandt’s “Nothin,” despite its irritating arrangement.

But it’s when the two sing together — from the gorgeous harmonies of Rowland Salley’s “Killing the Blues” to the playful rockabilly banter of the Everly Brothers’ “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” — that the record really takes on the glow of something special. From the look of the video shot for “Gone Gone Gone,” both seem to be having great fun with the project.

The problem with Burnett’s production and arrangements is that the fun doesn’t come through often enough. The slower numbers are spare and muddy sounding, and there isn’t enough variety in the instrumentation to make any of them all that memorable beyond the pedigree of the vocals being ladled over them.

There’s only one dud in the song selection — Plant has nothing new to add to Naomi Neville’s “Fortune Teller,” which was covered far more successfully several times in the Sixties.

Plant seems content, more often than not, to let Krauss sing the lead as he explores the rewards of various supporting roles. Never is this more fruitful than on the record’s rockin’est track, Milt Campbell’s “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson,” and the solemn, lovely closer, A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson’s “Your Long Journey.”

Plant and Krauss will tour together this year, and onstage they should be able to push and stretch each other in ways that could be real exciting (imaging Krauss fronting for Zep rockers like “Black Dog”), and in ways Burnett’s rather one-dimensional palette didn’t allow on “Raising Sand.”

Still, the CD is an unexpected jewel, an example of how polar opposites can meet somewhere in the middle and make quiet, colorful little sparks fly.