The Album of the Month:
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant: "Walking into Clarksdale"
(Mercury Records)
Released 21st April 98
Two years after the end of their "No Quarter - Unledded World Tour" Jimmy Page and Robert Plant return with a collection of twelve brandnew songs. Apart from colaborations on their solo albums and the four "No Quarter"-outtakes these are the first cowritten tunes released since "In Through The Outdoor" - the final regular Led Zeppelin album.
"Most High" are the expectations of both fans and critics. Announced as the "best Led Zeppelin album since 1972" the new "Walking into Clarksdale" will surely both fullfill the expectations as well as surprise many.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page - together with their rythm section (Michael Lee & Charlie Jones)- stick to the idea that made Led Zeppelin so special: Explore new kinds of music, invent new sounds and combine the new with old: the power of the blues. Well, maybe a bit too much of theoretical rambling about the old Zeppelin days ;-)
This album has it all: Acoustic up-tempo songs ("Shining in the Light"), Blues ("Blue Train"), Arabic sounds ("Most High" - the first Single), straight Rock ("Burning Up", Sons Of Freedom") and even Pulp-Fiction-Soundtrack-like-Surf-Music-sound ("Heart In You Hand"). They use a distorted drum loop as basis for "Hose of Love" a -very. strange orchestral arrangement on "Upon A Golden Horse" and a gorgeous six-string bass on "Sons of Freedom". Jimmy Page shows throughout the album that he is still one of the greatest rock guitarist in the world. His typical riffs are everywhere and he still invents new strange sounds after more than 30 years in the recording buisness. He also has some great solos (especially on "Blue Train" and "Walking into Clarksdale") and the whole atmosphere an this album is pretty much based on his superb playing. Robert Plant's voice of course has changed since Led Zeppelin's first two albums. Maybe he can't do those screaming bits as on "You Shook Me" or "Communication Breakdown", but he still sounds strong today. His voice seems more mature and matches the music especially well.
"Walking into Clarksdale" is definetly the album for this summer. Page & Plant have nothing to prove anymore to the world. So here they are with a extremly powerful and dynamic album, just for fun. To quote Lou Reed (who released a really good live album on the same day): "Due to increased dynamic range, raise volume above average" ;-)
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant are on tour in the US this spring and obviously are returning to play dates in Europe this summer - don't miss them.
Tracklist:
1. Shining in the Light
2. When The World Was Young
3. Upon A Golden Horse
4. Blue Train
5. Please Read The Letter
6. Most High
7. Heart In Your Hansd
8. Walking Into Clarksdale
9. Burning Up
10.When I Was A Child
11.House Of Love
12.Sons Of Freedom
More info on this exellent release and upcoming Page & Plant tourdates can be found at:
Here's a small collection of the former Album Of The Month