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Most High: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s Walking into Clarksdale at 25

The Led Zeppelin duo’s second offering found them opting for more subdued sounds

Not surprisingly, when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page opted to reunite in the early ‘90s, it sparked all sorts of rumors that a full-on Led Zeppelin reunion was in the offing.

After all, the only other member needed to make that a reality was bassist John Paul Jones. For whatever reason, Jones was not asked — and he later claimed he was unaware of the duo’s intentions — but that didn’t stop the two frontmen from pursuing their plans.

The duo’s first album, No Quarter , was largely a reworking of classic Led Zep songs in an acoustic motif. While in many cases the arrangements were dramatically different from the original renditions, it didn’t necessarily indicate there was any plan to make their union an ongoing entity. Consequently, it took Walking into Clarksdale , released on April 21, 1998, to make a definitive statement about the pair’s intents. It was an unqualified success, debuting within the Top Ten on the Billboard charts and reaching number three in the U.K. What’s more, the single culled from the album, “Most High,” garnered a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance and reached Number One on Billboard’ list of Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Clarksdale, of course, referred to Clarksdale, Mississippi, widely considered to be the birthplace of the blues, the sound which inspired both men early on and well into their evolution as Led Zeppelin. Nevertheless, the two opted for a more stripped-down sound, with the majority of the album recorded in a single take, while the band itself — Plant (vocals), Page (electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin), Charlie Jones (bass, percussion), and Michael Lee (drums, percussion) —  recording simultaneously live in the studio. 

The results are manifest in a straight forward effort brimming with a decisive delivery that eschews bombast in favor of more passionate pursuits. “When the World Was Young” is a mellow offering that eventually turns into a robust rocker. “Shining in the Light,” “Burning Up” and the title track come across as decidedly straight-forward, while still primed with passion regardless. “Upon a Golden Horse” adds orchestration and some over-the-top arrangement, while “Most High” takes on an exotic Middle East-type tapestry. If any two songs brings to mind Led Zeppelin it would fall to “House of Love” and “Sons of Freedom,” given their generally tangled tapestry. 

Fortunately, the album showed both verve and variety. On songs like “Blue Train,” “Heart in Your Hand,” “When I Was a Child,” and the aforementioned “Please Read the Letter,” Page and Plant opt for a decided subtlety and finesse. Like the album as a whole, those offerings find them tempering their more intensive instincts in favor of a more melodic motif. That’s not to say that either musician didn’t convey their parts with absolute urgency. Plant’s voice is as expressive as always, while Page tends to underscore each offering rather than attempting to overshadow the proceedings with his pyrotechnics. 

Plant was so fond of the material that he later repurposed a pair of songs. “Please Read the Letter” was re-recorded in a decidedly different manner with Alison Krauss for their collaborative effort Raising Sand , winning them a 2009 Grammy for Record of the Year. He also re-wrote the lyrics for “House of Love” and recorded it with his band, the Sensational Space Shifters, for their 2014 album Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar . 

Although Plant in particular would continue to pursue varied musical travails, including an ongoing interest in Americana, Walking into Clarksdale represents a significant undertaking on behalf of both musicians. No, the world would not get the Zeppelin reunion we hoped for, but there’s no denying Walking into Clarksdale provided the next best thing.

VIDEO: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant “Most High”

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Lee Zimmerman

Lee Zimmerman is a writer and columnist based in beautiful Maryville, Tennessee. Over the past 20 years, his work has appeared in dozens of leading music publications. He is also the author of Americana Music: Voice, Visionaries, and Pioneers of an Honest Sound , which will be published by Texas A&M University Press early next year.

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Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, ‘Walking Into Clarksdale': Retro Album Review

Walking Into Clarksdale  is the album Led Zeppelin fans have resigned themselves to never getting. The group put a definitive cap on its career almost immediately after John Bonham died in 1980, and the surviving three members - Jimmy Page , Robert Plant , John Paul Jones - regrouped only for dubiously special performances at Live Aid in 1985 and the Atlantic Records' 40th-anniversary concert in 1988. There was certainly a clamor for more, and Plant and Page in particular circled the idea by guesting on each other's solo albums (Page on Plant's Now and Zen , Plant on Page's Outrider ). Those collaborations showed they could still play nice together, even if they weren't together.

