The Golden Age

I was introduced to Robert Plant pretty late in the music game. I really should have been listening to Plant and Led Zeppelin when I started asking for Beatles albums for my birthday but I guess my music palette had not yet matured.

I was in high school the first time I heard his voice. I should have listened to my mom when she randomly sang the lyrics: “we come from the land of the ice and snow . . .” and her random wailing; but I didn’t.

Many years later, I finally learned to appreciate the utter brilliance that is Led Zeppelin and the existential sensuality and soul that is Robert Plant.

I will forever honor Zeppelin, but as a Zeppelin fan, I feel it is important that we discuss some other successful avenues Robert Plant and the other members have taken.

Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation were established in the earlier 2000s and their second album, The Mighty ReArranger came out in 2005. I remember I was packing up my dorm room in college at the beginning of summertime and I first heard Robert Plant with something other than Zeppelin. I had a random Internet music station playing and I recognized the voice before anything else. I checked my computer and it was Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation singing “Shine it All Around.”

The entire album is calming and eclectic. It is beautiful and mellow. “Shine it All Around” is the most high-spirited song on the album. It gives you a feeling that life is beautiful and we should enjoy the moment here and now. When I first heard the song, it was May and the air was just starting to become warm enough for t-shirts and shorts. But, it was not overly hot like it gets in July or August. That is what the song is, in essence, the perfect day in summer.

Much of the album reflects on our current society and some of the corruption in war, religion. “Another Tribe” is one of these songs, reflecting on war and how it hurts us rather than helps us. However, we are often forced to make a choice to fight or not, even with lyrics such as “Another god, another mother/weeps to justify the damage done,” it is impressive how powerful these messages can calm across with such a mystical song. In other words, the messages are not overwhelming—the album is not preachy, it’s just significant. Another song with a similar vibe is “Freedom Fries.”

The album, overall, feels like it fell back behind a bureau many, many years ago. Then, only recently, someone discovered it, all dusty and worn and moth-eaten and re-mastered it and released in the current decade. It is from another time and it is that quality that makes it more delightful—the grass is always greener on the other side, eh? Well, whatever time this album’s spirit came from, I want to be there!

Many people describe Robert Plant as pompous and egotistical. I have read this in books, on websites and in magazines. To that, I have to say, if you were Robert Plant, wouldn’t you be an egomaniac? You are Robert Plant!?!?

I recommend this album as a feel-good, under-rated album. Plant is way older than he was in his earlier Zeppelin days and you can hear it in his voice which is really incredible to experience—some things really do get better with age.