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Robert Plant - Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page & The Solo Years
Robert Plant is a genuine rock legend. The tumultuous but endlessly fascinating tale of Led Zeppelin is central to his life, but that twelve-year period ended with the sad and premature death of drummer John 'Bonzo' Bonham in 1980; in the twenty-five years since, Plant has been recording new music almost constantly. For the first time, his solo years - famously working with his former Led Zep cohort Jimmy Page, numerous guest appearances and his own material - are covered in depth. This complete rock biography reveals how he teamed up with Jimmy Page in 1994 only to see their two-album partnership come to an abrupt and controversial end in 1998 and Plant's earliest and ongoing influences and passions such as Southern American blues and classic fifties R&B.Neil Daniel's also delves into the likes of his revered solo album Dreamland, consisting of a relatively obscure batch of cover songs and places Plant's later work in the wider context of both Led Zep's own legacy and the broader history of modern music. Full up to date, covering his latest album Raising Sand with the revered bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and the highly-publicised Led Zeppelin reunion in December, 2007, this is the compelling story of an enthusiastic young kid from the West Midlands who belied his humble blues roots and defied his stern parents by becoming one of the world's most recognisable and iconic rock superstars.
- GenresMusic
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 31, 2008
About the author
Neil Daniels
92 books15 followersBased in the UK, Neil Daniels has written about rock, metal and pop culture for a wide range of magazines, fanzines and websites.
He has penned books on Judas Priest, Robert Plant, Linkin Park, Bon Jovi and Journey, and co-authored Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In Judas Priest & Heavy Metal with original Judas Priest singer/co-founder Al Atkins. His third book on Judas Priest is Rock Landmarks: Judas Priest's British Steel.
His acclaimed series, All Pens Blazing: A Rock & Heavy Metal Writer's Handbook Volumes I & II, collects over a hundred original and exclusive interviews with some of the world's most famous rock and heavy metal scribes. His other duel collection, Rock 'N' Roll Mercenaries - Interviews With Rock Stars Volumes I & II, compiles over sixty interviews with many well-known rock stars and rock writers.
His books have so far been translated into Brazilian, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish and Swedish with more foreign titles in the works.
2012 saw the publication of his books on Metallica, Iron Maiden and You Me At Six.
2013/14 saw the release of his books on AC/DC, Pantera, UFO, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden.
It's not just rock 'n' roll. Matthew McConaughey – The Biography was published in November 2014 by John Blake Publishing. 2015 saw the release of more film biographies, including actor Martin Freeman and film director J.J. Abrams.
His Createspace books include AOR Chronicles, Rock & Metal Chronicles, Hard Rock Rebels - Talking With Rock Stars, Rock 'N' Roll Sinners - Volumes I, II & III, Rock Bites, Love It Loud and the fictional rock 'n' roll novel, It's My Life, amongst several more weighty tomes. And then there's a book on former American Idol contestant turned Queen frontman Adam Lambert. Also, In A Dark Room - Exploits Of A Genre Fan collects his articles, features and reviews on books, comics, TV and film and is also published by Createspace. His 'Casual Guide' series (also published by Createspace) includes titles on Neal Schon, Bryan Adams, Richie Sambora, Rob Halford and Brian May. Further Createspace works are planned for 2015/16.
His reviews, articles and interviews on music and pop culture have been published in The Guardian, Classic Rock Presents AOR, Classic Rock Presents Let It Rock, Rock Sound, Record Collector, Big Cheese, Powerplay, Fireworks, MediaMagazine, Rocktopia.co.uk, Get Ready To Rock.com, Lucemfero.com, musicOMH.com, Ghostcultmag.com, Drowned In Sound.com, BBCNewsOnline.co.uk, Carling.com, Unbarred.co.uk and Planet Sound on Channel 4's now defunct Teletext service.
He has also written several sets of sleeve notes for Angel Air and BGO Records.
He can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr. He has author pages on both Amazon US and UK sites. Further details can also be found on Wikipedia.
His primary interests are music, films and books. He has a degree in Film Studies.
His official website is www.neildanielsbooks.com.