The tide changed with 1994's No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded , an MTV special turned reunion (sans Jones, acrimoniously) that reworked a batch of Zep favorites and tantalized with four songs. "Never" became "What if?" Four years later the Page-Plant duo answers the latter question to frustrating if occasionally pleasing effect. Walking Into Clarksdale isn't a Led Zeppelin album - couldn't be, for so many reasons both obvious and hidden in the complex web that is the Page-Plant relationship. What it does is return the two to a more basic rock band format, a quartet (with occasional embellishment) that seeks to strip back the orchestrated ambitions of No Quarter and bring Page and Plant back to their comfort zone. It's time to get the real Led out again, or so it seems, for the first time since In Through the Out Door in 1979.

But anyone who's paid attention during the interim, particularly to Plant's work, knows we aren't bustling in the hedgerow anymore. The singer has forayed into all sorts of sonic terrain, embracing influences and ambiences that separate him from the Golden God of yore. Page has made his moves, too, more so on Outrider and his soundtrack work than with the Firm , his two-album team-up with Paul Rodgers . Growth and evolution aren't just cliches for these two by the late '90s.

Page and Plant are also aware of what's going on around them and want to be relevant to the scene that has sprouted during the decade leading into Clarksdale . That leads them to bring in Steve Albini - an alt-rock kingpin whose hip cred includes work with  Pixies , Nirvana , PJ Harvey and his bands Big Black and Shellac - to engineer the sessions and put the duo on a contemporaneous sonic footing. That much is achieved: Albini brings a particularly jagged, cheap amp tone to Page's guitar and a dry, clean spaciousness to the band ambience that offers a different kind of punch than we got from the Zeppelin releases of the '70s - more of a jab than a haymaker, and appropriate for the pristine CD era. It certainly feels fresh and even crisp, though it takes a minute to get used to if Houses of the Holy or Physical Graffiti  are more your meter.

Listen to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's 'Shining in the Light'

Clarksdale , which was released on April 21, 1998, begins by walking out of Led Zeppelin III territory, with the shimmering acoustic strum of "Standing in the Light," embellished by strings and a dancing bass line before Page cranks up the electrics for the chorus. It's a joyous celebration of love, more buoyant than In Through the Out Door 's "All My Love" and a hopeful start for this new chapter of Page and Plant's association. Standouts include "Most High," a swaggering, Moroccan-flavored rock raga that updates "Kashmir" with help from Tim Whelan of Britain's Transglobal Underground on keyboards. More polarizing is "Please Read the Letter," an abrasive and electrified front-porch Hill Country blues with Plant's harmonies echoing back from the holler.

That balance of ethereal roots and modern rock is Walking Into Clarksdale 's crossroads, including the tempo-shifting title track, the anthemic "House of Love" and the blues and surf collision of "Burning Up." The two longest tracks, each running more than six minutes, are evocative: "When the World Was Young" is a shotgun wedding of the Middle East and desolate Texas with lots of air, space and vibe, while "Blue Train" sounds like it was targeted for U2 's The Joshua Tree until it bursts into Page's late-song fusillade. Their attempts to recapture rock 'n' roll Valhalla on "Upon a Golden Horse" and the closing "Sons of Freedom" do kick up some dust but won't replace "Whole Lotta Love" or "Rock and Roll" on your playlists.

And that's the leveling issue here: Plant and Page want it both ways on Clarksdale  - to be embraced because of their past but not to relive it, which is admirable but challenging and an eternal struggle for any musician entering "revered veteran" status.

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‘Walking Into Clarksdale’: Behind Jimmy Page And Robert Plant’s Reunion Album

Led Zeppelin legends Jimmy Page and Robert Plant left their storied past at the door with their reunion album ‘Walking Into Clarksdale’.

It’s fair to say that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant ’s reunion album, Walking Into Clarksdale , was one of the most-anticipated rock records of 1998. After all, its release marked the first time the legendary duo had worked in tandem on a full-length studio album of all-new material since Led Zeppelin’s swansong, 1978’s In Through The Out Door , so long-term fans were ready to run up the flags before they’d even heard a note.

The backstory: “The magic was back straight away”

With hindsight, Walking Into Clarksdale had been on the cards for some time. Despite Page and Plant both denouncing Led Zeppelin ’s live reunions for 1985’s Live Aid and Atlantic Records ’ 40th anniversary concert, in 1988, neither completely closed the door on future activity together. In 1994, the pair reunited for a 90-minute MTV-sponsored project, recorded in Morocco, Wales and London.

Officially released as No Quarter: Jimmy Page And Robert Plant Unledded , that album featured stripped-down versions of some of the best Led Zeppelin songs , performed by Page, Plant and a core rock outfit, augmented by a Moroccan string band and an Egyptian orchestra. To the delight of long-term fans, the record also featured four new Middle Eastern and Moroccan-influenced songs written for the occasion.

