Robert Plant And Alison Krauss - 'Raising Sand' (Universal) Released 29/10/07

In spite his other engagements (cough – most significant reunion gig ever!), Robert Plant has found the time to release his 9th solo album. Except this time not solo. Alison Krauss may not have such formidable credentials as Plant, but is a well respected player who has knocked up 11 albums herself. As two accomplished musicians and both with a bluesy basis, their meeting on ‘Raising Sand’ is therefore not misplaced.

This said, it’s difficult to work out the album that they’ve created. From opener ‘Rich Woman’ with its tamed and plodding blues rock melody, you could think that this was going to be Plant’s album. And if it were only taking the likes the jarring aboriginal spacey rock of ‘Nothin’’ and the idiosyncratically strong ballads such as the haunting ‘Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)’, then this it would be this Plant’s mature bluesy endeavour that Krauss has hitched a ride on. Yet from the country twang that permeates every track on ‘Raising Sand’, it is evident that Krauss’ bluegrass style is embedded in this album. Krauss dominates the stripped-back duets like ‘Trampled Rose’ and - a little ironically - ‘Killing The Blues’. And the stronger the country leaning of a track, as with ‘Your Long Journey’, the more Plant seems a misplaced second fiddle to Krauss’s more tailored vocals.

To this degree the album really is a part of each musician; neither out performs the other. Yet the ambiguity as to who is in the driver’s seat on this album that is the undoing of ‘Raising Sand’. The juxtaposing of tracks such as the pseudo-rumba rock ‘Fortune Baby’ and with the more commercial country ballad ‘Stick With Me Baby’ illustrates an unsettling lack of common direction. There is certainly a feeling that ‘Raising Sand’ could well have been two separate albums once, placed together only as a secondary thought. There is a half-baked feel in places too, as songs fade out early leaving the sense of incompletion.

For any other musicians this album would be a gem. But for Plant and Krauss it just feels wrong. Plant’s is uncertain in Krauss’ country styling, while his own efforts seem hampered by another singer. Thus with the best songs being when each sticks their guns, you can’t help wondering why this wasn’t two albums. Therefore, though delicate and beautiful, the flaws to this diamond however may see it better confined permanently to the rough.