Please take some time to check out his latest business venture - an online reselling business called otherrealmscollectibles primarily dealing with action figures, toys and superheroes merch as well as t-shirts, books, CDs and DVDs. Favourites include Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Toy Story and Disney. There are hundreds of items for sale.
Here is the link: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/otherrealmsc...
And here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aag/main/...
He has penned books on Judas Priest, Robert Plant, Linkin Park, Bon Jovi and Journey, and co-authored Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In Judas Priest & Heavy Metal with original Judas Priest singer/co-founder Al Atkins. His third book on Judas Priest is Rock Landmarks: Judas Priest's British Steel.
His acclaimed series, All Pens Blazing: A Rock & Heavy Metal Writer's Handbook Volumes I & II, collects over a hundred original and exclusive interviews with some of the world's most famous rock and heavy metal scribes. His other duel collection, Rock 'N' Roll Mercenaries - Interviews With Rock Stars Volumes I & II, compiles over sixty interviews with many well-known rock stars and rock writers.
His books have so far been translated into Brazilian, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish and Swedish with more foreign titles in the works.
2012 saw the publication of his books on Metallica, Iron Maiden and You Me At Six.
2013/14 saw the release of his books on AC/DC, Pantera, UFO, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden.
It's not just rock 'n' roll. Matthew McConaughey – The Biography was published in November 2014 by John Blake Publishing. 2015 saw the release of more film biographies, including actor Martin Freeman and film director J.J. Abrams.
His Createspace books include AOR Chronicles, Rock & Metal Chronicles, Hard Rock Rebels - Talking With Rock Stars, Rock 'N' Roll Sinners - Volumes I, II & III, Rock Bites, Love It Loud and the fictional rock 'n' roll novel, It's My Life, amongst several more weighty tomes. And then there's a book on former American Idol contestant turned Queen frontman Adam Lambert. Also, In A Dark Room - Exploits Of A Genre Fan collects his articles, features and reviews on books, comics, TV and film and is also published by Createspace. His 'Casual Guide' series (also published by Createspace) includes titles on Neal Schon, Bryan Adams, Richie Sambora, Rob Halford and Brian May. Further Createspace works are planned for 2015/16.
His reviews, articles and interviews on music and pop culture have been published in The Guardian, Classic Rock Presents AOR, Classic Rock Presents Let It Rock, Rock Sound, Record Collector, Big Cheese, Powerplay, Fireworks, MediaMagazine, Rocktopia.co.uk, Get Ready To Rock.com, Lucemfero.com, musicOMH.com, Ghostcultmag.com, Drowned In Sound.com, BBCNewsOnline.co.uk, Carling.com, Unbarred.co.uk and Planet Sound on Channel 4's now defunct Teletext service.
He has also written several sets of sleeve notes for Angel Air and BGO Records.
He can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr. He has author pages on both Amazon US and UK sites. Further details can also be found on Wikipedia.
His primary interests are music, films and books. He has a degree in Film Studies.
His official website is www.neildanielsbooks.com.
Please take some time to check out his latest business venture - an online reselling business called otherrealmscollectibles primarily dealing with action figures, toys and superheroes merch as well as t-shirts, books, CDs and DVDs. Favourites include Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Toy Story and Disney. There are hundreds of items for sale.
Here is the link: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/otherrealmsc...
And here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aag/main/...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 15, 2013
The book is riddled with inaccuracies.
Consider these passages... Daniels goes through a sentence-long analysis of the tracks on Zeppelin's albums. For the first album, there is this gem: "Black Mountain Side is an accurate demonstration of Page's musical expertise rather than Plant's talent yet Plant is still in fine vocal shape." Umm... isn't the song an instrumental? Doesn't this sentence imply that Plant is singing this track? The roots of How Many More Times? Well, Daniels says that the lyrics contain references to "Howlin' Wolf's 'How Many More Tears." I always thought the song was How Many More Years. I understand the Y and T are next to each other, so let's chalk that one up to the editor.
How about Houses of the Holy... check this out: "Plant enjoys himself on the last track 'No Quarter' and thus closes an imaginative and curious album." Perhaps Neil Daniels has obtained that rare copy of Houses of the Holy that is devoid of The Ocean?
