Released June 24th 2002 in UK
July 16, 2002 in US
US Universal 314 586 962-2
UK Mercury 063 094-1
Lyrics
Tour Dates
Buy The CD
1. Funny In My Mind (I Believe I'm Fixin To Die)
(Bukka White/Plant/Adams/Deamer/Baggott/Jones/Thompson
Lyrics/Audio/
2. Morning Dew
(Bonnie Dobson/Tim Rose)
Lyrics/Audio/
3. One More Cup Of Coffee
(Bob Dylan)
Lyrics/Audio/
4. Last Time I Saw Her
(Plant/Adams/Deamer/Baggott/Jones/Thompson)
Lyrics/Audio/
5. Song to The Siren
(Tim Buckley/Larry Beckett)
Lyrics/Audio/
6. Win My Train Fare Home (If I ever Get Lucky)
(Plant/Adams/Deamer/Baggott/Jones/Thompson)
Contains Elements of:
a. If I Ever Get Lucky (Arthur 'Big Boy Crudup)
b. Milk Cow's Calf Blues (Robert Johnson)
c. Crawlin' King Snake (John Lee Hooker)
d. That's Alright Mama (Arthur 'Big Boy Crudup)
Lyrics/Audio/
7. Darkness Darkness
(Jesse Colin Young)
Lyrics/Audio/
8. Red Dress
(Plant/Adams/Deamer/Baggott/Jones/Thompson)
Lyrics/Audio/
9. Hey Joe
(William Roberts)
Lyrics/Audio/
10. Skip's Song
(Alexander Lee Spence)
Lyrics/Audio/
Nine Lives Bonus Tracks
11. Dirt In A Hole (Plant/Adams/Deamer/Baggott/Jones/Thompson)
Lyrics/Audio/
12. Last Time I Saw Her (Remix)
(Plant/Adams/Deamer/Baggott/Jones/Thompson)
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Produced By Robert Plant and Phill Brown
Engineered By Phill Brown
Assisted by Raj Das at Rak Recording Studios
Dan Austin at Moles Studios, Graham Domily at the Church
Master by Denis Blackham at Country Masters
Artwork & Desin by Andie Airfix at Satori and Joe Spix
From an original concept by Robert Plant
Robert Plant - Vocals
Justin Adams - Guitars, Gimbri, Darbuka
John Baggott - Keyboards
Clive Deamer - Drums, Percussion
Charlie Jones - Bass
Porl Thompson - Guitar
Backing Vocals
Raj Das
May Clee Cadman
Ginny Clee
Pedal Steel
Song to the Siren - B J Cole
String Arrangements
Morning Dew, Song to the Siren - John Baggott
Videos:
Morning
Dew
Darkness,
Darkness
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Barnes &
Noble
While most of his peers have succumbed to the lure of
the nostalgia circuit, Robert Plant has shown a winning resistance to rehashing
past glories. Yes, he's done the Page & Plant dog-and-pony show from time to
time, but as evidenced by Dreamland -- his first solo effort in nearly a
decade -- the golden-tressed singer still seems more comfortable on the edge
than in the middle of the road. Most of the album's 11 songs are covers, but
only a couple of them come from sources that might be expected, like blues
legend Bukka White's "Funny in My Mind (I Believe I'm Fixin' to Die)."
For the rest of the disc, Plant takes on decidedly challenging material, such as
Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren," which is shot through by the
spine-tingling Middle Eastern playing of former Cure guitarist Porl Thompson.
