One of the most striking things about Raising Sand is the way that Krauss and Plant, both distinctive vocalists in their own right, generally sound so little like themselves while singing these songs. It's an effacement, and a blending, which is emblematic of and integral to the record's achievement - which is to create a contemporary American roots album of genuine quality. Plant has a background in the blues evident to anyone who's listened to any Led Zep, while Krauss draws deeply from the bluegrass tradition, but the music they create together is, while enriched by both of those streams, not wedded to either in parts or as a whole.
This is apparent, say, in a fantastic run near the end, which in the space of three songs goes from a lovely dusty folk-country shuffle ("Stick With Me Baby" - a real old harmony duet), to a ferociously slow-burning Townes van Zandt cover done by Plant in full-on "The Rain Song" epic mode with Krauss' menacing plugged-in fiddle cutting through and above the layers of electric guitar (all of the songs are covers, actually, coverees including Tom Waits, Sam Phillips, the Everly Brothers and others), to a honkytonk-infused country-rocker in which Krauss takes her best shot at singin' just like Plant did in his prime and which is actually rather like Alison Krauss covering Led Zeppelin at their jauntiest ("Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" - the most sheerly delightful song on the album)...they cover a lot of ground, taking both musicians in lots of directions both individually and together, but it's held together by the spirit of the thing (not to mention T Bone Burnett's characteristic production style).
All told, it's a real winner - Raising Sand may not quite be one for the ages, but on its own terms it doesn't put a foot wrong.
