According to my pal Hunter-Gatherer, hirsute proto-frontman and erstwhile Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant turns 61 today. Roughly akin to my begrudging-but-dogged appreciation for maligned 80s band The Fixx, I’ve always harbored a stubborn admiration for some of Plant’s solo work. Renouncing and wallowing in his fabled legacy in equal turns, Plant’s solo albums often shunned Zep’s big rock bombast in favor of more restrained, modern -sounding material. Eventually, when that failed to resonate, Plant returned to the mothership, grew his hair back out and reclaimed his role as the preeminent cock-rocker prototype. Before that happened, though, he crafted a string of excellent singles, notably “Little By Little,” “Big Log,” “In the Mood” and “Heaven Knows.” There were some clunkers as well, like “Tall Cool One” and basically everything he recorded after the punishingly-titled Now and Zen album. Plant also wins the dishonor of foisting the worst-ever album cover on the world,that being this one. And as much as I love “Heaven Knows” (featuring future-Curve chanteuse Toni Halliday on backing vocals and old sparring partner Jimmy Page on guitar), it does feature some of the worst lyrics in all of human history.
”You were pumping iron while I was pumping irony…”
Oh dear. Anyway, happy birthday, Robert.
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