Let's examine the acknowledgements. The author thanks Al Atkins (former lead singer of Judas Priest), Frankie Banali and Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot, Ernie Chataway of Judas Priest (whose sole contribution to the book seems to be telling the author that he doesn't like Plant and never did), John Ellis and Brian 'Bruno' Stapenhill (again, from Judas Priest), and... I think I'll stop there.
It really seems like the guy wrote a book on Judas Priest and then discovered that some of the guys knew Plant, so then he figured maybe he could write a book on Plant. He could use a lot of the same interviews (a fact he covers in the acknowledgements) and sell some more books. Here's a quote: "In many ways, this book is a complementary companion piece to my first book - The Story of Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith - because the earlier careers of both artists overlap in obvious ways: Robert Plant and Judas Priest came from the same area of England and both artists began gigging in the same era prior to finding success in the 1970s, onwards."
Yeah... because when I think of Judas Priest, I think of Robert Plant. Oh wait... no, no I don't. The book essentially begins with a narration of the Soundstage performance available now on DVD of Plant with Strange Sensation from September of 2005, and right away, Daniels is quoting some guy I've never heard of - "perhaps the American melodic rock singer and Led Zeppelin fan Tony Harnell says it better..." WHO?! What the hell is this?! ... at least that's what I keep thinking while I'm reading this.
In addition, he refers to the "mammoth Achilles Last Stand" twice in three pages using the same adjective, but manages to say that Plant wrote the song at two different times, in two different places, with two different sets of inspiration in the same range of pages. Not sure you can do that without explaining yourself, and Daniels does not.
This book was a big disappointment for a big fan of Robert Plant.
Consider these passages... Daniels goes through a sentence-long analysis of the tracks on Zeppelin's albums. For the first album, there is this gem: "Black Mountain Side is an accurate demonstration of Page's musical expertise rather than Plant's talent yet Plant is still in fine vocal shape." Umm... isn't the song an instrumental? Doesn't this sentence imply that Plant is singing this track? The roots of How Many More Times? Well, Daniels says that the lyrics contain references to "Howlin' Wolf's 'How Many More Tears." I always thought the song was How Many More Years. I understand the Y and T are next to each other, so let's chalk that one up to the editor.
How about Houses of the Holy... check this out: "Plant enjoys himself on the last track 'No Quarter' and thus closes an imaginative and curious album." Perhaps Neil Daniels has obtained that rare copy of Houses of the Holy that is devoid of The Ocean?
Let's examine the acknowledgements. The author thanks Al Atkins (former lead singer of Judas Priest), Frankie Banali and Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot, Ernie Chataway of Judas Priest (whose sole contribution to the book seems to be telling the author that he doesn't like Plant and never did), John Ellis and Brian 'Bruno' Stapenhill (again, from Judas Priest), and... I think I'll stop there.
It really seems like the guy wrote a book on Judas Priest and then discovered that some of the guys knew Plant, so then he figured maybe he could write a book on Plant. He could use a lot of the same interviews (a fact he covers in the acknowledgements) and sell some more books. Here's a quote: "In many ways, this book is a complementary companion piece to my first book - The Story of Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith - because the earlier careers of both artists overlap in obvious ways: Robert Plant and Judas Priest came from the same area of England and both artists began gigging in the same era prior to finding success in the 1970s, onwards."
Yeah... because when I think of Judas Priest, I think of Robert Plant. Oh wait... no, no I don't. The book essentially begins with a narration of the Soundstage performance available now on DVD of Plant with Strange Sensation from September of 2005, and right away, Daniels is quoting some guy I've never heard of - "perhaps the American melodic rock singer and Led Zeppelin fan Tony Harnell says it better..." WHO?! What the hell is this?! ... at least that's what I keep thinking while I'm reading this.
In addition, he refers to the "mammoth Achilles Last Stand" twice in three pages using the same adjective, but manages to say that Plant wrote the song at two different times, in two different places, with two different sets of inspiration in the same range of pages. Not sure you can do that without explaining yourself, and Daniels does not.
This book was a big disappointment for a big fan of Robert Plant.
September 17, 2024
Although it is emphasised that the focus of this book is on Robert Plant solo years, the inevitability of referencing Led Zeppelin and a Jimmy Page cannot be escaped. Given this inevitability, if you are a Zeppelin devotee this read is less valuable. If on the other hand you are merely acquainted with Zeppelin and Plant and not a devotee, this book is informative providing an album by album resume to hep you navigate the musical path of Plant.
