Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation
Mighty Rearranger

THE REVIEW

The old Robert is back and he's even rejuvenated. Yes, because after the last excellent work mainly composed of covers, "Dreamland", the eternal flower child returns with an inspired album: a concentrate of blues, folk, ethnic tones, touches of electronics, and classy rock explosions like in the good old days with Led Zeppelin.
Accompanied by the younger Strange Sensation, who have been working with him for a few years now, Plant reduces vocal virtuosity in favor of an appealing and heterogeneous sound, which turns out to be a more than appropriate choice, perhaps marking the peak of his solo career, which has never been exceptional, apart from the last two small gems, "Fate of Nations" and "Dreamland". And for this album, our Robert decided to work with the independent label Sanctuary (which also produces another old rock figure, Morrisey), indicating that, despite being filthy rich, his mindset hasn't changed and, like in the old days, he prefers the quality of music over the quantity of copies sold.

The album kicks off with "Another Tribe" imbued with an Arabian flavor and oriental echoes, continues with "Shine It All Around" with its powerful and somewhat cunning riff. The rhythmic "Freedom Fries" seems to have the touch of Jimmy Page. "Tin Pan Valley" boasts an electronic attack that would make Massive Attack envious before exploding into powerful rock with Plant reaching high levels, while "The Enchanter" does practically the opposite, starting as a great blues that eases into electronic rhythms with a vaguely African flavor toward the end. "All The King's Horses" and "Dancing In Heaven" are two beautiful acoustic ballads with a Zeppelin-like feel, the title track is an energetic blues with great arrangements and superb choirs. "Takamba" and "Let The Four Winds Blow" are two respectable blues tracks, but the best comes with "Somebody Knocking" that starts as an acoustic blues before reaching the melody where Robert showcases all his skill and his voice is warmly perfect. The finale "Brother Ray" is a minute-long tribute to Ray Charles where the piano and percussion take center stage while Plant lets himself go with incomprehensible but enchantingly beautiful warbles and cries.

Robert Plant's new album is probably the best of the albums made by a member of the dirigible since "The Song Remains The Same" (yes, because the subsequent "In Through The Out Door" and "Coda" are definitely not up to the levels of the previous albums) and for this reason, not to be missed to relive the '70s in some way.