The Robert Plant Appreciation Thread

[Neapolitan]

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95

Sorry man I actually have the Honeydrippers album (got it about a week ago & really liked it- probably didnt include it as it isnt a Robert Plant Solo effort- its a supergroup he did with Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page doing swinging 50s type rock n roll songs.) As for 'People Of Kampuchea' I had never heard of it before & read up on it on wiki and is totally inappropriate for this as it is only a live compilation album where his only appearance is guesting with a group called 'Rockpile'.

Thanks for posting the Honeydrippers:Volume One cover. Yes it's not Solo material but it's cool including it because who knows you could turn someone on to The Honeydripper, who didn't know about them, by doing that.

A totally inappropriate video for Robert Plant fans
YouTube - Rockpile w/ Robert Plant - Little Sister

[Mirrorball95]

[

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

Thanks for posting the Honeydrippers:Volume One cover. Yes it's not Solo material but it's cool including it because who knows you could turn someone on to The Honeydripper, who didn't know about them, by doing that.

A totally inappropriate video for Robert Plant fans
YouTube - Rockpile w/ Robert Plant - Little Sister

Exactly man.
As for the video, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will need to check out this Rockpile band sometime.

[Neapolitan]

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95

Exactly man.
As for the video, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will need to check out this Rockpile band sometime.

thanks, Rockpile (Dave Edmunds & Nick Lowe) and Robert Plant are some of my favorite artists.

[VEGANGELICA]

I was listening through some Robert Plant songs tonight, trying to find the ones that used to affect me when I had a tape and played it, usually while driving cross country.

I identified that one of my favorite songs was "The Way I Feel" because of its mood of unease and repeated discontent.

I can tell that back then I listened much less to lyrics and much more to the overall feeling of the song than I do now, because it didn't bother me then that I didn't understand exactly what the song was about. However, I do recall the chorus and my favorite line, which I felt matched the song's somber feeling well: "The mirror tries to please me. The image wouldn't stay."


Robert Plant -The Way I Feel - YouTube

[sopsych]

Yup, yup to the idea of feel mattering more than lyrics. I've evolved to care more about the lyrics' meaning. And I still have that cassette I had not listened to that song in full, but as of today I like it, despite not understanding the subject matter. It has Plant's typical musical and lyrical complexity, as usual in dark form. Now and Zen probably is his deepest album, though I haven't listened to any complete Robert Plant album; and I believe it's one of his keyboard-heaviest albums, which increases my enjoyment. If I had to choose my favorite Plant straightforward rock song, however, I'd pick "Hurting Kind (I've Got My Eyes on You)," from Manic Nirvana; it could even be in my Top 10 of such songs from any artist.

I think I have said this in another thread - but Led Zeppelin overrated, Robert Plant underrated.

[VEGANGELICA]

That's nice you still have your Now and Zen cassette. Maybe someday you'll listen to the full album.

I hadn't realized until now that you must especially like keyboards, such as in Now and Zen. (I recall you also appreciated them in your favorite Great White song.)

"Hurting Kind" is solid and I like the vocal chorus and layering of sounds in the song. I see there's a video for it, too (which of course I hadn't seen). I didn't notice videos for the other songs from the album, so I'm assuming Robert Plant also felt this was the catchiest song and thus warranted being made into a video:

"Hurting Kind (I've Got My Eyes on You)"
Roller coaster! I don't recall seeing many videos with roller coasters in them.


Robert Plant - Hurting Kind - YouTube


Two other songs from the Manic Nirvana album caught my attention. I liked "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night" because the punk vibe and Plant's voice surprised me. His voice reminded me of Billy Idol's.

My favorite song turned out to be "Anniversary." I wasn't expecting such a gloomy, somber-sounding song after all the peppy, light-hearted ones on that album. I gravitated to this one the most. Listening to the song made me wonder if gloomy songs like this one do good by providing a place to sequester sadness away from oneself, or if they allow people to keep old feelings alive that perhaps best rest dormant.

"Anniversary"
I like the way the song expresses unrest by gradually transitioning from the calm start to the more chaotic finish.


Anniversary-Robert Plant - YouTube

[sopsych]

I can only think of a few other videos where a roller coaster is featured prominently. One of them is a great Joe Lynn Turner-era Deep Purple song....

Anyway, I'm not a fan of old-fashioned sounding songs, and therefore I have never much liked "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night." Honeydrippers stuff - bleh.

That "Anniversary" song is okay. Good at some points, but it's disjointed and it drags. I think it illustrates something about Robert Plant, at least in the first half of his solo career - solid even on the album tracks, not one of those artists with lots of "filler" material.

Interesting point on Robert Plant selecting his own singles (which harkens back to a thread of mine that flopped). I don't know if that is true, but he probably has had much more control over that than many other artists.

[VEGANGELICA]

I agree completely that "Anniversary" drags and is disjointed. The first time I listened to it, I almost didn't make it through the long intro. Once I did and listened to the whole song, I liked the way the dragging feel of the music could be a metaphor for this man's dragging his sadness and memories around with him when he doesn't want to. The song made me sad...so I liked it!

"Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night"-- I felt it showed Robert Plant was venturing out to try different styles rather than just locking himself into one sound, so I appreciated that about the song.

I wasn't aware that musicians didn't *always* select their own singles (I assumed they did)! I also wasn't aware of your flopped thread. Ah. Now I see it. You and you had a nice little conversation there. I feel that thread topic is a good one. It's one I haven't thought about before. If Robert Plant *did* choose "Hurting Kind" to be a single, then I feel he made a good choice.

P.S. I can't find the Deep Purple song video with a roller coaster in it! Which is it?

[sopsych]

The video is "King of Dreams," released very near in time to "Hurting Kind."

I now remember I was distinctly unhappy that Plant didn't make a video for "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night" and that "Tie Dye on the Highway" was a live version that's far worse than the good studio track (including harmonica). Totally missed chances to promote the singles to the public (although neither would ever have been a big hit). The album wasn't promoted properly, which might have sped the decline in in Robert Plant's solo career.

[VEGANGELICA]

Originally Posted by sopsych

The video is "King of Dreams," released very near in time to "Hurting Kind."

I now remember I was distinctly unhappy that Plant didn't make a video for "Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night" and that "Tie Dye on the Highway" was a live version that's far worse than the good studio track (including harmonica). Totally missed chances to promote the singles to the public (although neither would ever have been a big hit). The album wasn't promoted properly, which might have sped the decline in in Robert Plant's solo career.

Thank you!

I haven't thought very much before about the promotion decisions that can affect someone's career. Plant certainly looks popular here singing "Tie Dye on the Highway," and so it is interesting to learn what may have hastened the fall of his popularity:


Robert Plant - Tie Dye on The Highway - YouTube

I'm also realizing that Robert Plant made quite a few fairly complex videos incorporating grand scenery, which probably reflects the height of his fame at one time.

For example, I thought it was a cool surprise to see that the video for "I Believe" recreates the scene from Millais' painting of Ophelia. I am curious if you had noticed that when watching the video? I know you are very attentive to the videos that accompany songs, and so I thought you might like to know, in case you didn't, that they made this artistic reference:


Robert Plant - I Believe - YouTube