Though No Quarter wasn’t a fully-fledged Led Zeppelin reunion project, the album went Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic and brought the group’s revered catalogue right back into the mainstream. It also reminded Page and Plant that, together, they could still create something far greater than the sum of their individual parts.

“The will and the eagerness with Unledded were fantastic and [Page] was really creative,” Plant told Uncut magazine in 2009. “Jimmy and I went in a room and it was back straight away. His riffs were spectacular. To take it as far as we did, and the tour we did – it’s one of the most ambitious and mind-altering experiences.”

The recording: “We wanted to be a four-piece band and wail a bit”

The tour Plant referred to was the full-scale trek the pair performed in support of No Quarter ’s release – undertaken with their core rock group plus the full-scale Egyptian orchestra. However, while the shows encouraged Page and Plant to begin work on the material that would make up Walking Into Clarksdale , the pair wanted to scale things back when they returned to the studio. As Plant told the Chicago Tribune , they wanted to “see how it felt to be a four-piece band and wail a bit”.

To achieve this aim, they trimmed things back drastically. Having (temporarily) ditched the orchestra, Page and Plant entered London’s RAK Studio in August 1997, with just their touring rhythm section – drummer Michael Lee and bassist Charlie Jones – in tow and with a desire to adopt what Page told Classic Rock was a “minimalistic” approach, which sought to avoid “embellishments for the sake of it”.

Certainly, the man the pair chose to oversee Walking Into Clarksdale was renowned for his preference for capturing performances live in the studio. Though arguably best known for his work on Nirvana’s spiky final album, In Utero , Steve Albini was very much the go-to guy for most superior alt-rock outfits of the day, with his production credits including Pixies, The Breeders, PJ Harvey and The Wedding Present. However, as he has since stressed, his role was primarily that of a facilitator rather than a “producer” per se.

“I could flatter myself and think they wanted to record with a hip producer,” Albini told Classic Rock . “But I don’t think of myself as particularly hip. Their recording method is very matter of fact, very old school, and there are very few people who make records that way anymore. And the fact that that is my preferred way of working I think appealed to them. They weren’t trying to make a contemporary record at all.”

The songs: “Most of it didn’t sound like Led Zeppelin”

What Page and Plant certainly weren’t trying to make was an album which sounded like Led Zeppelin. Walking Into Clarksdale ’s title may have referred to Clarksdale, Mississippi – the town in the Mississippi Delta considered by many to be the birthplace of the blues – but the record they produced was anything but a collection of bluesy retreads.

That’s not to say Walking Into Clarksdale didn’t rock. Indeed, significant parts of it did just that, with Blue Train employing Nirvana-esque quiet-loud dynamics and the likes of When The World Was Young, the jagged Sons Of Freedom and the seething Burning Up sounding wholly contemporary in the post-grunge alt-rock landscape of the late 90s.

Elsewhere, though, Page and Plant clearly felt free to pursue their muse wherever it led them. Consequently, the noir-infused likes of Heart In Your Hand and the shimmering When I Was A Child sounded like they could soundtrack a David Lynch movie, while Please Read The Letter (which Plant later dressed in more ethereal clothes with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand ) recalled Fairport Convention during their initial, US West Coast phase.

Several Walking Into Clarksdale songs did, however, nod to the more majestic end of Led Zeppelin’s canon. Driven by one of Page’s feistiest riffs, the album’s title track exuded a more customary swagger, while Page and Plant eventually relented on their no-embellishments rule and added some orchestral colour to both Upon A Golden Horse and the excellent Most High, transporting the latter to a whole new plateau via its intoxicating, Kashmir-esque arabesques.

The release: “I’d rather be measured by what happened two hours ago than what happened 25 years ago”

Perhaps because of its Zeppelin-like feel, Most High also drew the biggest plaudits when Walking Into Clarksdale was released, on 21 April 1998. As well as making the UK Top 30, the song went to No.1 on Billboard ’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US and it later won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. It also helped the album shoot into the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. Voted Album Of The Year by Entertainment Weekly, Walking Into Clarksdale would go on to procure a gold disc for Page and Plant in the US.

Addressing the wight of history that inevitably hung over the project, Plant asserted, in a press pack issued at the time of Walking Into Clarksdale ’s release, “I’d rather be measured by what happened two years ago or two hours ago than what happened 25 years ago.”

Noting that and Page had wanted to capture the energy of their new ideas, Plant continued, “There were times where we could’ve actually, I think, improved on certain parts by concentrating more and more, but I think it would’ve taken away from the general feel of it. Harkening back to Physical Graffiti , there are moments on that where things speed up, slow down and I’m singing out of tune – whatever it is – doesn’t matter because you capture the moment.”

