Raising Sand

Infobox Album
Name = Raising Sand
Type = Studio album
Artist = Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

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Released = October 23, 2007
Recorded = Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee, United States; Electro Magnetic Studios, Los Angeles, California, United States; The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California, United States; Sage & Sound, Hollywood, California, United States
Genre = Folk rock, Country
Length = 57:13
Label = Rounder Records
Producer = T-Bone Burnett
Reviews =
*"Allmusic" rating|4|5 [http://wc05.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:hifqxzyhldse link]
*"Billboard" rating|4|5
*"Blender" rating|4|5
*"Entertainment Weekly" A-
*"The Guardian" rating|4|5
*"Hot Press" rating|4.5|5
*MOJO rating|5|5
*"The Observer" rating|4|5
*Paste Magazine rating|4|5 [http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/5842/review/music/raising_sand link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/16272721/review/16928089/raising_sand link]
*"The Sun" rating|5|5
*"Uncut" rating|5|5
*"Yahoo! UK" rating|5|4.5
Misc = Extra chronology 2
Artist = Robert Plant
Type = album
Last album = "Nine Lives"
(2006)
This album = "Raising Sand"
(2007)
Next album = Extra chronology 2
Artist = Alison Krauss
Type = album
Last album = ""
(2007)
This album = "Raising Sand"
(2007)
Next album =

"Raising Sand" is a collaboration album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Released on October 23, 2007, the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling about 112,000 copies in its first week, the highest chart position for either artists' solo work (Plant however had previously reached #1 several times with Led Zeppelin). [Hasty, Katie. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003665671 "Underwood Leads Three Country Debuts Onto Chart"] , "Billboard". October 31, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2008.] The album entered the Top 5 on the UK Albums Chart, going on to reach #2 in January 2008.

The album has garnered widespread critical acclaim in the short time since its release, earning an averaged score of 87 on Metacritic. [ [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/plantrobertandalisonkrauss/raisingsand?q=raising%20sand Robert Plant And Alison Krauss: Raising Sand (2007): Reviews ] ] Apart from the obvious influence of Plant and Krauss' vocal styles and talent, the album's producer, T Bone Burnett is credited with giving the album its skeletal, and somewhat haunting, musical style. This album was #24 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.

The two songs by Gene Clark ("Polly (Come Home)" and "Through the Morning, Through the Night") were originally recorded by Dillard & Clark for their 1969 album, "Through the Morning Through the Night". "Please Read the Letter" was first recorded for the Jimmy Page/Robert Plant album, Walking into Clarksdale, in 1998.

"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" was released as a single and won the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. "Gone, Gone, Gone" was originally recorded by the Everly Brothers for Warner Music in 1964. The song "Killing the Blues" was #51 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601363/the_100_best_songs_of_2007/13 "The 100 Best Songs of 2007"] "Rolling Stone". December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007.] "Raising Sand" was certified platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2008. [http://www.riaa.com/ "RIAA Searchable Database"] . "RIAA". Retrieved March 27, 2008.] [ [http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=1519&t=Alison_Krauss_Robert_Plant_go_platinum "Alison Krauss/Robert Plant go platinum"] . "Country Standard Time". March 20, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.]

Critical reception

"Raising Sand" received extremely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. "Being There" called it "one of the year’s very best", [Miller, Adam D. [http://beingtheremag.com/reviewalbum.php?id=661 "Raising Sand - Robert Plant/Alison Krauss"] . "Being There". Retrieved March 8, 2008.] and Allmusic called it "one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music", but stated that some of the songs "(felt) like (they were) tossed off". [Jurek, Thom. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hifqxzyhldse~T1 "Raising Sand - Robert Plant/Alison Krauss"] . "Allmusic". Retrieved March 8, 2008.] JamBase called the album "subtle, focused and full of life" and said that it was "highly recommended". [Cook, Dennis. [http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?StoryID=12005 "Robert Plant | Alison Krauss: Raising Sand"] . "JamBase". November 12, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.] "Village Voice" commented on the album, saying it was "powerfully evocative" and "utterly foreign, oddly familiar, and deeply gratifying".Cavaleiri, Nate. [http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0743,asdfasdfsafd,78144,22.html "Robert Plant & Alison Krauss's Raising Sand: A whole lotta desolate, evocative, engrossing love"] . "Village Voice". October 16, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.] "Rolling Stone" magazine included the album in its list of the top fifty albums of 2007. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601851/the_top_50_albums_of_2007/24 "The Top 50 Albums of 2007"] . "Rolling Stone". December 17, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.]

