Robert Plant Shaken And Stirred Rarlab
This couldn’t be the same goldenhaired lemon squeezer who fronted Led Zeppelin, could it? The fingerprints identify him as that, erstwhile rock god and latter-day solo artist and Honeydripper. So what is this strange-sounding new-music album, Shaken ‘n’ Stirred, all about? For starters, it sounds like he’s been listening to the last couple of records by the Police and Talking Heads, and some of the new stuff coming over from Africa. There’s also a nod to the Middle Eastern influences that wafted through Zeppelin numbers like “Kashmir.”On Shaken ‘n’ Stirred, Plant and band are toying with the outer limits of structure in an interestingly fractured way. These nine numbers eschew most of the conventional rules that govern pop-song construction yet hew to an elaborate logic all their own. Themes wriggle in and out of the proceedings, the musicians fill the spaces with blasts of tonal coloration, and the songs are wont to lurch forward and backward and then turn on a dime for a sprint to the finish.
Shaken And Stirred Band
Most encouragingly, Plant himself appears none too pretentious about it all. There are overlays of Fifties vocalise on “Doo Doo a Do Do,” with its shubops and sha-la-las nested comfortably among the whirring synthesizers and cross-talking rhythms. “Mmm, it’s a new kind of mambo,” sings Plant. “Easily Lead” mates the propulsiveness of the Police’s “Synchronicity” with Peter Gabriel’s odd bent for sound collage, and Plant briefly quotes a couple of Led Zep classics just for laughs. Another strong track is “Kallalou Kallalou,” in which guitarist Robbie Blunt steps out a bit in the mix to go one-on-one with Plant in a frenzied raveup as loopy and driven as the Zeppelin noise classic “The Crunge.”Of course, Led Zeppelin comparisons are hardly the point. Unlike certain other acts, Plant has refrained from banking on the past.
Instead, he’s banking on the present, reinventing himself as a chameleon with a sharp ear for new sound.
Following my recent reacquaintance with the earlier Robert Plant solo efforts.There was an earlier thread (now closed) which had an excellent opening post from CraigVC, extolling the highlights of this album.I've loved this album since I first heard it. Plant was really on a roll, from this 'could have been a Zep album' Pictures at Eleven, to the stark, sparse arrangement of Principle of Moments (which sounds like it was recorded in some lost studio out in the desert where the video for Big Log was filmed), to this zippy, tight, energetic effort.Let's start with the obvious - the production of this album is quite 80's (it being released in 1985). Yet whereas most 80's production leaves me cold, not so here. The arrangements are magic, the drums are monstrous, and the guitar work takes what we're given in Principle of Moments, and updates it with a move to the big city.Along with the sheen of 80's gloss, we have the genius inclusion of backing vocals from Toni Halliday (of Curve). She transports some of this music to the other end of the musical universe from Zep, that's for sure. Even today her inclusion sounds odd, even jarring - but in a good, surprising way.I'd imagine any Zep fans who were still holding on to the hope they might get more Zep somehow were well and truly shown the door in short measure with this one. Personally, by the time it had released, I was already well on board with what Plant was doing at the time.
While it's heinous to say on these forums, the truth remains that I've enjoyed Plant's solo career more than I have enjoyed Zep over the years. Don't get me wrong, love me some Zep, but for me Plant has gone to another level. Anyway, I simply have played Plant more than Zep over the years.Still, I digress. After this we'd get one more solid album, Now and Zen (with some caveats), and silly rock album (Manic Nirvana), and of course Fate of Nations - before Plant took off in another direction again.Still, I've spun Shaken and Stirred twice today, and I'm going to be living with it for the rest of the week. I think there's a fair argument that individually most of the songs here don't hold up out of context of the album - but that's the whole point of an album, to give context. I usually don't bother with the track titles as such with this one, I just play from the beginning and let it wash over me.The CD I'm playing is an early one (-2) with heaps of dynamic range. No bonus track, but the Nine Lives version only had an extended Little by Little anyway, and I'm not really into those.I hail an album that, in many ways, should not work, but does.
What a joy.Oh, and by the way, look at that killer artwork! I was in a state of shock and awe when this was first released. By the time I got to 'Too Loud' I was reaching for the outer sleeve to make sure I purchased the correct artists new release. However, it grew on me (and it kept on growin!) And even during that early shock and awe period, it was not lost on me that Plant was in GREAT voice throughout. These days, it is one of my favorite Plant albums to listen to. It also provides a fond reminder of the days he put his best vocal chops down on record, rather than whisper and mumble his way through his studio recordings.I should also mention that this is an outstanding recording.
The original vinyl is demo disc territory.