Robert Plant - Now and Zen appreciation thread

[King Postwhore]

It's not an easy listen but I was enthralled with it.

[KevShmev]

But I think that Carry Fire is one of my favorite rock tunes of the last 10 years.

Had to circle back to this post since I gave this record a whirl tonight.  Enjoyed it, and yeah the song Carry Fire is pretty bad ass.

[hefdaddy42]

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Love that album. 

[KevShmev]

I will say that I have Pictures At Eleven and I love it. That is a great album. I did buy Principle Of moments when it cam out as well, but I never really took to it. But when I went to CD's I made sure I replaced Pictures At Eleven.

Listening to Pictures at Eleven now for the first time.  Me likey. 

[TAC]

Phil Collins on drums, but Cozy Powell plays on two tracks including Like I've Never Been Gone, which is absolutely amazing!

[ytserush]

I love the Zep callbacks, especially on Tall Cool One.  Looking back on it, yeah, maybe it was a little cheesy, but people were still trying to get over the loss of Led Zeppelin, and this was the closest we were going to get.  Might as well have some fun with it.

I love the Zep callbacks, especially on Tall Cool One.  Looking back on it, yeah, maybe it was a little cheesy, but people were still trying to get over the loss of Led Zeppelin, and this was the closest we were going to get.  Might as well have some fun with it.

Until that point, he refused any previous reference to his past (even this was kind of tongue-in-cheek.) I enjoy most of his music from pre-1993, but for me his career doesn't really take off until Fate of Nations and from then on he's just never looked back. He still had one foot in the music industry during that time and he seemingly got to the point where he just didn't need it anymore and created music that he wanted to create. Even The Page and Plant thing had his finger prints all over it. I figure there are still Zeppelin fans fuming over that one.

[ytserush]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

Definitely at least as much. The music always moved except for maybe his early solo career.

[ytserush]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

AC/DC, he is not. 

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Whole album is a stone cold masterpiece. Who else was doing that in 1993? I think it made Jimmy Page get off his ass for a while, didn't it?

[KevShmev]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

AC/DC, he is not. 

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Whole album is a stone cold masterpiece. Who else was doing that in 1993? I think it made Jimmy Page get off his ass for a while, didn't it?

Jimmy Page's lack of output post-LZ is glaring.  You would have thought he still had a lot in the tank, but I guess not.  I liked the Coverdale/Page album in the 90's a little bit (a handful of really good songs), but I can't think of anything else he has done since LZ that I like.  I thought The Firm project with Paul Rodgers was a miss.

[KevShmev]

Phil Collins on drums, but Cozy Powell plays on two tracks including Like I've Never Been Gone, which is absolutely amazing!

Just bought Pictures at Eleven. Your work here is done. 

[Max Kuehnau]

Phil Collins on drums, but Cozy Powell plays on two tracks including Like I've Never Been Gone, which is absolutely amazing!

Yes, I almost forgot mentioning Cozy (although I'm not a fan of him), similarly, on Principle, Barrie Barlow (then freshly out of Jethro Tull) plays on two pieces with Phil taking on the rest. Nice album too IMHO.

[Stadler]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

AC/DC, he is not. 

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Whole album is a stone cold masterpiece. Who else was doing that in 1993? I think it made Jimmy Page get off his ass for a while, didn't it?

Jimmy Page's lack of output post-LZ is glaring.  You would have thought he still had a lot in the tank, but I guess not.  I liked the Coverdale/Page album in the 90's a little bit (a handful of really good songs), but I can't think of anything else he has done since LZ that I like.  I thought The Firm project with Paul Rodgers was a miss.

100%.  I like - not love - the first Firm album and the Coverdale/Page record.   C/P is a better album than it should be, and I would have loved to have seen that tour.

I think Jimmy needs a foil.  I think he needs a foundation to create.  He had the best in Plant/Bonham/Jones, and tried like hell to recreate that, but never really came close and while he's amazing in the context of a group, he wasn't able to generate that himself.

[KevShmev]

100%.  I like - not love - the first Firm album and the Coverdale/Page record.   C/P is a better album than it should be, and I would have loved to have seen that tour.

I think Jimmy needs a foil.  I think he needs a foundation to create.  He had the best in Plant/Bonham/Jones, and tried like hell to recreate that, but never really came close and while he's amazing in the context of a group, he wasn't able to generate that himself.

That makes sense.  I sometimes wonder what Jeff Beck (who was much of a great guitarist than a great songwriter) could have been had he gotten in a band with a great songwriter in the 70's or even a little later.  He might be on the level of Page, Clapton, Hendrix or EVH from a legendary mainstream standpoint (he is not a household name like those guys are/were).  And don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Jeff Beck's work, but he never really had the success from a widespread mainstream appeal that his fellow Yardbirds did, and I would argue that he was easily the best of the three.

[Stadler]

100%.  I like - not love - the first Firm album and the Coverdale/Page record.   C/P is a better album than it should be, and I would have loved to have seen that tour.

I think Jimmy needs a foil.  I think he needs a foundation to create.  He had the best in Plant/Bonham/Jones, and tried like hell to recreate that, but never really came close and while he's amazing in the context of a group, he wasn't able to generate that himself.

That makes sense.  I sometimes wonder what Jeff Beck (who was much of a great guitarist than a great songwriter) could have been had he gotten in a band with a great songwriter in the 70's or even a little later.  He might be on the level of Page, Clapton, Hendrix or EVH from a legendary mainstream standpoint (he is not a household name like those guys are/were).  And don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Jeff Beck's work, but he never really had the success from a widespread mainstream appeal that his fellow Yardbirds did, and I would argue that he was easily the best of the three.