The album was generally praised for its choice of songs and instrumental quality. The compilation of songs on "Raising Sand" were hand-picked by the producer, T-Bone Burnett. "Entertainment Weekly" described the cover songs that make up the album as "eclectic", [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20166944_20166960_20154255,00.html "Raising Sand (2007) Alison Krauss, Robert Plant"] . "Entertainment Weekly". October 26, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.] and "Village Voice" said that "T-Bone Burnett flaunts his typical curatorial genius with a whole set of 'have we met before?' tunes". The instrumental quality of the album was heavily praised; BBC described Krauss's fiddle as "coruscating" and "raw", [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/rwcz/ "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand"] . "BBC". October 29, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.] and Music Box said that Krauss "exceeds all expectations". [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2007/plant-krauss-raisingsand-10232007.html "Robert Plant/Alison Krauss - Raising Sand"] . "Music Box". October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.] The guest instrumentalists were also praised, with BBC saying that the guests "make this a stunning, dark, brooding collection, comparable in tone to Daniel Lanois' masterful job on Dylan's "Time Out Of Mind"."

Many reviewers focused on the album's vocal quality. Critics primarily praised Krauss and Plant's vocal harmonization, with one critic saying that the "key to the magic is the delicious harmony vocals of the unlikely duo." [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/content_display/reviews/albums/e3i7b7f6bee78014d179aa335893eb31341 "Raising Sand"] . "Billboard". Retrieved March 8, 2008.] Various music critics described Alison Krauss's vocals as being "spellbinding", "honey-sweet", "weepy", "saccharine", and "haunting". [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2007/plant-krauss-raisingsand-10232007.html "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raing Sand ("sic")"] . "Blender Magazine". October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.] On the other hand, Robert Plant's sometimes "wailing" vocals were described as "orgasmic", and "slithering", in regard to his lead roles.

Track listing

#"Rich Woman" (Dorothy LaBostrie, McKinley Millet) – 4:04
#"Killing the Blues" (Roly Jon Salley) – 4:16
#"Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" (Sam Phillips) – 3:26
#"Polly Come Home" (Gene Clark) – 5:36
#"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" (Phil Everly, Don Everly) – 3:33
#"Through the Morning, Through the Night" (Gene Clark) – 4:01
#"Please Read the Letter" (Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 5:53
#"Trampled Rose" (Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan) – 5:34
#"Fortune Teller" (Naomi Neville) – 4:30
#"Stick with Me, Baby" (Mel Tillis) – 2:50
#"Nothin'" (Townes Van Zandt) – 5:33
#"Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" (Milton Campbell) – 4:02
#"Your Long Journey" (Arthel Lane Doc Watson, Rosa Lee Watson) – 3:55

Chart performance

Personnel

*Robert Plant - Vocals
*Alison Krauss - Vocals, fiddle
*T-Bone Burnett - Production, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, six-string bass, six-string guitar
*Riley Baugus - Banjo
*Jay Bellerose - Drums
*Norman Blake - Acoustic guitar
*Dennis Crouch - Acoustic bass
*Gregory Liesz - Pedal steel guitar
*Marc Ribot - Acoustic guitar, banjo, dobro, electric guitar
*Mike Seeger - Autoharp
*Patrick Warren - Keyboards, pump organ, toy piano

References

External links

* [http://www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com/ Official website]
* [http://shorefire.com/clients/plantkrauss/ Official media site]
* [http://www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com/site.php?content=video "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" music video at official website]
* [http://www.harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=11514 Fred Mills, "Whole Lotta Twang: Robert Plant Teams Up w/Alison Krauss"] in "Harp," August 2, 2007.
* [http://donmaxx.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/blog-revival-un-album-original-intr-un-secol-al-mediocritatii/ Raising Sand review] ro
* [http://www.countryhq.com.au/article.php?id=32 Raising Sand review on CountryHQ]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/plantrobertandalisonkrauss/raisingsand?q=raising%20sand Metacritic reviews of the album]
* [http://www.oraclesmusic.com/Review_42_Plant_Krauss.php Review of Raising Sand]
* [http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=156 Review: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand"]