CD Reviews of Robert Plant Reissues

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Robert Plant: Pictures at Eleven Label: Swan Song/Rhino Released: 1982/2007

Plant’s first solo record is a terrific effort. Collaborating with unknown guitarist Robbie Blunt and utilizing the drumming prowess of Phil Collins and Cozy Powell (for two tracks), Eleven sounds somewhat like an Adrian Belew/King Crimson record. The record has more hooks than a Belew/Crimson record, but has the same sense of musical adventure in that every track doesn’t lead necessarily where you think it should. Only occasionally do you get a whiff of Zeppelin flavor, like the groaning in “Slow Dancer” and a sound akin to “Kashmir.” Eleven is clearly Plant following his own artistic muse, interested in exploring the musical terrain rather then recreating the past. “Burning Down One Side” is a perfect first song of his solo career. Blunt’s guitar work blisters in sections and then underplays it perfectly in others while the tall cool one lays down that signature phrasing. “Moonlight Samora,” the best track on an excellent record is a tasty mellow dish served with a splash of Spanish guitar. Reissue bonuses include a short but informative essay and two additional tracks including the B-side, “Far Post,” which features the keyboard work of Jeff Woodroffe. If you don’t have this record, you need to go get it.

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Robert Plant: The Principle of Moments Label: Rhino Released: 2007

If I recall correctly, this album’s hit single, “Big Log,” was the very first thing I ever heard from Robert Plant. I was in elementary school at the time, so I had no prior knowledge of the guy’s Led Zeppelin legacy. So with that and his later quick stint in the Honeydrippers, I more or less became a fan of Plant’s. It’s just too damn bad that this album is yet another victim of the whole ‘80s plastic-production factory, with way too many electronic drums (Is that Phil Collins’ or Barriemore Barlow’s fault?) and cheesy synths getting in the way. Granted, Plant wanted to make a name for himself and distance his new albums as far as possible from his Led Zeppelin work. In the case of “Big Log,” the seductive “In the Mood,” and the goofy-titled-but-groovy “Messin’ With the Mekon,” he succeeds. However, “Thru’ With the Two Step” sounds like a complete “All My Love” rewrite, and other tracks like “Other Arms” and “Horizontal Departure” just have no real groove to enjoy. This remaster adds three pointless live tracks, including an annoying 11-minute “Thru’ With The Two Step.” There’s also the unremarkable “previously unreleased” track “Turnaround.” All in all, a better memory of an album than an album that still holds up today.

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Robert Plant: Shaken ‘N’ Stirred Label: Esperanza/Rhino Released: 2007

Despite containing one of the best singles in Robert Plant’s entire discography (“Little by Little”), the Bullz-Eye CD Reviews staff went mute when asked if anyone had objections to declaring Shaken ‘N’ Stirred to be the least of Robert Plant’s ‘80s output. If you remember it as being pretty decent, we’re going to have to wonder when you last gave it a spin; it’s the textbook definition of “an artifact of its time,” coated in a heavy synth sound. (Check out the practically prog-rock keyboard solo at the 3-minute mark of “Doo Doo a Do Do” for proof.) As with all of Plant’s work, there’s still material to be salvaged, but you won’t find any of it until the fourth song, ”Trouble Your Money,” which begins a solid trio of tracks that continues with “Pink and Black,” a solid rocker which hints at the direction in which Plant would head for his next album, and the aforementioned “Little By Little.” There’s also considerable worth to the final two tracks, “Easily Lead” and “Sixes and Sevens,” which provide the only wholly successful blends of keyboards and guitars on the disc. Overall, however, the proceedings will having you shaking your head and wondering what Plant was thinking. Probably, he was caught between his desire to shake things up a bit and the label’s desire for him to sound contemporary; given how well that worked out for him, though, it’s no wonder that his next album, Now and Zen, was so rapturously received.

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Robert Plant: Now & Zen Label: Esperanza/Rhino Released: 1988/2007

That gagging sound you heard in late February 1988 was the Led Zeppelin faithful collectively swallowing their tongues upon hearing the most pristine recordings Robert Plant had ever put to tape. Seriously, who thought that the same man behind “Whole Lotta Love” would ever create something as immaculate as “Heaven Knows”? Not even Jimmy Page’s guitar solo could penetrate the blinding sheen of Tim Palmer’s production, now assisted by keyboardist Phil Johnstone (that’s right, a freaking keyboardist was calling the shots on a Plant record). But here’s the thing about Now & Zen: it’s awesome. The middling sales of 1985’s Shaken ‘n Stirred made it painfully clear to Plant that he would need to adapt in order to survive, even if it meant making a record with more polish than Elton John’s tiaras and songs about dancing, fer crissakes (“Dance on My Own”). The purists cried foul, but the gamble worked: the album was a Top 10 hit (rightfully so), and Zen stands as one of Plant’s most consistently enjoyable solo efforts today. As reissues go, however, this is less than essential: the bonus tracks include live versions of “Billy’s Revenge,” “Ship of Fools” and “Tall Cool One,” and as good as this reissue sounds, the original release of Zen was one of the best sounding CDs of its time.

