Band of Joy

Last year was filled with so much good music is was hard to stop and take the necessary time to absorb it all. I'm certain that my library is filled with sensational albums I haven't even begun to fully appreciate yet. When I heard Robert Plant was coming back to Portland with his new Band of Joy I decided it was time to give him his proper due.

Band of Joy is truly a joy and as much as I loved his previous release with Allison Krause, 2007's outstanding Raising Sand, this album is every bit as good. This time around, he traded in Allison for Patty Griffin and T Bone for Buddy Miller, but he didn't miss a beat. Reprising the moniker from his very first band in the 60's, Plant returns with a very listenable collection of eclectic covers of songs from Townes Van Zandt (Harm's Swift Way) to Los Lobos (the irresistable Angel Dance) to slo-core specialists Low (possibly outdoing the originals on Silver Rider and Monkey). This is one of those albums that gets exponentially better with every listen.

I love Led Zeppelin. I think they influenced my musical tastes every bit as much as the Stones or the Beatles or Johnny Cash. But after Plant's releases in the 80's and 90's I had essentially given up on ever hearing that golden voice produce any worthwhile music again. Thank god he hitched his wagon to this country/bluegrass/folk renassaince that sprung forth in the 2000's because we now have two full albums worth of roosty goodness and it looks promising for more in the future.

I first saw Plant at the Fargodome where he performed a full set with Jimmy Page performing mostly Led Zep songs and let me say, I was not disappointed. The next time was when I bought tickets for the Raising Sand tour two years ago and while the music was great, the seats were garbage. The VERY back row of the Rose Garden, a venue where the acoustics are horrible begin with. I decided to give it another go this April, only much closer to the stage and at the Schnitzer Concert Hall where the sound is sublime. While I'll likely never see the three living members of Led Zep unite, I think I'm OK with that. Robert Plant says he's moved on and I love the way he's done it.