Dr P

I bought this album in 2001 (I think). I was at Uni and had been getting into rock music from the late 60’s and early stuff. Zeppelin were obviously a feature band for me at the time.

I found “Walking into Clarksdale” in a bargain bin at the music store. I was intrigued and not having heard of the album I decided to purchase it. I recall it being played through numerous times and that I thoroughly enjoyed it. After a while I put it on the shelf where it’s been until now (albeit the shelf had turned digital and the CD now lies in a storage bin).

So how does this album sound to me 22 years later?

So the strange thing was that when I opened the album in my app I could not remember which songs were memorable. Considering I had played the album over and over in 2001 I would have expected to immediately jump to the tracks I liked the most. But no…. nothing, and this raises my first observation.

The songs on “Walking into Clarksdale” are well written, music is good, production is great, but the album lacks that something special.

The second observation relates to the context in which this album finds itself. Zeppelin had long disbanded after the death of their drummer, John “Bonzo” Bonham. People were hungry for some kind of Zeppelin reunion. Page and Plant had come together in 1994 to record “No Quarter”. This was a live album collection of reworked Zeppelin songs and on the back of that the two decided to record a bunch of new songs. They enrolled alternative/indie music producer Steve Albini as sound engineer and off they went. The result was, I think, a watered down version of Zeppelin with a distinctly mid to late 90’s production feel akin to Bush’s Razorblade Suitcase or Nirvana’s In Utero (both produced by Albini). This may have been why in 2001 the CD was on replay. It provided me the familiar sound of the 90’s which was slowly dissipating into the past.

Today it serves as a point of nostalgia for me. I wish it could have been a post Bonzo Zeppelin album. I wish it was louder and more angry. I wish I could tell people today that the Page and Plant album of ‘98 is a must own album, but sadly all I can say is that it is an interesting curiosity in their and Steve Albini’s catalogue.

Stand out songs:

1. Shining in the light
2. When the world was young
3. Please read the letter

Score: 5.5/10

Greg

Album works on its own merits without needing to reference history, there’s good stuff here and it sounds great. But it’s hard not to compare, specially when the drumming pays homage to Bonzo in style and sound (while doing a decent job at it). I don’t mind they did it, it’s maybe a reflection on my lowered ability to listen to things open minded that while listening I’m wondering what it would sound like with B and JPJ in their seats. I need to work on that probably. As Plant needed to work on his vocal fitness a bit. I guess full disclosure is necessary here, not sure how controversial this opinion is but when I listen to LZ I will usually have the thought - I wonder what LZ would have sounded like with a different vocalist.

Score: 6/10

Combined score

5.75/10