Which direction Robert Plant turns next is anyone's guess. After his hugely successful collaboration album with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, the Led Zeppelin frontman decides to turn back the clock on his latest solo effort Band Of Joy. Besides being the title of the new album, Band Of Joy references Plant's pre-Zeppelin blues band with drummer John Bonham. Band Of Joy is a bluesy, Americana collection comprised mostly of covers and supported by an all-star cast of musicians.

Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002).