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Robert Plant: Manic Nirvana Label: Esperanza/Rhino Released: 1990/2007

Timing is everything, which is why Robert Plant should’ve stuck to his usual three-year gap between albums before releasing his follow-up to Now and Zen. Instead, he only waited two years, and the record couldn’t even crawl into the top 10; after making it to #13, it began a descent which found it sitting in cut-out bins around the country far more quickly than it deserved. What a difference a year makes. In 1991, bands like Soundgarden started providing their Seattle-ized interpretation of the hard rock that Led Zeppelin had pioneered; not only would Plant have been viewed as prescient for producing an album with the word “Nirvana” in its title, but all the new bands would’ve been championing him and saying, “Dude, this guy can still fucking rock!” Manic Nirvana dispenses with the smooth pop/rock material of its predecessor and finds Plant with his hardest, most riff-heavy material since Zeppelin. Singles like “Hurting Kind (I’ve Got My Eyes On You),” “Big Love,” and the cover of “Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night” are all great, but there’s hardly a bad track here. Even the bonus tracks that’ve been added are worth a listen; the enthusiastic cover of The Remains’ “Don’t Look Back” is fun, and “Oompa (Watery Bint)” is slight but enjoyable, thanks to the ridiculous keyboard sounds. Manic Nirvana is arguably the most underrated album in Plant’s catalog, and certainly the one most worthy of reappraisal if you haven’t given it a listen in awhile.

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Robert Plant: Fate of Nations Label: Esperanza/Rhino Released: 1993/2007

Oddly enough, in the wake of grunge, Robert Plant decided not to continue with the full-on embrace he’d been giving rock ‘n’ roll on Manic Nirvana but, rather, to mix things up creatively again. Mind you, this worked out very poorly for him the last time he tried it (Shaken ‘N’ Stirred), but, thankfully, the results are considerably more impressive this time around. Fate of Nations is a surprisingly personal album, one where Plant expresses his politics (“Great Spirit” and “Network News”), the grief over the death of his son (“I Believe”), and pays tribute to his influences via a cover of Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter.” The sweeping strings on “The Greatest Gift” prove emotionally effective as well. There are no quick, succinct pop songs here, but there are a surprising amount of acoustic guitars to be found; the album’s first single, “29 Palms,” is powered by them, in fact. End result, sales-wise: Fate of Nations didn’t even manage to crack the top 30 – and ouch, you know that had to hurt. In response, Plant did what most old rockers do: he re-teamed with his most successful collaborator – in this case, Jimmy Page – and said, “Solo career? What solo career? It’s me and this guy now!” But he never forgot how happy he’d been with the disc; when he released his greatest-hits collection, Sixty Six to Timbuktu, a decade later, almost a third of it was taken from Fate of Nations.

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Robert Plant: Dreamland Label: Mercury/Rhino Released: 2002/2007

There is a Cajun feel to the opening track, “Funny in My Mind (I Believe I’m Fixin’ to Die)” and again, Plant is going to take his listeners on a musical journey. This one focuses mostly on covers while also containing a couple of tracks written by Plant and his band, the Strange Sensation. Like a power pitcher who learns how to pitch after the fastball is gone, Plant is a better vocalist then he was years ago, although he no longer has the power and muscle of his Zeppelin days. The top of that range is gone and I don’t think I want to hear him attempt “Black Dog” anymore, but his voice is perfect for this material. This is clearly illustrated on the beautiful cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song of the Siren.” His voice, warts and all, emotes a melancholy that a younger Plant would not have been able to convey. Plant’s “Hey Joe” is a very different, more menacing version than the catchy little number that Hendrix recorded. Justin Adams’ guitar work is perfect for Plant’s tribute to the music he loves. The remix of “Last Time I Saw Her” is a decent throw-in, while “Dirt in a Hole” is as good as any other track on the original album. Dreamland proves that in spite of not having the 99 mile-an-hour heater anymore, Plant is still very, very effective and can get the big outs when needed. Note: I do apologize for the overuse of silly sports metaphors, but you get the point.