I don't have a clue whose idea it was to put these two artists together for a duet but the result is nothing short of amazing. Before listening to this album I was obviously a fan of Mr. Plants but hardly knew of Alison Krauss.

As for what this record sounds like: essentially I feel it transcends time and genre as well. These songs sound like they were written years ago.  This record is for that reason an instant classic in my opinion.

After perhaps 20 or so listens I am still very pleased with these collections of song.  First of all, the producers did an excellent job mixing up which artist dominates different tunes. On some tracks Robert and Alison share equal footing, on others Alison dominates with some minor backing from Robert.  For this reason the album does not feel forced or contrived, as the only rule is the song itself dictates which artist is more or less utilized.

 None of the songs are corny at all.  They sound like a good mix if blues, classic rock, folk, with country influences and instrumentations.  Again, it is effortless to listen to "Raising Sand" and is a truly enjoyable experience. 

My favorite songs are "Please Read The Letter", "Killing The Blues", and "Through The Morning".  There is a sadness and quiet calm to these songs that makes them extremely rare.  When listening to them there is truthfulness and believability to each well-crafted song.  I love this record.  It will be interesting to see if the pair do any touring in the future.  I think low key acoustic sessions could be amazing. 

Because this album essentially came out of left field and is so incredibly awesome I suggest you check it out.

[sniplet downloads]

-Ron

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Music Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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