Pictures at Eleven

by

Robert Plant

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As some reviewers put here - Pictures At Eleven IS arguably Plant's best album. Somewhat forgotten after more than 20 years, the production still sounds crisp and the band is tight. Many of the songs were co-written with Robbie Blunt, who turned out to be an excellent and distinctive guitarist in his own right - with a sound pleasing to Zep and Page fans.

What did Plant do right here? Well, he went for a solo sound that didn't try too hard to break new musical ground ("pretentious" as one reviewer puts it here). He put out a mature somewhat progressive AOR album, where different styles and arrangements come into play with each track.

"Like I've Never Been Gone" and "Moonlight In Samosa" are classic Plant tracks and highlight his ballad skills. I've always felt that "Like I've Never Been Gone" was the successor to "Since I've Been Loving You" - listen to it and you'll know what I mean.

"Slow Dancer" sees Plant recalling Kashmir and hammering it home while "Worse Than Detroit" is classic blues rock with some Zep nuances. Both of these could have easily been Zeppelin tracks from another time and place, giving them some special resonance.

"Pledge Pin" is another interesting Plant track which features a great sax solo. Driving this album is its excellent rhythm section, which never lets up.

Worth getting if you're curious about Plant's solo work, like Zep, and want to hear what might've been - had Plant kept the path of the blues. This is the closest tangent from Zep that exists, besides The Firm's "Mean Business" album with Jimmy Page. In subsequent albums, Plant would move further away from his rock and blues roots into synth territory.

In all, Pictures at Eleven makes you nostalgic for the Plant that had just left Led Zeppelin and was finding a new future. Although he's continually evolved as an artist, Pictures at Eleven was a debut album that amazingly still sounds good after all this time.

**Postscript: Strangely, none of the tracks were selected for his Sixty Six to Timbuktu album. The extra tracks on the reissue are nice to have but not indispensable. The sound mixing is a little better but as others point out - it's not a quantum leap. Go Percy!

Pictures at Eleven is a pleasing debut solo album from Robert Plant. All eight of the tracks are listenable and have something to offer. The material is mostly in a straightforward rock musical direction. Also, two of the eight tunes are ballads--"Moonlight in Samosa" and "Like I've Never Been Gone." This release features skilled musicianship, good songwriting, and a taut production. Plant does a nice job with the vocals, too. I also find Robbie Blunt to be a talented guitarist. The drum duties are handled by Phil Collins and Cozy Powell--Collins performs on six songs, while Powell plays on two of the others. Keyboards (nicely played by Jezz Woodroffe) are also used sparingly on seven of the eight tracks; they add a light, attractive seasoning that enhances the material. The tunes that I like the most are "Moonlight in Samosa," "Slow Dancer," and "Fat Lip." The ballad "Moonlight in Samosa" is a charming, well-written song that features really good guitar work from Blunt. The gratifying and atmospheric "Slow Dancer" sounds somewhat different from the rest of the album--it's a smooth, interesting straight-ahead rocker (almost eight minutes long) that sports a progressive edge and exotic-sounding keyboard work. Powell's drumming on "Slow Dancer" is prominent, tight, and forceful. I also like the serene and catchy "Fat Lip." "Pledge Pin" is another likeable straightforward rocker that contains some nice saxophone playing. The CD insert doesn't include the song lyrics. The disc is just over 42 minutes in duration. Pictures at Eleven is enjoyable, consistent, and energetic.