The legacy: “We did what we’d always done – we moved along”

Page, Plant and their core group continued to capture more moments during a lengthy – and highly successful – tour in support of Walking Into Clarksdale , but when the tour concluded, the two men held opposing views on the immediate future. Page confessed to Q magazine, “I wanted to keep working, but Robert wouldn’t hear of it,” and the vocalist concurred, telling Classic Rock , “I just didn’t want to do it anymore – I’d just had enough.”

Both men, however, kept busy as the 20th century wound down. Page toured with The Black Crowes (they performed some classics from the Led Zeppelin catalogue together), while Plant returned to the Welsh countryside and hooked up with his old Band Of Joy guitarist, Kevyn Gammond, in the low-key folk-rock act Priory Of Brion.

In time, though, both men came to realise that Walking Into Clarksdale would always find an audience. Twenty years after its release, Page reflected that it was “a very honest album”, while Plant, too, appreciated the record on its own merits.

“There were some fantastic moments,” the singer said. “The truth is that Jimmy and I did cut a collection of songs that weren’t immediately commercial and didn’t emulate Led Zep. We did what we’d always done – we moved along.”

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Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Concert Setlists & Tour Dates

Jimmy page & robert plant at montreux jazz festival 2001.

• Claude Nobs introduction
• Ahmet Ertegun introduction
• Good Rocking Tonight
• My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
• Heart in Your Hand
• Candy Store Rock
• Endless Sleep
• Win My Train Fare Home (If I Ever Get Lucky)
• My Baby Left Me
• Baby Let's Play House
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Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at The Struggle Continues... 1998

• When the World Was Young
• Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You
• Gallows Pole
• Rock and Roll

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany

• The Wanton Song
• Heartbreaker
• What Is and What Should Never Be
• Walking Into Clarksdale
• Going to California

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany

• 32-20 Blues

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at Flanders Expo, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Belgium

Jimmy page & robert plant at halle tony garnier, lyon, france, jimmy page & robert plant at zénith oméga, toulon, france, jimmy page & robert plant at patinoire de mériadeck, bordeaux, france.

• When the Levee Breaks

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at Zénith Sud, Montpellier, France

Jimmy page & robert plant at olympiahalle, munich, germany.

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Most played songs

• Gallows Pole ( 205 )
• No Quarter ( 190 )
• Bring It On Home ( 177 )
• The Wanton Song ( 171 )
• Ramble On ( 153 )

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How Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Resurrected Steve Albini’s Career with ‘Walking into Clarksdale’

Thom Donovan

After Steve Albini banged out Nirvana’s In Utero in a couple of weeks, the major label backlash he predicted came to light.

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The revered engineer faced near financial ruin before two rock legends came calling. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant reunited for their first studio album since Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980, and Albini was the man they wanted behind the mixing console.

That album, Walking into Clarksdale , resurrected the career of a studio legend.

The story begins with Nirvana. In 1993, Kurt Cobain wanted distance from the sheen of Nevermind and Nirvana’s growing fame. He struggled with his punk-rock credibility and saw a way out by working with the loudest, anti-major label proponent in music.

However, before Albini agreed to work with the band, he wrote them a letter. He said, “I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existence. If you will commit yourselves to that as a tenet of the recording methodology, then I will bust my a– for you.”

The now-famous letter also includes Albini’s recording philosophy and general views on the music industry. He believed bands should be recorded as raw as possible, with very few overdubs or takes. The band’s opinions outweighed his own, and Albini had little patience for outside influences, like a record label’s A&R staff.

Nirvana and Albini worked quickly at an isolated studio in Minnesota, and the record label and management were forbidden to interfere.

Will You Remix the Album?

After receiving the master tapes of Nirvana’s new album, Gold Mountain Management and Geffen Records said In Utero was “unlistenable.” Squeezed by the competing pressures of his record label and his own wishes, Cobain asked Albini to remix it. Albini declined.

The Seattle band attempted to make the mixes more palatable during mastering. But Cobain still wasn’t pleased. Eventually, Scott Litt remixed the singles “Heart-Shaped Box,” “All Apologies,” and “Pennyroyal Tea,” while the rest of Albini’s mixes remained intact.

In Utero is a raw and abrasive recording compared with their groundbreaking album Nevermind . Still, Cobain’s defiant album did little to quell the band’s surging fame, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Grunge had been cleaned up and commercialized, much like CBGB as a brand. But Albini had captured an unaltered recording of what Nirvana really sounded like. It’s the album Cobain said he wanted—no apologies.