If I'm not mistaken, both Page and Clapton have both said he WAS the best of the three.  I could have that wrong, but I seem to remember that.

[hefdaddy42]

100%.  I like - not love - the first Firm album and the Coverdale/Page record.   C/P is a better album than it should be, and I would have loved to have seen that tour.

I think Jimmy needs a foil.  I think he needs a foundation to create.  He had the best in Plant/Bonham/Jones, and tried like hell to recreate that, but never really came close and while he's amazing in the context of a group, he wasn't able to generate that himself.

That makes sense.  I sometimes wonder what Jeff Beck (who was much of a great guitarist than a great songwriter) could have been had he gotten in a band with a great songwriter in the 70's or even a little later.  He might be on the level of Page, Clapton, Hendrix or EVH from a legendary mainstream standpoint (he is not a household name like those guys are/were).  And don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Jeff Beck's work, but he never really had the success from a widespread mainstream appeal that his fellow Yardbirds did, and I would argue that he was easily the best of the three.

If I'm not mistaken, both Page and Clapton have both said he WAS the best of the three.  I could have that wrong, but I seem to remember that.

They should say that, because it's absolutely true, from a purely technical point of view.

[ytserush]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

AC/DC, he is not. 

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Whole album is a stone cold masterpiece. Who else was doing that in 1993? I think it made Jimmy Page get off his ass for a while, didn't it?

Jimmy Page's lack of output post-LZ is glaring.  You would have thought he still had a lot in the tank, but I guess not.  I liked the Coverdale/Page album in the 90's a little bit (a handful of really good songs), but I can't think of anything else he has done since LZ that I like.  I thought The Firm project with Paul Rodgers was a miss.

I always liked The Firm. Had both of their albums at one time. Never found out why they stopped.

[ytserush]

100%.  I like - not love - the first Firm album and the Coverdale/Page record.   C/P is a better album than it should be, and I would have loved to have seen that tour.

I think Jimmy needs a foil.  I think he needs a foundation to create.  He had the best in Plant/Bonham/Jones, and tried like hell to recreate that, but never really came close and while he's amazing in the context of a group, he wasn't able to generate that himself.

That makes sense.  I sometimes wonder what Jeff Beck (who was much of a great guitarist than a great songwriter) could have been had he gotten in a band with a great songwriter in the 70's or even a little later.  He might be on the level of Page, Clapton, Hendrix or EVH from a legendary mainstream standpoint (he is not a household name like those guys are/were).  And don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Jeff Beck's work, but he never really had the success from a widespread mainstream appeal that his fellow Yardbirds did, and I would argue that he was easily the best of the three.

If I'm not mistaken, both Page and Clapton have both said he WAS the best of the three.  I could have that wrong, but I seem to remember that.

They should say that, because it's absolutely true, from a purely technical point of view.

Jeff Beck is in a world all of his own. Sadly, I only discovered this about 25 years ago.

[Stadler]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

AC/DC, he is not. 

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Whole album is a stone cold masterpiece. Who else was doing that in 1993? I think it made Jimmy Page get off his ass for a while, didn't it?

Jimmy Page's lack of output post-LZ is glaring.  You would have thought he still had a lot in the tank, but I guess not.  I liked the Coverdale/Page album in the 90's a little bit (a handful of really good songs), but I can't think of anything else he has done since LZ that I like.  I thought The Firm project with Paul Rodgers was a miss.

I always liked The Firm. Had both of their albums at one time. Never found out why they stopped.

Paul Rodgers moved on.   The second album wasn't as well-received as the first, and he went into the same speech he gave after the "Paul Rodgers + Queen" thing faded.   "This was never meant to be a long-term thing, we're still friends, but I have other projects I want to work on yadda yadda yadda."    And off he went. I loved the first record; I'm waiting for a remaster to come out with all the b-sides (the extended "Radioactive", the live "City Sirens" and "Live In Peace" from Hammersmith....)   I have the Radioactive 12", but those songs have never been released on CD to my knowledge.

[ytserush]

I came to love his solo work as much and even more as Led Zeppelin.   Hard to believe but I loved that he never stood still musically.

AC/DC, he is not. 

I was a huge fan of Fate of Nations when that came out.  29 Palms and I Believe are such great tunes. 

Whole album is a stone cold masterpiece. Who else was doing that in 1993? I think it made Jimmy Page get off his ass for a while, didn't it?

Jimmy Page's lack of output post-LZ is glaring.  You would have thought he still had a lot in the tank, but I guess not.  I liked the Coverdale/Page album in the 90's a little bit (a handful of really good songs), but I can't think of anything else he has done since LZ that I like.  I thought The Firm project with Paul Rodgers was a miss.

I always liked The Firm. Had both of their albums at one time. Never found out why they stopped.

Paul Rodgers moved on.   The second album wasn't as well-received as the first, and he went into the same speech he gave after the "Paul Rodgers + Queen" thing faded.   "This was never meant to be a long-term thing, we're still friends, but I have other projects I want to work on yadda yadda yadda."    And off he went. I loved the first record; I'm waiting for a remaster to come out with all the b-sides (the extended "Radioactive", the live "City Sirens" and "Live In Peace" from Hammersmith....)   I have the Radioactive 12", but those songs have never been released on CD to my knowledge.

I remember liking the second album a little more. Wasn't aware of a lot of the band politics at that time Too bad they couldn't have tried it someone else.