Take, for example, the past decade’s trend of reunion tours. The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Van Halen, and The Who: all of them filled concert halls and arenas once again for an encore of the sixties, seventies, and eighties. In the past two years alone, we saw the reissue of records by Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Oasis, Miles Davis, The Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Fleetwood Mac, and The Smashing Pumpkins. But some legends have escaped the whirlpool of halftime shows and halfhearted attempts to make new albums with the same old sounds.
Robert Plant, now 66, is one of the icons who broke free. Plant could have easily coasted on the monumental success of Led Zeppelin’s golden age, but instead he chose the arguably more difficult road: he has continued to develop as an artist. He isn’t doing it for the money, because he could make a killing on a reunion tour. Instead, as cheesy as it sounds, Plant has left the past behind in search of new sounds and new experiences.
Plant’s recent album in collaboration with his band the Sensational Space Shifters, Lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar, is evidence of his continued evolution as a solo artist since 1980, when Led Zeppelin broke up following the tragic death of drummer John Bonham. The name of the album hints at its vast spectrum of sounds and influences, from Celtic ballads to the rhythms of North Africa. But Plant was known for culture-jumping even in his Zeppelin days, with songs like “Kashmir” combining Moroccan, Indian, and Middle Eastern music into one of the band’s most powerful and enduring songs, one that they played at every concert from its release in 1975 to their last concert in 1980. In Lullaby, Plant takes his experimentation to another level by blending the distinctive sounds of very different cultures in unexpected ways.
“Little Maggie,” the opening song, was originally a traditional Appalachian folk song. Plant and the Space Shifters infused the track with a trance-like rhythm. Instead of just using a banjo for the necessary twang, Plant and the Space Shifters added the riti, a one-string instrument from Gambia. The combination of the layered synthesizers and the fiddle-like riti creates a pleasantly bizarre sense of mystery that compliments the darkly nostalgic lyrics: “Oh yonder stands little Maggie / With a dram glass in her hands / She’s drinking away her troubles / She’s a courting some other man.”
While Plant may have shed his rock-god stage persona, his fascination with the mystical and his passion for blues and folk still influence his music and lyrics. “Turn It Up,” by far Lullaby’s bluesiest track, was influenced by Plant’s long drives through Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas while listening to the radio. While “Turn it Up” has the tone of some of Led Zeppelin’s gritty, heavy tracks such as “When the Levee Breaks,” Zeppelin fans shouldn’t expect pounding stadium fillers like “Whole Lotta Love” or “Immigrant Song.” Plant has definitely mellowed out; his voice has matured and his lyrics seem more contemplative. For example, in the album’s first single, “Rainbow,” Plant wails: “I lie beneath the rainbow, now that your tears have gone / And I will sing my song for you, and I will carry on.”
Several of the songs on Lullaby, including the piano ballad “A Stolen Kiss” and the despondent “House of Love” address Plant’s difficult split with ex-girlfriend Patty Griffin, the American folk singer. But according to Plant, this new album is primarily about nostalgia for the past and returning to his roots in England after living abroad and traveling for several years. “I think to return to the peace and the connection with so much that I’ve forgotten gives a lot of power to my days,” Plant said in an interview with Rolling Stone. Indeed, “Embrace Another Fall” addresses Plant’s emotions on returning to the drizzly, peaceful Welsh countryside after many years traveling through African deserts and the steamy heat of the American South. He even incorporates a portion of an old Welsh ballad, “The Lark’s Elegy,” sung in the original language by Julie Murphy.
While he may be returning to his roots, Plant has shown no sign that he will be returning to Led Zeppelin anytime soon. That may be a good thing. Since 1982, his solo career has included projects with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, the folk rock band the Priory of Bion, and the blues and folk band Strange Sensation. He also worked on a collaboration of folk and blues covers with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss in 2007 and with Band of Joy in 2010.
Following Led Zeppelin’s reunion show at London’s O2 Arena in 2007 and Jimmy Page’s release of three lovingly remastered Zeppelin albums, hopeful fans have predicted a Led Zeppelin reunion tour in the near future. But when Rolling Stone asked Plant about a reunion tour and the potential to make millions, he replied, “I’m not part of a jukebox!” As much of a Led Zeppelin fan as I am, I’m with Plant on this one. Sometimes it really is better to quit while you’re ahead. Still, as long as fans are asking for more, Led Zeppelin will remain relevant. Meanwhile, Plant is making some pretty good music that would very likely garner attention even without his considerable street cred. Plant knows it’s good, too: “I can’t be smug about it, I know it’s wonderful,” he said of Lullaby in an interview with Rolling Stone last week. Fans agree. About half of the shows on Plant’s upcoming tour are already sold out.
After almost half a century, Plant’s eyes are still on the mystical western shore. In “Stolen Kiss,” Plant sings, “I am drawn to the western shore, / Where the light moves bright upon the tide, / To the lullaby and the ceaseless roar / And the songs that never die.”
What is Plant’s western shore? It’s certainly not an encore of his halcyon days in Led Zeppelin. Maybe he’ll never get there, but until then, he’s going to ramble on between genres, across continents, and wherever the autumn moon lights his way.