Don’t Hire Albini

Following the public fallout from In Utero , Albini struggled to find consistent work. He became persona non grata within major label circles who viewed him as too difficult to hire. Albini struggled to keep his Chicago studio Electrical Audio open. The cost of the building and a lack of projects forced Albini to sell old recording equipment, vinyl records, and guitars.

Meanwhile, Bush hired Albini to record and mix Razorblade Suitcase , though frontman Gavin Rossdale worked hard to convince his label, Interscope Records, to allow it. Still, the album topped the charts and marked grunge music’s peak commercial appeal.

But Albini also became a victim of his ethos. He refused to accept royalties from the albums he worked on—a standard industry practice he found unethical. He once told Nirvana he wanted to be “paid like a plumber.”

Enter Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

Robert Plant was a fan of Albini’s punk band Big Black, specifically the album Songs About F—–g . He and Jimmy Page were planning their first studio album as a duo and wanted Albini involved.  

They had reunited in 1994 for MTV’s Unplugged , though the “UnLedded” project did not feature Led Zeppelin bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones. Instead, the acoustic-oriented album features an Egyptian orchestra and a Moroccan string band. Atlantic Records later released No Quarter , a live album capturing the Unplugged performances in Morocco, Wales, and London.

The duo composed four new songs alongside familiar Led Zeppelin classics like “Kashmir” and “Thank You.” They supported No Quarter with an ambitious world tour featuring multiple orchestras.  

Abbey Road and a Rebirth

In 1998, Page and Plant asked Albini to work with them at Abbey Road. He engineered and mixed Walking into Clarksdale , and the pugnacious engineer had a lifeline.

The money and notoriety from recording Page and Plant’s first studio album together since Led Zeppelin kept Electrical Audio in business. Soon, the reputational anchor around Albini disappeared.

Walking into Clarksdale reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and the single “Most High” received a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Once again, Steve Albini refused to allow the music business to ruin him and made another pivotal album on his terms.

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Jimmy Page and Robert Plant – Walking Into Clarksdale

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant – Walking Into Clarksdale

I can’t recall what I had going on when the main songwriters from the band Led Zeppelin , vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, decided to make an attempt at a reunion during the mid- to late ‘90s, but I was obviously not paying attention.  I seem to remember a “rock radio single” or two being released, but I don’t remember hearing anything else from the duo’s only studio album of new material since the 1980 break-up of Zep, 1998’s Walking Into Clarksdale on the Mercury label.  I’m not really lamenting that the reunion didn’t turn into something more full blown, as Robert Plant’s solo material in the years following has been incredible.  But just what was it about this album and its live predecessor, No Quarter that held Plant’s interest briefly, but couldn’t keep him around longer?  Now that I’ve just added Clarksdale to my collection, let’s see if I can’t find some answers.

Re-introducing Page and Plant to the masses begins with one of those “rock radio hits,” “Shining In The Light,” the lead track on the CD.  To my ears, the song fits in well with the Zeppelin catalog, but it’s not some sort of first wave of a heavy metal onslaught.  Those familiar with Zeppelin’s recordings, not just the radio hits, will know that the band had nearly as many acoustic-based numbers as they did rockers.  Therefore, the acoustic guitar setting up the rest of the song does not alienate the converted, but may prevent those looking for the next “Rock and Roll” or “Black Dog” to keep on surfing.  I have a quibble about the drum sound as well.  While it’s next to impossible to find a percussionist that can keep to the metronomic pace set by the late John Bonham , I don’t know why the drums on this song sound as if they were played by a robot with faulty wiring.  We can only blame Page and Plant, who produced the album, or Steve Albini , who engineered the thing, and we can only question their motives.  We can’t fault the performer, the late Michael Lee , because I imagine that he and bassist Charlie Jones were just damned glad to be sitting in with some legends.  Although the rhythm section shares songwriting credits with Page and Plant, I doubt either of the younger musicians was calling too many shots.

The other “rock radio hit” that I’d heard was the highly unusual “Most High,” which shows up as track 6 on the CD.  This song is more interesting than the other single due to Page’s dark and surprising chord changes as well as the Middle Eastern instruments featured alongside the conventional rock sounds.  Think of when you used to hear the song “Kashmir” on the radio, and you found it to be exotic, unnerving, and possibly a bit frightening.  That same vibe is captured with “Most High.”  The musicians just keep on playing, despite producing a song that may be considered to be too noisy to Western ears, and certainly unlike anything being played on the radio in The States.  I don’t know if we’ve now absorbed enough elements of other world cultures that we can’t get as creeped out as we were decades ago, but “Most High” certainly does make its best attempt to unsettle the listener.

