Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Raising Sand - - CD Review

Classic rock, in a bold and worthwhile move, relocates to the heartland with Raising Sand (2007), appropriately named Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. Robert Plant, rock and roll veteran of Led Zeppelin fame, and bluegrass songstress, Alison Krauss are the unconventional pair behind this album, released by Rounder Records. This bluesy folk rock and country hybrid can only be described as organic, refreshingly simple and indelible.

Raising Sand premiered at number two on the Billboard 200, which is higher than any chart position that either of these artists has experienced in their solo careers. The album was declared platinum by the RIAA in March 2008. Raising Sand has been well received by critics, who praise the album for its originality and dulcet vocal harmonies. Rolling Stone placed the album at twenty-fourth on the list of the Top Fifty Albums of 2007.

"T-Bone" Burnett, the album's producer, drove the helm behind this dark horse album and chose songs from a variety of composers and sources, including "Please Read the Letter" which was written and recorded for the Page (as in Jimmy, Zeppelin's lead guitarist) and Plant album Walking into Clarksdale. "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)," which won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards when released as a single, was originally recorded by the Everly Brothers.

The duo brings vastly different musical backgrounds with them into the recording studio, with Plant being a virtuoso of adrenaline-laced rock and Krauss being the go-to gal for weepy yet powerful bluegrass that harkens back to her early twentieth century predecessors. The artists met in the middle on this album, drawing from both of their styles and creating their own and completely unique genre, making listeners feel like they are at the Grand Ole Opry and the Bath Festival simultaneously, which surprisingly works.

The album gets better with each listening; songs that one might refer to as simple upon first hearing are actually deceptively complicated and multi-faceted. While there isn't one mediocre song on the album, "Killing the Blues" is a veritable masterpiece and is undoubtedly the strongest of Raising Sand's thirteen tracks. This song best exhibits Plant and Krauss' vocal prowess, more specifically, their ability to sing in complete unison. Plant and Krauss' otherworldly and delightfully eerie knack for almost completely uniting their voices is ubiquitous throughout the album, as there are rare moments when they aren't singing together. Krauss' fiddle accompaniment provides a simultaneously haunting and lovely backdrop for the album's smooth harmonies. "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson," "Nothin'" and "Your Long Journey" are also beyond noteworthy and unforgettable tunes.

Music lovers who "get the Led out," especially fans of songs like "Black Dog" and "Immigrant Song" won't find anything remotely appealing about this romantic and subtle album because their Robert Plant, the first and only lead vocalist to make shrieking in a song somewhat appealing, is nowhere to be found. However, those who prefer "Going to California," the first five minutes or so of "Stairway to Heaven" and Plant's solo post-Zep work definitely won't regret the $9.99 they spend on iTunes. Alison Krauss enthusiasts are sure to love the album, as it is aglow with her moody and heavy, yet light brand of country music that makes even the stuffiest of urbanites long for a back porch on a humid night in the Ozarks at dusk.

Raising Sand is a revival, of music that doesn't rely on recording studio technology and a drum machine, and of songs that communicate something important and tangible. Raising Sand's win for Album of the Year at the Grammy's this month shows the Recording Academy's appreciation for effortless, undemanding and natural music and signals that the music-listening public is ready to leave overdone, immodest and superficial music where it belongs: last year.