1. Funny In My Mind (I Believe I'm Fixin' To Die)
2. Morning Dew
3. One More Cup Of Coffee
4. Last Time I Saw Her
5. Song To The Siren
6. Win My Train Fare Home (If I Ever Get Lucky)
7. Darkness, Darkness
8. Red Dress
9. Hey Joe
10. Skip's Song
11. Dirt In A Hole
There are few better voices in Rock,
either past or present, than that of former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert
Plant. If anything, age has improved its timbre, expanded its range and
increased its subtletly - not for Plant the ignominy of becoming a pale
imitation of his younger self as the years wear on.
Dreamland is his first solo album in 9 years, the interim taken up with the
small matter of reuniting with Led Zep cohort Jimmy Page for two
well-received albums, No Quarter and Walking Into Clarksdale. Those records
dispensed with the contemporary stylings and trappings of Plant's own
releases between 1988 and 1993, which judiciously utilised synthesizers,
samples and drum machines to augment his trademark lothario rock'n'roll, with
impressive if largely overlooked results.
Here, eight interpretations of 60's blues and folk classic by the likes of
Bob Dylan, Tim Rose, Jimi Hendrix and Tim Buckley sit alongside a handful of
originals penned by Plant and various members of his current backing band.
Traditional, and somewhat retro, Dreamland feels more of a labour of love, a
long-awaited pilgrimage back to the music that inspired him as a youth, than
a contrived "going back to my roots, man" venture in lieu of fresh ideas.
Songs as overly-familiar as Song To The Siren and Hey Joe are injected with a
masterful air of restrained authority, interpreted with a purity that
suggests they were written only yesterday rather than 30 or 40 years ago.
Plant breathes fresh life into every word and phrase, lovingly caressing the
nuances and proving there are a few to rival his assured touch. Less is often
more.
While there are fewer surprised contained within Dreamland than, say, Now And
Zen (1988) or Manic Nirvana (1990), it bears all the hallmarks of Robert
Plant's finest work. Evocative, intelligent and a masterclass in how to
remain a living Rock legend without sacrificing one iota of vitality.
Young pretenders take note; Plant is still the king, and he's not about to
give up his crown just yet.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
