Robert Plant - Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar

          Robert Plant, rock legend, proves he is a versatile artist and still relevant in today’s music industry.  His first studio album with backing band The Sensational Space Shifters and follow-up to 2005’s Mighty Rearranger, Lullaby… and The Ceaseless Roar combines traditional folk and bluegrass sounds, world music, and grooves that would make any Led Zeppelin fan start to dance.  Just like the name Led Zeppelin, Lullaby is an excellent mix of soft and loud, fast and slow, light and dark. 

The lyrics reflect a wide array of influences including a William Morris poem (Rainbow), an old Lead Belly folk song (Poor Howard), and Fulani African lyrics (Embrace Another Fall).  The Space Shifters provide excellent backing for Plant with electric guitars, banjos, keyboards, and even some African instruments such as a single-stringed fiddle called the ritti, courtesy of Gambian musician Juldeh Camara.  The African percussion on Turn It Up combined with the electric power of a Zeppelinesque riff makes for the album’s hardest rocking song.

While Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page is stuck in the past, remastering the old Zeppelin catalogue, Robert Plant is ascending new musical horizons.  Lullaby… and The Ceaseless Roar proves that Plant is still a master singer and composer in any genre, but with Jimmy Page embarking on a new solo tour in 2015, a Led Zeppelin reunion looks even less likely now.  Just in case Jimmy changes his mind, though, we can be sure, after listening to Lullaby, that Plant’s still got it.