As a quasi biography of Plant which is inferred, there is confirmation of his likes, ambition and pioneering musicianship. A broader examination of Plant as an individual receives a lighter touch, so in this respect readers may be left seeking more. It seems that Robert Plant by nature as well as design remains mysterious which continues to intrigue. The author cannot mine that which is not accessible so this books limitations are not a reflection of a lack of thoroughness.
In conclusion, if the solo albums of Plant are the missing parts of your jigsaw this read is illuminating. If you are seeking an intimate insight into Plant, this may ultimately be less than anticipated.
As a quasi biography of Plant which is inferred, there is confirmation of his likes, ambition and pioneering musicianship. A broader examination of Plant as an individual receives a lighter touch, so in this respect readers may be left seeking more. It seems that Robert Plant by nature as well as design remains mysterious which continues to intrigue. The author cannot mine that which is not accessible so this books limitations are not a reflection of a lack of thoroughness.
In conclusion, if the solo albums of Plant are the missing parts of your jigsaw this read is illuminating. If you are seeking an intimate insight into Plant, this may ultimately be less than anticipated.
May 21, 2016
Led Zeppelinistä on kirjoitettu kirjahyllyllinen kirjoja, mutta tällä kertaa Neil Daniels on lupautunut keskittymään yhtyeen kultakutriseen laulajaan ja etenkin hänen soolouraansa. Tervetullut teos siis.
Joskin puolet kirjasta kertoo kuitenkin Led Zeppelinin puhkiluetun tarinan ja vain toinen puolisko sitten keskittyy Zeppelinin jälkeisiin soolovuosiin.
Daniels käy läpi soololevyt, kiertueet ja soittajat. Tiedot hän on haalinut lehdistä, netistä ja muista kirjoista. Daniels on myös haastatellut kourallista muusikoita, jotka eivät kuitenkaan juurikaan liity Plantin uraan. Ovatpahan samalla alalla.
Jotenkin tuntuu, että tämän elämäkerran kohdalla on menty siitä missä aita on ollut matalin. Daniels kirjoittaa musiikkitoimittajamaisen sujuvasti ja kirjan luki ihan mielellään, mutta sävelet ja tunteet sanojen ympäriltä puuttuivat. Ja ne ovat muusikon elämäkerrassa aika oleelliset palikat.
Noh, jospa tuo Plant muotoilisi itse oman taitelijauransa kirjalliseen muotoon.
Joskin puolet kirjasta kertoo kuitenkin Led Zeppelinin puhkiluetun tarinan ja vain toinen puolisko sitten keskittyy Zeppelinin jälkeisiin soolovuosiin.
Daniels käy läpi soololevyt, kiertueet ja soittajat. Tiedot hän on haalinut lehdistä, netistä ja muista kirjoista. Daniels on myös haastatellut kourallista muusikoita, jotka eivät kuitenkaan juurikaan liity Plantin uraan. Ovatpahan samalla alalla.
Jotenkin tuntuu, että tämän elämäkerran kohdalla on menty siitä missä aita on ollut matalin. Daniels kirjoittaa musiikkitoimittajamaisen sujuvasti ja kirjan luki ihan mielellään, mutta sävelet ja tunteet sanojen ympäriltä puuttuivat. Ja ne ovat muusikon elämäkerrassa aika oleelliset palikat.
Noh, jospa tuo Plant muotoilisi itse oman taitelijauransa kirjalliseen muotoon.
March 30, 2008
This book was a little hard to get into at first because of it's "reference book" format, but it got better (or I became accustomed to it) a few chapters along. It simply astonishes me how one man has impacted the music industry like Robert has and the life he has lead is truly amazing. Reading about each song and the inspiration behind each one, made me get all of my old Zeppelin and Plant CD's out and listen to them from beginning to end. My only real criticism of this book is that it had a lot of typos and I wished that there was more input from Robert directly... not information pulled off from websites or given to the author by Robert's friends and associates. There were a lot of really good descriptions of Plant's creative style and the style of popular music within each generation that he performed. It really took me back in time.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews