I just took the plunge and bought Robert Plant's big 9-album retrospective. I had a blast listening to all those solo albums! Some of them are really awful... I can't stand Shaken and Stirred, for example, and some of the singles from the late 80's/ early nineties "Tall Cool One" and "Watching You/ The Hurting Kind" are truly dreadful. But it is all fun to hear, and the last two albums are excellent, especially 'Dreamland' from 2002! This album is wonderful!

I also liked hearing the second solo album, from '83, Principle of Moments. Always liked that one. And of course there is the real gem of the set, 'The Honeydrippers,' featuring Page and J. Beck on guitars, and Dave Weckl on drums. There are some nifty bonus tracks as well... Especially a '93 live version of Plant's 'Ship Of Fools'.

This was a neat journey through an awkward collection of tunes... I recommend it for the fans, esp. if you are like me and missed out on a lot of Plant's more recent solo stuff. He finally is able to restrain his voice in a truly artistic way, refraining from those annoying ambulence-like wolfe-howls that plague much of his late 80's music.

The set kinda left me hoping he DOESN'T reunite with LZ, and instead just keeps experimenting with middle-eastern and african sounds, and keeps working with new and interestiing musicians. You gotta hand it to him for experimenting.

Tate Wrote:
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> I just took the plunge and bought Robert Plant's
> big 9-album retrospective ...

I'm a big Plant fan as well. His last three solo albums (1993's Fate Of Nations, 2002's Dreamland and 2005's Mighty Rearranger) have alll been excellent. I agree that his earlier solo stuff is a mixed bag, with some very enjoyable material and some dreck mixed in. With the exception of the Honeydrippers album as you pointed out, that's good all the way thru. I recently read he was going to do a sequel to that this year because Ahmet Ertegun asked him to, but he shelved it when Ertegun died. Which is a shame.

I haven't bought the boxed set because I have all the original albums and it seems like a high price to pay for just the bonus tracks, but I'm sure I will eventually acquire it from somewhere.

> The set kinda left me hoping he DOESN'T reunite
> with LZ, and instead just keeps experimenting with
> middle-eastern and african sounds, and keeps
> working with new and interestiing musicians. You
> gotta hand it to him for experimenting.

I have to agree. Plant's tours with Page in the '90s where great, but the album they put out together in 1998 mostly blew chunks. I think at this point I'd rather have my memories of Zeppelin (all second hand, because I didn't become a fan until 1984 at the tender age of 14) and have Plant put out some more solo albums. Of course, a Page/Plant/Jones/(Jason) Bonham tour would probably be pretty good, as long as they didn't call it Zeppelin and didn't put out any new music unless it was up to snuff.

I agree with you Tate...2002's Dreamland is an excellent CD.

the shoot 'em dead, brainbell jangler!

If you guys like Dreamland (and I do, fantastic album) you should check out 2005's Mighty Rearranger, which is much better.

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
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> If you guys like Dreamland (and I do, fantastic
> album) you should check out 2005's Mighty
> Rearranger, which is much better.


agreed. 'mighty rearranger' is a brilliant album and (dare i say) left ABB in the dust.

drew

I think the box set is really put together well, VERY nice art work and packaging. The DVD is also good to have with all the PLANT video's and interview. Yeah DREAMLAND and MIGHTY REARRANGER are totally top notch and the disc before that one with 29 PALMS is a small step down but still rocks... A Good Box to get



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-09 03:00 by HelterSkelter.

HelterSkelter Wrote:
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> I think the box set is really put together well,
> VERY nice art work and packaging. The DVD is also
> good to have with all the PLANT video's and
> interview. Yeah DREAMLAND and MIGHTY REARRANGER
> are totally top notch and the disc before that one
> with 29 PALMS is a small step down but still
> rocks... A Good Bos to get


Well, I have somehow avoided these solo projects, even having all Zep albums. Thank you for these valuable hints, I`m heading to the record shop..

W

Mighty Rearranger was a classic album. should've sold millions

i'm off to see old Bob & The Honeydrippers in a small club next Wednesday. can't wait!

Now it is said and done! I ordered (just to start with) Dreamland.

Due to opinions I`ve read in this forum I decided to order Ronnie`s Essential Crossexion (don`t have any his solos)
.. and Muddy Waters the best of
.. and John Lee Hooker`s best of..
+ Norah Jones to my wife......

Expensive 10 minutes - so back to work!

Wesley

> agreed. 'mighty rearranger' is a brilliant album
> and (dare i say) left ABB in the dust.
>
> drew


It takes a few listens to digest, it's pretty complex. It does leave Plant's artisitic integrity QUITE intact, much like everything he's done since '93 (although I'll always have a weak spot for 1990's Manic Nirvana).

One thing's for sure - yes, it DID leave ABB in the dust - far in the dust.

