Figured it was time to pull this one back into rotation, since it will almost inevitably be the big winner come Sunday (because God forbid someone who released their album after 1990 be recognized for making good music).
I don’t mean to knock Robert Plant or Allison Krauss, the work they do on Raising Sand is all right (though several songs would be infinitely better if they moved beyond dirge tempo), and “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” might be one of my favorite songs from the last 18 months or so. But too often this album just feels safe. Plant, despite being frontman for Led Zeppelin, one of the biggest rock bands of the last century, always felt more comfortable in a subdued setting like this one. And Alison Krauss sounds relaxed, even bored, to the point where most of her role in this collaboration sounds mailed in. “Please Read The Letter”, the track for which Plant & Krauss are receiving Grammy lovin’, is interesting and contains some of the most interesting electric guitar work you’ll hear on the album, but also extends about a minute past its welcome. The same can be said for a number of tracks here, as well. On the bright side, it isn’t as self-celebratory as Coldplay’s Viva La Vida (though I’ll defend that album for years to come), or as forgettable as Year of the Gentleman (I still haven’t listened to it, and totally forgot it was an AotY nominee till about 10 minutes ago). But more often than not Raising Sand looks for texture and nuance, and forgets to occasionally have songs in the mixture.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Fortune Teller [iTunes]
==TJ==
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Album A Day
[...] Album A Day: Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, Raising Sand « ¡Viva … (vivalamainstream.wordpress.com) – February 06, 2009I don’t mean to knock Robert Plant or Allison Krauss, the work they do on Raising Sand is all right (though several songs would be infinitely better if they moved beyond dirge tempo), and “Gone Gone G… more Raising Sand blog posts … [...]