Strange Sensation, the group that's backed Plant on several tours over the past
half decade, alternate between moody subtleties (a tense version of
"Morning Dew," a much-covered tune made most famous by the Grateful
Dead) and adrenalized garage-rock (represented by a tough take on the Leaves'
"Hey Joe"). Plant follows suit, gliding between a low-key purr (his
rendition of Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee") and his trademark blues
yowl (a radical revamp of "Big Boy" Crudup's "Train Fare
Blues"). Chalk this up as strong evidence that creative life can indeed
begin at -- or flourish past -- 50. David Sprague
All Music Guide
Where many musicians in his
position continue to spin their wheels with bland returns to former glories,
Robert Plant continues to strive for new and interesting ideas. Dreamland,
his first true solo album since 1993's Fate of Nations, paints the singer
as a Peter Gabriel-esque singer/songwriter, blending his moody pop with elements
from world music and electronica. This is a refreshing change from the
heavy-handed approach he took on his collaborations with guitarist Jimmy Page
through the '90s. Where those albums took their emphasis on ethnic musics too
far away from their own songwriting abilities, Dreamland treats those
elements like accents to Plant's bluesy pop songs. Thus, tiny flourishes like
the Indian-styled guitar solo on "One More Cup of Coffee" are
interesting and natural ways to improve the song. The stuttered rhythm of
"Last Time I Saw Her" is pure Zeppelin, but carried over a bed of
eerie Moog noises and rolling drums instead of a pounding collection of riffs.
Fans of Led Zeppelin may not take to these stylistic changes well, but Plant's
adventurous tendencies are well placed on the ten songs here. Plus, "Song
to the Siren" is one of the most beautiful Plant ballads in years,
showcasing his husky croon in a flattering manner as the song floats on gently
picked guitar and lush keyboards. A selection of covers, ranging from Tim
Buckley's atmospheric "Win My Train Fare Home" to the aforementioned
Dylan number "One More Cup of Coffee," barely hint at their source
writers, as Plant's charismatic wail transforms the songs into his own. Although
this may lack the energy of his previous work, Dreamland is a welcome
return for a musician who has a contagious enthusiasm for experimentation. Bradley
Torreano
Dot music
Thirty-four years ago, Robert Plant was living in
Birmingham and oscillating between two careers: trainee accountant and aspiring
psychedelic rocker in a Love-infatuated local band called Hobbstweedle. One day
in 1968, Jimmy Page turned up on his doorstep and spirited him away to Valhalla.
Led Zeppelin were formed, and the rest is very heavy history. 'Dreamland',
however, gives a glimpse of how things might've worked out differently for
Plant. Not, obviously, as a tribute to the shamanic mysteries of chartered
accountancy, but as a singer intent on following the lead of Californian
hippy-folk magicians like Arthur Lee, Tim Buckley and Skip Spence. The one
surprise on this album, predominantly consisting of covers as it does, is that
Plant doesn't have a crack at a Love song, especially given that he's been
playing a couple in recent live shows. Instead, 'Dreamland' finds Plant moving
with unlikely dignity through the likes of 'Hey Joe', Moby Grape's awesome
'Skip's Song', Dylan's 'One More Cup Of Coffee' (a bit ropey, this one, in
truth) and, with a certain inevitability, a few Delta blues standards. Two stand
out: Tim Rose's 'Morning Dew', given added historical poignancy since John
Bonham played in Rose's band just before he joined Led Zep; and, especially, Tim
Buckley's 'Song To The Siren'. A tune covered more often by fools and optimists
than those who can do its evanescent qualities justice, Plant opts for muted
acoustics and broiling strings, and sings it quite beautifully. Considering Jeff
Buckley's obsession with and huge debt to Zeppelin, it feels like a circle's
been completed. Admittedly, some of the original songs are a bit threadbare. But
Plant's fallen in with a more tasteful crowd than usual (a collective called
Strange Sensation, sessioners connected with Portishead, Massive Attack, Sinead
O'Connor and, well, The Cure), and his attempts to forge a cosmic blues out of
English folk, Middle Eastern scales, Indian drones and San Franciscan bad vibes
are far more successful than most would've dared to hope. Not quite 'Led
Zeppelin II', of course, but still, it's hard to remember a better solo record
this semi-retired God amongst men has ever made. - John Mulvey
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Led
Zeppelin Song Remain...