The tilted blues via The Cure that comprises the album’s title track is one more good example of how Page and Plant delight in circumventing conventions.  Reminiscent of some of the start-stop cuts on Led Zeppelin’s Presence album; it demonstrates that both Page and Plant felt they had plenty of new ideas to expand upon should they continue on the reunion path.  The song does beg questions, however, and these same questions likely weighed on Plant’s mind as well.  Where can you take this music?  Does it just keep growing and growing until the band has to tour stadiums in order to satisfy the audience?  And does that happen sooner rather than later because this band consists of half of the band (and associated fame of) Led Zeppelin.  With these thoughts staring Plant down, he knew that he’d have to scale everything back until he was once again performing to audiences of a size that felt more comfortable to him.  With Jimmy Page sharing the bill, that was going to be impossible.  You can almost hear those thoughts crossing Plant’s mind as the album wears on.

But the duo does choose to go out on a high note.  The album’s last two cuts are two of the best.  “House Of Love” is another one of those blues askew songs that Page seems to have in limitless supply.  Again, the drums are a little annoying as they approximate an industrial rhythm, and never do start to sound organic before the song ends.  But Page’s cascading changes and Plant’s exploration of his range are two elements that remind us why we’re still interested in hearing what these artists are up to after all those years.  “Sons Of Freedon” gives drummer Lee the break he was waiting for, and the odd, Bonzo-esque rhythm comes blasting out.  Page’s highly unconventional directions and Plant’s ramble without rhythm provide for a “Crunge”-like feel to the track, and leave us excited for anything that may follow.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to follow.  All the money in the world cannot persuade Robert Plant to tour behind the Led Zeppelin banner once more.  And, seriously, why would we want him to?  The style of music that he performs these days is a far cry from the Caligulan excesses trotted around the globe when Led Zeppelin was at their peak.  What he’s doing these days is very engaging, and certainly more heartfelt than the songs he’s being begged to sing again.  I applaud him for not bowing to pressure and refusing to grab the easy paycheck.

Page and Plant’s body of work to this point stands for itself.  We should be thankful that the duo was open-minded enough to give it one last go-round, and that Walking Into Clarksdale is neither an embarrassment, nor a rehash.  On the right day, you might find that some of this material stands well along deep album tracks from Led Zeppelin.  Yet you’ll also realize the obvious, just as did Robert Plant.  You can’t try to maneuver circumstances to replicate the success reached by Led Zeppelin in the 1970s.  That trick is doomed to failure.  Instead, we should kick back and thank the boys for getting it right in the first place all those years ago.  So few bands can even make that claim.  

– Mark Polzin

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Walking Into Everywhere Tour : Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Woodlands Pavillion, (US) - Sep 30, 1998

Live Review: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

By Richard Skanse

Richard Skanse

No disrespect to the musical legacy of Led Zeppelin , but nothing attonight’sshow better evoked the golden age of stadium rock than the sight of RobertPlant’s golden mane blowing around his head. Sure, he can still wail like abanshee and compatriot Jimmy Page can still make his guitar roar like avenerable lion, but it was Plant’s hair blowing in the AC gales that trulymade you remember laughter and the indelible stage presence of Zeppelin.

Yes, Zeppelin. Let’s call a spade a spade. When Page and Plant snubbed Zepbassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones on their “No Quarter” tour four yearsago,they stressed that they were determined not to trade in nostalgia fornostalgia’s sake. Hence the “Page and Plant” tag and the accompanyingorchestra of middle eastern musicians to help give warhorses like “Kashmir”and “The Battle of Evermore” a unique spin. It was a tenuous excuse intheory,but the results were interesting enough to distinguish the duo fromcountlessother re-heat-the-hits reunion tours, ranging from the Eagles to shed-actslike REO Speedwagon and the Doobie Brothers.

But with this current tour, supporting Walking Into Clarksdale, Page andPlant’s studio “debut,” all those concessions to originality have beenthrownright out the window. Plant admitted as much himself tonight: “We’ve got noEgyptians, we’ve got no hurdy gurdy; we’ve just us and a few bright ideas.”The bright ideas in question consisted of three new songs and a whole lottastraight-up, ungussied Led. There was drummer Michael Lee in the John Bonhamseat, and bassist Charlie Jones and keyboardist Phil Andrews filling in forthe still-absent John Paul Jones, but the songs remained the same and PageandPlant made no apologies for it.

