Robert Plant's Solo career: classic, dud, search, destroy, etc.

An unmentioned song I still go back to: the beautiful synth ballad "Thru With The Two Step" from Principle of Moments. Man, I wish he'd locked into that sound/vibe and just stayed there....

I like Robert Plant's first three records (the Robbie Blunt trilogy) a lot, and appreciate the effort on Plant's part to make them NOT sound like Zeppelin. Which would've been a mistake, considering how his voice has deteriorated over the years - couldn't hit the high notes anymore. His next few weren't very good at all, although sampling the Beastie Boys was a clever move. "Calling To You" and "Tie Die On The Highway" were pretty spacey. (Incidentally, what the heck was up with those ultra-arcane song titles, anyway? Were they dope-inspired? pulled at random out of a hat? i-ching toss-results? or just inside jokes? Dunno; but one of the few that made sense: "Mystery Title"!

He has since irritatingly renounced said efforts, alas.

Actually I didn't even know there was one!

I have to say I kinda regret not getting The Principle of Moments back when I heard "Big Log" and "In the Mood" on the radio in upstate New York -- both reasonably big hits and spun quite a bit. I was 12 then and had I picked up the album and really gotten into it, it would have been interesting to see how I viewed Led Zep and much else in retrospect.

I think Zeppelin's cover art is/was unfairly derided...most of it is really good. Obv. it was Page (the former art student), who was in charge of hiring Hipgnosis.

One of the Hipgnosis guys (most likely Storm Thorgerson) proposed artwork for Houses Of The Holy with a picture of a tennis match on the cover. When asked what it meant, he said "Don't you get it? Racket!" and that was the end of that.

Funny that PIL ended up doing Kashmir live

I saw them do as their opening number on the Album tour....only the band played it before Lydon took the stage (releaving him of the burden of singing it).

I can't belive how many times I've heard the latest single in the last six weeks; it's not something that would make me search out this album, but the one acoustic track I did hear was surprisingly good. How many songs on the album are like that?

Oh, the pumping irony.

100 Best Album Covers

If these are the 100 best, rock and roll is a very boring beast.

I recieved this book as a gift a few years ago, and man, is it pretentious and dull. Here is 2% of the list:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000025NCI.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004YS2O.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

That's right. Yer lookin' at TWO OF THE ONE-HUNDRED BEST ALBUM COVERS OF ALL TIME.

Some of the list is some of the hundred best, but there's a lot of stinkers in there, too. I would only suggest reading this at the bookstore while waiting for your mate to finish shopping.

(I would've put this on another thread, but A.) Storm Thorgerson's name has already been dropped in here like he was Candyman and B.) This is an Alex in NYC thread, so album cover talk shouldn't be discouraged.)

Take a wild guess which LZ cover they liked the best?

http://www.starland.com/sf-sc/sf01/images/Monolith/Monolith.jpg

Funny that PIL ended up doing Kashmir live
Someone, somewhere HAS to have a copy of this...?

I'll have more to write when I've absorbed it, but this proves that the man was NOT coasting (I checked this album's sales, just as a by-the-way; it's his lowest-selling '80s album, and the Zep fans didn't forgive him until he made Now & Zen.

Not sure about BAD - quite possible, given the man's eclectic tastes. One of his main inspirations around this time was Peter Gabriel.

a shame that there was no Youtube when i originally posted in this thread, about how 80s cheesy the video for "sea of love" is. here it is, in all of its Zorba-the-Greek/Frank-Zappa-lookalike-standing-around-a-xylophone-and-wearing-a-speedo glory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9-026ZCKR8

hey so fate of nations is actually an outstanding fucking record just fyi

I liked "29 Palms" at the time. There aren't many Plant solo moments I haven't enjoyed, actually.

yeah it's like even the ones that don't seem good at the time come to sound pretty awesome if you just set 'em aside to ripen

Back in '06, Rhino boxed all his solo stuff; I reviewed it for the Voice. (Please ignore the clumsy placement of the parenthetical about Phil Collins; yes, I know he didn't drum for Led Zeppelin.)

http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-28/music/whole-lotta-universal-love/

a "colonalist Paul Simon way"?!

Sorry – I know this ain't the Vampire Weekend thread.

need moar talking about how amazing his videos were --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImpSyGTzot0

I am so in love with that 'In the Mood' vid

Did he ever say exactly why he dislikes those early solo records?

*does* he dislike them? where did you ever get that impression?

I may be under the spell of xhuxk's interview/review of Now & Zen, but so what: the album sounds great now.

I remember being a kid and hearing "In the Mood" and just feeling like it was so wonderfully from outer space. Classic for all time.

"Lighten up, baby, I'm in love with you!"

you were pumping iron while i was pumping irony

Heaven knows!