Ignorance Ain’t Bliss
Monday, July 14th, 2008
There’s a lot of people out there who seem unwilling to give the recent collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss a chance. A lot of them are out of shape ex-rockers who think the only thing Plant should be doing at this point in his career is singing Zeppelin songs. Thing is, Robert Plant has been one of the most adventurous singers in the history of rock music, and has never been one to simply do the same thing over and over. Anyone who wishes he would probably has no appreciation for music as an art form.
Plant’s 2005 album “The Mighty ReArranger” was a solid effort and featured an amazing single called “Shine It All Around”, which is as good as anything he’s done with or without Zeppelin. As for his latest album, a collaboration with Alison Krauss titled “Raising Sand”, it’s one of the better releases of the past year. Granted, it’s not a “rock” album, but it’s stylishly mellow and has some stellar moments - it’s what I would call a Sunday morning album. And there’s no doubt about the fact that the vocal blend of Krauss and Plant is very cool. After years of hearing double-tracked Plant vocals, it’s nice to hear him work off someone. Most who have heard the album tend to agree, and there’s lots of them - “Raising Sand” is Plant’s most succesful album in nearly 20 years.
Of course, there are some ignorant people out there who will slam the collaboration without even hearing it. Such is the case of those who tend to not grow with the artists they claim to love. I’m off to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the Molson Amphitheatre tonight. Whatever they play, I’m sure it will sound great. For a peek at one song they’ve been playing, check out the video below.
On that note, use PLANT as today’s bonus code.