It was a strategy that kept the crowd standing for ninety-seven percent oftheshow and inspired deafening hoots and hollers of “Zeppelin!” in the Garden’shallways after the show. Page alone probably could have inspired such anafterglow had he merely played the riff to “Whole Lotta Love” for two hoursstraight. Indeed, for the first six songs he might as well have been byhimself given what a chore it was to hear Plant through the muddy thunder ofamix that rendered stompers like “Heartbreaker” and “Ramble On”indistinguishable from the new “Walking Into Clarksdale.” For all the visualmajesty of his billowing mane of golden locks, Plant could have beenreplacedby a cardboard-cutout — or former Page one-night-stander David Coverdale,forthat matter.

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Thankfully, by the time “No Quarter” came to a slow boil, the levels wereevened out and Plant’s voice was brought into proportion with Page’s LesPaul.With it too came the opportunity for Jones, Lee and Anderson to spread outandexpress their own strengths. Soon after, the stools and chairs were broughtout for pseudo-acoustic fare like “Going to California,” “Tangerine” and apropulsive, harrowing “Gallows Pole,” all of which proved to be much moreimpressive outlets for Page’s talent than his trademark marriage of violinbowto guitar neck — a gimmick that looks cool but is a genuine bitch on theears.

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The evening’s best moments were “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” and the new “MostHigh.” “Babe,” clocking in at well over ten minutes, was like a concert inminiature, a rock opera which found Page and Plant working off each other’severy nuance. As for “Most High,” it played like a condensed “Kashmir”withoutall the dull bits — a direct descendent of their finest work in Zeppelinthatwas infinitely more exciting than the following “Whole Lotta Love” and theencore’s rote run-throughs of “Black Dog” and “Rock and Roll.”

As for “Kashmir,” “Stairway to Heaven” and “Dazed and Confused,” well, theydidn’t play any of them. Fine, but shouldn’t their omission have left roomsomewhere in the set for such undervalued Zep classics as “The Ocean,” “Overthe Hills and Far Away” or “In My Time of Dying”? Apparently not, althoughthewhole of Physical Graffitti could have been played in the time it took theband to leave the stage after their extended display of waving and bowing tothe crowd. Such stadium rock indulgence is their due, though — and morepowerto them — but it was hard not to feel shortchanged by the time they finallyleft and the house lights came on. Without a more committed effort toproducing more *new* music on par with “Most High,” Page and Plant would dowell to take in a Doobies shed show before touring again: for there but forthe grace of their vaulted names go they.

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Editorial reviews.

Pity the aging rock star. All those declarations about sugar mountains and hoping to die before he got old don't leave much room for middle age. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant understood this in 1997 as they began work on Walking Into Clarksdale , the duo's first album-length collaboration on all-new material since Led Zeppelin blew apart in 1980. Despite inevitable comparisons with the music of their youth, their work here (recorded by punk deity Steve Albini) is no embarrassment. Too many of the tracks are frustratingly dry and somber, but the duo find shades of "Kashmir" on the epic "Most High," while Plant croons a beautifully Zeppelinesque chorus on "When the World Was Young." Dancing days are here again. --Steve Appleford

But the question we are going to ask of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant regarding Walking into Clarksdale --their first all-new work together since Led Zeppelin broke up--is not what they have learned, but the more common and less compelling rock query: What have they lost? Well, they certainly haven't lost their insight into women because they never had any to begin with.... For an album so crammed with supposed love songs, Walking into Clarksdale is just an essay in autoeroticism.... What the duo has really lost is grandeur of sound. Even though the Page and Plant-produced album is "recorded and engineered by Steve Abini," you get the feeling the uber-alt-rock producer only took the job because it sounded funny. Except for an awkward, grunge surge in the middle of "When the World Was Young," you can't really hear any Albini influence.... Clarksdale 's "new" songs bear a faint family resemblance to all those five-minute power ballads of yore. And "Sons of Freedom" proves Page still has a few lickety-licks up his sleeve. But time has not been kind to Plant's throat and he can't muster a fraction of his former intensity. -- Spin Of course, the ghost of Led Zeppelin still lingers. Walking into Clarksdale resounds with rich echoes from the band's aesthetically ambitious midperiod--primarily Houses of the Holy (1973) and Physical Graffiti (1975).... [Producer] Steve Albini lends raw, contemporary force to this meticulous recreation of Led Zeppelin's classic sound. -- Rolling Stone

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• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 4.94 x 0.45 inches; 3.2 ounces
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Atlantic / Wea
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ December 7, 2006
• Label ‏ : ‎ Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0000062S0
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #49 in Guitar Gods
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• #1,218 in Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) (CDs & Vinyl)

