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MojoThe most remarkable collaboration since Norah Jones and the Foo Fighters is also one of the best albums of the year. [Nov 2007, p.92]
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The pairing of the wily old tomcat and the classy country thrush turns out as magically in reality as it seemed unlikely on paper.
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Entertainment WeeklyThese aren't "duets" but exercises in sublime harmony. [2 Nov 2007, p.65]
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The breadth of new realms both singers explore is one of many highlights of a collection that is nothing short of remarkable.
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A deeply special album, and one you hope enough people will allow to get under their skin.
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This collection is simply a joy to listen to, with great singers lovingly rendering great songs with a talented producer at the helm.
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You don’t have to be a fan of the country, blues or folk genres to appreciate the heartbreaking brilliance of this inspired collaboration.
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At just under an hour, Raising Sand borders on indulgent sometimes.
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What seems to be an unlikely pairing in the duo of former -- and future apparently--Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant and bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss is actually one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music.
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Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other
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Key to the magic is the delicious harmony vocals of the unlikely duo, best-displayed on the swaying 'Killing the Blues,' given trad-country depth by steel pedal ace Greg Leisz.
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Even more surprising is how dynamic the duo sounds, as their voices both blend together and draw each other into fresh territory.
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Raising Sand is the stuff of which music lovers' dreams are made: an unexpected collision of two distinct but complementary worlds that transcend the sum of their parts to create something unique and mesmerizing.
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Raising Sand is an album of deep, dark Americana, a scintillatingly stitched patchwork of country, R'n'B and singer-songwriters that represents what Plant describes as "the America I have always loved musically."
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Though Alison Krauss and Robert Plant make strange bedfellows indeed, the result is an engrossing, powerfully evocative collection.
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All involved have created one of the most unusual and surprisingly moving records I have heard in some time.
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More revelatory are Krauss’ splendid R&B turn on Little Milton’s 'Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson' and Plant’s Dr. John impersonation on Allen Toussaint’s 'Fortune Teller'--just two of the many eye-openers on this surprising, and surprisingly effective, collaboration.
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The melding of Plant’s hard rock vocals and Krauss’ sweet sound requires them both to stretch their talents in unexpected ways. The new album’s triumph lies in the fact that they both seem to do this so effortlessly.
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Robert Plant's pilgrimages to the Deep South led him to Nashville for Raising Sand, an imaginative, seductive collaboration with bluegrass goddess Alison Krauss that explores the desolate valleys between his Delta blues and her Appalachian folk.
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So even though Burnett has assembled a crack acoustic support unit to play the choice material he's selected from Gene Clark, Townes Van Zandt and the Everly Brothers, without that magical X factor you've got nothing but two good vocalists trying to stay out of each other's way.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 78 out of 88
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Mixed: 5 out of 88
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Negative: 5 out of 88
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Oct 26, 2018
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ChrisM.Jan 24, 2008Interesting and more than a little challenging, great combination but I can see why its a little to laid back for some.
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JonM.Jan 24, 2008Beautiful...fresh...earthy...ethereal...the best "new" sound I've heard in years.