Robert Plant: Mighty Rearranger : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

When Robert Plant vowed, "Valhalla, I am coming!" near the beginning of "Immigrant Song," it sounded like he was planning on getting there in a hurry. Thirty-five years later, the Led Zeppelin frontman is still headed for the Norse hall of warriors -- he's just stopping to smell the roses on the way. On "Shine It All Around," the standout track from Plant's second album with the Strange Sensation (which includes members of Portishead and Massive Attack), the fifty-six-year-old sings, "These are the times of my life/Bright and strong and golden." Plant is clearly comfortable with Zeppelin's legacy: Mighty Rearranger's North African influences and trip-hop touches are deployed in the service of thunderous blues-based rockers and pretty pastoral ballads. More than any time since 1994's No Quarter with Jimmy Page, Plant's inner black dog is howling again.