Album Review: "Walking Into Clarksdale" by Page and Plant

Celebration Day has worked me into a tizzy.

I knew that watching/listening to the concert would rekindle some fires that were long since extinguished. I even decided to get all the Led Zeppelin studio CDs, instead of my four disc boxed set.

I need it all.

As with most bands, my favorite member is the lead guitarist. Jimmy Page is just a phenomenal player, writer, and studio hand, but thinking back to his post Zeppelin work left me somewhat unfulfilled. Plant's stuff has gotten all kinds of attention, and the fact that he's been far busier and harder working is not lost on me.

So, I decided I was going to set the way-back machine to Jimmy Page. I'm going to take a look back at four, at least, of his post Zeppelin efforts. I will not be entertaining "No Quarter," "Live At the Greek," or anything else I'm unaware of that's primarily Led Zeppelin revisited. I want to see what the man has written since the day Zeppelin announced they were breaking up.  

I'm choosing to look at this series of albums, as Ashitaka would say, with eyes unclouded. I'm not going to compare these to Zeppelin but instead consider them on their own merits, at least as best as I can. Up first: Page and Plant's "Walking Into Clarksdale," but you probably already knew that.

After the success of the "Unledded" album and tour, the boys in question decided to make a studio record. When they reunited leaving out John Paul Jones, again, it was made pretty apparent that this was not going to be a Led Zeppelin reunion, even if they totally rested on Zep's laurels for the first 4 years of the reunion.

It's very hard to look at this album not being a Led Zeppelin production. The creative force behind it is half of Led Zeppelin including, arguably, the most important member of the band, Jimmy Page.

This album starts off with "Shining In The Light." The acoustic chords immediately evoke "Ramble On" to me, but the resemblance to pretty much anything Zeppelin ends right there. Much of this record hovers around what I'd call Robert Plant solo songs. Honestly, I never much cared for any of his solo work. Even though KSHE 95 did play a few of those songs to death, it just never really took. I never owned a Robert Plant album and I can't think of a single song of his that I enjoyed.

What I still find strange about this particular record, after about five spins, is that I cannot find the guitar work Jimmy Page is famous for. 

Maybe I'm missing something, but I have not heard a single guitar solo.

At first I was wondering why Jimmy Page was even on this album. Quite frankly, this really turned me off to the album. I was quickly growing to hate it.

But, as I listened more, I began to hear what Page did. He focused on his rhythmwork. WAIT! There it is. I heard a guitar solo in the title track. It was way down in the mix, but it was there.

Instead of flashy solos, Page put his signature on the melodic lines. I heard how he put his guitars up front to intertwine with Plant's vocal lines. I cannot honestly say I prefer this, but it's a very interesting way of doing things. I found that instead of competing with Plant, Page actually complements Plant's melody. Yes, it would have been nice if there were at least one or two big Jimmy Page solos, but this album is full of innovative Middle Eastern influences and oddly crafted musical breaks. These fellows were never shy about incorporating unique elements into their music.

Even though I remember being very disappointed in this album when it came out originally, but after soem years have past I realized that I didn't really give it the consideration it deserved. I was expecting and hoping for Led Zeppelin and I didn't get it. So I have to say that, this is a pretty good album by a couple of rock legends. It's not Led Zeppelin or anything close, but that's ok.

Even though I remember being very disappointed in this album when it came out originally, after some years have passed I realize that I hadn't really given it the consideration it deserved. I was expecting and hoping for Led Zeppelin and I didn't get it. So I have to say that this is a pretty good album by acouple of rock legends. It's not Led Zeppelin or anything close, but that's ok.

My only real warning is that if you're looking for an album of thundering rockanthems, look elsewhere. They are not to be found on this album. This is a far more laid back and, dare I say, sentimental, album than anything these two had done prior.

Page and Plant have nothing to be embarrassed about, but I don't think it's possible for the target market, i.e. Led Zeppelin fans, to separate the entities. Honestly, half of Led Zeppelin is closer to Led Zeppelin than existed in 1994 when "Unledded" came out. All of this aside, I'd prefer any Led Zeppelin release over this record, and this disc is far from a must have.

(I wanna give a thanks to Tom Bedwell who helped me with a final edit on this one!)

Genre: Rock
Year: 1998
Run time: 60:43
Playlists: Rock, Arena Rock

Tracklisting:

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 Hand
8) Walking Into Clarksdale
9) Burning  Up
10) When I Was a Child
11) House of Love
12) Sons of Freedom