I think the first one he did "Pictures at eleven" is a good album. Moonlight in Samosa and Slow Dancer for example, not bad songs.
I read an interview with Plant in a Swedish magazine in 1982. He had asked the other remaining Zeps what they thought of his first solo album.
"Well, Jimmy was too nice to say something negative about it, but JPJ just said, Ah, you could have done better than that".

andy js Wrote:
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> Mighty Rearranger was a classic album. should've
> sold millions
>
> i'm off to see old Bob & The Honeydrippers in a
> small club next Wednesday. can't wait!

Cool. Let us know how the show is.

If you want to delve into Robert's solo work, but don't want to shell out for the box set, I'd recommend his eccentrically compiled 2003 2-CD retrospective Sixty Six To Timbuktu which skews heavily towards his later solo albums while still including a few choice cuts from the early ones and even a few pre-Zep singles dating back to 1966 (hence the title).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-11 16:38 by tatters.

Yeah, That's a good one.... Should definitly include that since there's a lot of rare stuff on there....

HelterSkelter Wrote:
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> Yeah, That's a good one.... Should definitly
> include that since there's a lot of rare stuff on
> there....


And a lot of stuff people (myself included) might have missed the first time around. I love "Dye On The Highway" with its sampling of Stephen Stills's stage chatter from Woodstock ("Three days, man! We just love ya! We just love ya!") That's a GREAT track (and Plant's acknowledgement of the CSN influence on Zep's acoustic stuff, especially on Led Zep III).

tatters Wrote:
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> If you want to delve into Robert's solo work, but
> don't want to shell out for the box set, I'd
> recommend his eccentrically compiled 2003 2-CD
> retrospective Sixty Six To Timbuktu which skews
> heavily towards his later solo albums while still
> including a few choice cuts from the early ones
> and even a few pre-Zep singles dating back to 1966
> (hence the title).

Good point, that's an excellent anthology. Disc 2 is all rarities and its almost as good as Disc 1, which is the best of his studio albums.

drewmaster wrote:
"agreed. 'mighty rearranger' is a brilliant album and (dare i say) left ABB in the dust."

Mighty rearranger is not a good album. It abounds in blues clichês and poor melodies, and too many elements of "world music". Instead he should try to play progressive rock like they did in the early 70s, which today means the risky area of "poodle rock".

To say Mighty Rearranger is "not a good album" is opinionated. My opinion is that it IS very good. Plant is obsessed with north African rhythms and middle eastern vocalizations and has been for many years... he's not just sampling "world beats" or whatever. This makes his music quite interesting. I am also of the opinion that his stuff with LZ from the early 70's is much more traditional blues-influenced, just with a very hard-edge. I would not put it in the prog-rock category at all. But that's just my opinion!

"If it sounds good, it IS good." -Peter Schickele/ Duke Ellington

I rememenber starting a thread here when I got the "Mighty rearranger" album. It blew me away. Still does. It's weird: after Zep broke who turned out to be the cool one? The one with a vision?

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

ANDY JS

I am also coming up to JBs, should be a great nite!!!!!
Bringing my new Japanese damsel in tow and she has no clue where she is going for Valentine's Day, heh heh heh. (thankfully she is a rock fan and will be thrilled to see Golden Bob in such a small venue.)

SD

ChelseaDrugstore Wrote:
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> I rememenber starting a thread here when I got the
> "Mighty rearranger" album. It blew me away. Still
> does. It's weird: after Zep broke who turned out
> to be the cool one? The one with a vision?

During Led Zeppelin's existance, it was always assumed that Page was the great mastermind. If you're suggesting that Robert's solo output has reversed that assumption, I'm inclined to agree.

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ChelseaDrugstore Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I rememenber starting a thread here when I got
> the
> > "Mighty rearranger" album. It blew me away.
> Still
> > does. It's weird: after Zep broke who turned
> out
> > to be the cool one? The one with a vision?
>
> During Led Zeppelin's existance, it was always
> assumed that Page was the great mastermind. If
> you're suggesting that Robert's solo output has
> reversed that assumption, I'm inclined to agree.

I still think Page was Zeppelin's mastermind, although the other three contributed mightily, Plant in particular. I think Page was just burnt out after Zeppelin. He's nearly five years older than Plant and was in the professional music scene for quite a while before him, playing countless sessions and also doing a stint with the Yardbirds. Then he went on to start Zeppelin and functioned as that band's leader for its 12-year existence. Plus he had a serious drug problem for most of the '70s and into the early '80s, which would sap anyone's strength.

I also think he always felt (wrongly, as it turned out) that Zeppelin would get back together and therefore he didn't put as much effort as he could have into a solo career. Supposedly Page is coming out with an album this year; I hope it materializes and is good.