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rand z · January 2nd, 2008, 09:16 AM

anyone here have a chance to listen to this recent album?

i picked it up about a week ago and have played it a few times... i have to admit that im a little disappointed in it for a number of reasons.

i was hoping that the pairing of robert plant and alison krauss would be unique and wonderful. and, at a few rare moments it is... but, generally throughout most of the tracks, except where they are singing solo, if i didnt know it was them singing, it could be almost any decent female/male vocal duet. especially plant as you really cant distinguish anything "plant" about his voice. they water each other down, considerably, imho. again, only when they solo can i tell its plant and krauss.

the production is probably my biggest issue. why they had t bone burnette produce this when they had ALISON KRAUSS in-house, is imho a major mistake. alison would have provided a purity of sound that is sorely missing, here. imho, it sounds like t bone set up a 50,000 gallon drum; put one centrally located ambiant mic; 3 o r 4 musicians; alison and robert (with mics so close, it sounds like they're half way down there throats), and THEN added even more reverb to the overall sound!!!

I.E. ...

the better title to this album would have been, imho, "raising MUD".

man... imho again, this sounds like an old peter and gordon album, or a yardbirds album from 1964, where everything is done on 4 track steuder and (other than the vocals), minimal micing/mixing. i was hoping the reason plant wanted to work with alison was that he wanted to do a folky, country, rootsy acoustic project with a clear, simple pure sonic quality and well defined mix... ala, union station/nickel creek etc.

the song selection is spotty too... plant (or t bone) keeps throwing in these old british style blues from the early 60's to, i guess, appease plants vocal style, and then juxtaposes it with other sad, lilting, meandering sonic excercises to try and work alison into the project.

imho, it only works at certain points in the entire album. and, to be honest, i dont think plant and krauss needed to be in the same room for most of this project.

the musicianship is mostly understated (though they didnt really need the great norman blake), and, many tiimes, washed out in that infernal reverb(s. in fact, its so basic that i really think i could have supplied most of the guitar/bass parts, myself, and im certainly not a norman blake or marc ribot.

in conclusion, this really didnt work, and imho, it could have if only alison would have produced it and t bone would have stayed home. i realize that they were trying to create (or recreat) a certain sonic feel and tone (it probably WAS early brit pop/blues), but i, for one did not really GET it.

this album is unique, imho, in only that they'll never be anything like it again.

anyone else agree/disagree?

really imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

January 2nd, 2008, 09:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
rand z Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 969	raising sand...??? anyone here have a chance to listen to this recent album? i picked it up about a week ago and have played it a few times... i have to admit that im a little disappointed in it for a number of reasons. i was hoping that the pairing of robert plant and alison krauss would be unique and wonderful. and, at a few rare moments it is... but, generally throughout most of the tracks, except where they are singing solo, if i didnt know it was them singing, it could be almost any decent female/male vocal duet. especially plant as you really cant distinguish anything "plant" about his voice. they water each other down, considerably, imho. again, only when they solo can i tell its plant and krauss. the production is probably my biggest issue. why they had t bone burnette produce this when they had ALISON KRAUSS in-house, is imho a major mistake. alison would have provided a purity of sound that is sorely missing, here. imho, it sounds like t bone set up a 50,000 gallon drum; put one centrally located ambiant mic; 3 o r 4 musicians; alison and robert (with mics so close, it sounds like they're half way down there throats), and THEN added even more reverb to the overall sound!!! I.E. ... the better title to this album would have been, imho, "raising MUD". man... imho again, this sounds like an old peter and gordon album, or a yardbirds album from 1964, where everything is done on 4 track steuder and (other than the vocals), minimal micing/mixing. i was hoping the reason plant wanted to work with alison was that he wanted to do a folky, country, rootsy acoustic project with a clear, simple pure sonic quality and well defined mix... ala, union station/nickel creek etc. the song selection is spotty too... plant (or t bone) keeps throwing in these old british style blues from the early 60's to, i guess, appease plants vocal style, and then juxtaposes it with other sad, lilting, meandering sonic excercises to try and work alison into the project. imho, it only works at certain points in the entire album. and, to be honest, i dont think plant and krauss needed to be in the same room for most of this project. the musicianship is mostly understated (though they didnt really need the great norman blake), and, many tiimes, washed out in that infernal reverb(s. in fact, its so basic that i really think i could have supplied most of the guitar/bass parts, myself, and im certainly not a norman blake or marc ribot. in conclusion, this really didnt work, and imho, it could have if only alison would have produced it and t bone would have stayed home. i realize that they were trying to create (or recreat) a certain sonic feel and tone (it probably WAS early brit pop/blues), but i, for one did not really GET it. this album is unique, imho, in only that they'll never be anything like it again. anyone else agree/disagree? really imho. rand z tropicalsoul.net