Raise The Roof
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ 2007 collaborative album *Raising Sand* remains, nearly a decade and a half after its release, a landmark record in roots music. The LP earned Plant, of Led Zeppelin fame, and reigning bluegrass queen Krauss five Grammys at the 2009 ceremony, including the coveted Album of the Year trophy, among many other accolades. The album also offered a new vision for how artists could work within an already nebulous genre, with the two recording favorite songs new and old for a collection that still sounds timeless. Plant and Krauss reconvene on *Raise the Roof*, seeming, somehow, to pick right back up where they left off. Still present are the pair’s intimacy, their contrasting but complementary vocal styles, and, notably, the gentle hand of producer T Bone Burnett, who also helmed *Raising Sand*. While much remains the same, *Raise the Roof* is a decidedly larger affair than its predecessor, even in its quieter moments, thanks likely to each artist’s growth via work with other projects (Band of Joy and Sensational Space Shifters for Plant; longtime band Union Station for Krauss) in the intervening decade-plus. Covered artists include Calexico (“Quattro \[World Drifts In\]”), Allen Toussaint (“Trouble With My Lover”), and Merle Haggard (“Going Where the Lonely Go”), with the album’s tracklist revealing a catholic breadth of influences. The duo is backed by some of Nashville’s finest players, including guitarists Buddy Miller and Bill Frisell.
Fourteen years after their first collaboration, the unlikely duo reunites for a well-curated selection of covers that spans generations, while adding their fascinating mystique to every one.
It ain’t broke, so Robert Plant and Alison Krauss don’t fix it on their second outing Raise The Roof
Plant and Krauss make an eclectic set of folk, country and R&B songs effortlessly their own on 'Raise the Roof,' their…
Raising Sand, the first collaborative effort between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, seemed to come from out of the blue in 2007.
From blue-eyed soul to English folk, the unlikely dream team’s second instalment of covers is a welcome dose of musical reassurance
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s ‘Raise the Roof’ expands the notions of collaboration and social exchange through music. Read our review.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' 'Raise the Roof' turns the spotlight on craft. It might not quite match its predecessor, but it maintains a high level of artistry.