Robert Plant
The Principle Of Moments

THE REVIEW

"The principle of moments", Robert Plant's second album, was released in 1983 and continues the same musical direction initiated with his first solo album "Picture of the eleven", which is a formula of classic rock'n roll\blues, just a bit more "electronic" and "keyboard-oriented"... The musician's backing band is very competent, with his loyal childhood friend Robbie Blunt on guitar, Paul Martinez on bass, Jezz Woodruffe on keyboards, and his majesty Phil Collins on drums (assisted by the other great maestro Barriemore Barlow of Jethro Tull on two tracks of the album).

The album, as mentioned, follows the rock and blues vein, characteristic of the first part of the career of the now-disbanded Led Zeppelin, but it doesn't have their incendiary and destructive energy. Instead, it remains throughout the album on calm and very "easy" tones, except maybe for the opening track "Other arms" which seems to revive the Zeppelin splendors for a few minutes, although AOR echoes emerge here and there. Other interesting tracks include "In the mood", cheerful and rock'n'roll at the same time, the dreamy rock ride "Horizontal departures" (the best song on the album, in my opinion) and the mysterious and unsettling "Big log" which will also be released as a single, full of soft yet captivating atmospheres. Plant's voice does a good job and always maintains high levels throughout the album, preserving that "irreverent" and suggestive attitude from Led Zeppelin's times, which will later be much imitated by his various epigones of the nineties, Axel Rose of Guns and Roses above all. The supporting musicians are all very competent, as mentioned, especially the keyboardist Jezz Woodruffe who shines in the piece "Thru with the two steps" with his almost new age keyboards, in an electronic and elegiac piece where Plant's voice moves very melancholically, accompanied by Blunt's guitar, always up to par (as in the excellent final piece "Big Log", where he delivers a good Telecaster solo).

In conclusion, "The principle of moments" is an excellent album of healthy and warm old-style rock'n'roll, released at a time when the new wave-electronic phenomenon was exploding everywhere: and this, for me, is an additional merit of the old Robert Plant, who even in that period did not succumb to the trends and fads of the current musical moment, except just enough to "update" and rejuvenate his music.

Note: the 2007 remastered edition includes four bonus tracks, namely live versions of "In the mood", "Thru with the two steps", the live cover of Bob Marley's "Lively up yourself", and the unreleased "Turnaround", a decent piece.