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Walking Into Clarksdale by Page & Plant

Album Reviews 1998 Albums , British Artists , Jimmy Page , Robert Plant 0

Buy Walking Into Clarksdale

Page and Plant re-united in 1993 after casual discussions between the two about performing on the popular MTV Unplugged television series, which had been a rousing success for artists ranging from Eric Clapton to Tesla to Nirvana. Producer Bill Curbishley, who had been managing Plant since the 1980s and began managing Page in 1994, was able to close the deal and, in August 1994, they recorded performances in London, Wales, and Morocco of several re-arranged Led Zeppelin tunes along with four new tracks. These performances were aired on MTV in October, with the album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded released in November 1994. Following the successful release of this album, Page and Plant launched a world tour backed by bassist Charlie Jones , drummer Michael Lee , and a small orchestra of musicians and background singers.

Walking Into Clarksdale was recorded and produced by Page and Plant along with engineer Steve Albini over the course of five months at Abbey Road Studios in London. Albini, an indie rock producer known for his harsh and brutal recordings, took some dynamic chances in mixing the guitar phrases, Mideastern drones, sawing strings, and repetitive drum patterns which proliferate this album’s sound.

The album begins with “Shining in the Light”, featuring an interesting acoustic progression along with the rhythmic feel of a rotating riff. The string sections in between verses help build the musical momentum of this track. “When the World Was Young” follows, built with a gently thumping bass by Jones and methodical guitar motifs by Page, Quiet tension is built for about two and a half minutes before the song explodes into a Zeppelin-like heavy section where drummer Michael Lee finally gets to perform a full rock beat, The song’s lyrics, while slightly obscure seem to focus on a mystical afterlife. “Upon a Golden Horse” starts with a full-fledged electric intro which gives way to calmer, waltz-like verses as Plant attempts to hit the vocal stratosphere (but doesn’t quite reach it) while Page provides the record’s first heavy blues guitar lead before being overtaken by the rich string arrangements of Lynton Naiff . “Blue Train” is a sad ballad led by Page’s uniquely structured guitar lead and Plant’s melancholy lyric;

Lost in my darkness now, the rain keeps falling down Light of my life, where have you gone? Love’s true flame dies without the warmth of your sun…”

On “Please Read the Letter”, Plant provides harmonies with himself through most of the track, previewing the prevalent arrangements on the later album Raising Sand , where he will team up with Alison Krauss, re-record this track and win a Grammy in 2009. On this original version, while Page provides his signature heavy rock riffing in the verse, while the overall feel has a more country/folk vibe. The indelible “Most High” features an electronic percussion loop accompanied by droning guitar as a song that finally realizes the Eastern rock fusion that Page and Plant had been loosely experimenting with for a quarter century. Further, the guest musicians Ed Shearmur and Tim Whelan give the track a bit of crisp sonic candy, much needed on this album of subtle arrangements.

A calm, Western guitar sound by Page, accompanied by Plant’s soft but soulful vocals make “Heart in Your Hand” an atmospheric tune with very calm rhythms. This is vastly contrasted by the heavy rocking title song, “Walking into Clarksdale”, which celebrates the duos history and love of the blues. While musically a throwback with little spurts of Zeppelin-esque blues-rock flourishes, the song may be the most potent lyrically with references to being born with blues in the soul as well as the infamous “Devil at the crossroads” legend which is tied to the physical location;

And I see twelve white horses walking in line Moving east across the metal bridge on highway forty-nine And standing in the shadows of a burnt out motel The King of Commerce Mississippia waited with his hound from hell…”

After the final highlight of the title track, the album winds down with some slightly interesting, albeit weaker material. “Burning Up”, while decent musically, seems to be one of the more under-cooked or disjointed tracks on the album, followed by “When I Was a Child” with a heavy use of tremolo/volume effects on the atmospheric guitars and soaring, soulful vocals by Plant throughout. “House of Love” returns to the electronic percussion but with less effect than “Most High” as the guitar and bass parts don’t quite jive with the percussion and give it more of a demo feel. The closer “Sons of Freedom” is a spastic, proto-punk track with differing sonic qualities through its duration.

While Walking Into Clarksdale reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic and achieved Gold record status, it was an overall commercial disappointment in comparison to its predecessor. Page planned on continuing with a follow-up album and reportedly began writing over a dozen tunes. However, Plant grew tired of the larger arena and decided he wanted to get back to playing clubs, there by disbanding the partnership. To date (20 years later), Walking Into Clarksdale is the last studio recording by Jimmy Page.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1998 albums.

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