John Paul Jones: The Thunderthief : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Though John Paul Jones's greatest claim to fame is the mighty bass and keyboard work he contributed to Led Zeppelin, he's a master musician and plays most everything (various basses and guitars, plus exotic relatives like the autoharp and koto) except drums on Thunderthief -- and does so with swashbuckling verve, detonating the massive groove of the title track as artfully as he ignites the tender, twangy, "Down the River to Pray." Thanks to his adept piano, the impressionistic "Ice Fishing at Night" hovers between Debussy and Pete Townshend's introspective Scoop recordings. Most of the album is instrumental, but when words surface they are as deftly crafted as the music. "Angry Angry" is a scathing rant that turns punk's attitude problem onto itself; "Freedom Song" seems a traditional Celtic folk ditty, but the stylized, unassuming vocal diffuses a wry fantasy about escaping the clever, confining gadgetry of modern life. Illuminating and electric, Thunderthief strikes like lightning.

> SANDY MASUO
> (February 4, 2002)