CD OF THE WEEK:Robert Plant, Band of Joy, Decca ****
What’s in a name? Three years after Raising Sand, his collaboration with country diva Alison Krauss that raised eyes, opened ears and mopped up awards aplenty, Robert Plant shuffles a little more in the direction of his beloved gospel- soul-blues with this album, named after his first band – of more than 45 years ago.
Read what you like into that fact, but the 62-year-old is carving out a future rather than recalling the past with this intense, challenging and frequently brilliant collection.
If Krauss’s crystalline voice and T-Bone Burnett’s production were key last time, then ace guitarist and co-producer Buddy Miller is the main man here. But the band has many strengths, including the remarkable Patty Griffin on vocals.
Since Led Zeppelin, Plant has always been faithful to his own muse, checking out many different genres before arriving at the place he began: Americana in all its forms. Many styles are represented in these 12 diverse tracks. The sound is rich, edgy, suffused in echo and spiralling guitar underpinned by a muscular rhythm section.
The moody menace of Monkeyand Silver Bulletcontrasts with the traditional Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down. I'm Falling in Love Again, a little- known soul gem, is given the late-night honky tonk treatment, while another obscure piece, You Can't Buy My Love, is soaked in voodoo rockabilly.
The album kicks off with a dense, throbbing version of Los Lobos' Angel Dance, before Richard Thompson's House of Cardsreaches an early peak, gospel fever vocals duelling with Miller's guitar and Darrell Scott's mandolin. The closing tracks are equally compelling, especially a Byrds-like version of Townes Van Zandt's apocalyptic ballad Harm's Swift Way.
This latter track also epitomises the way in which Plant has subsumed his signature voice within the overall texture of the music. His name may be on the billboard, but this is a band of many joys.
See robertplant.com
Download tracks: House of Cards, I'm Falling in Love Again, Monkey
