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Robert Plant: The Post-Led Zeppelin Albums

Robert Plant (left) and Jimmy Page “If one word sums up Robert Plant’s solo career it would be: contrary. Listening to any of his first three albums from the early ‘80s, you can almost imagine his record company paymasters in a state of escalating panic, as each LP he made sounded less and less like Led Zeppelin.”

“Plant was 20 when he joined Zeppelin and 32 when it ended (a ‘boy’ in modern rock years). It would have been an easy and commercially safe bet for him to spend the next three decades making music that sounded like a carbon copy of his old band’s.”


“Instead, Plant seemed stubbornly determined to distance himself from his musical past. The hirsute, self-proclaimed ‘Golden God’ once seen shimmying onstage in Led Zeppelin’s film The Song Remains the Same customized his image for the ‘80s. He cut his hair, donned a suit and stopped screaming. Perversely, by the middle of the decade, he’d begun inching back towards the sound – and look – of Led Zeppelin. And by the mid-‘90s, he was working once again with his Zeppelin partner-in-crime Jimmy Page.”

“Plant’s solo work has always found him on a tireless quest for something new. Here you’ll find records from a man frantically trying to erase hi history, others born out of a love-hate relationship with that history and more still inspired by his passion for ‘50s rock, folk, blues, psychedelia, world music…His 2007 career resurrection with Alison Krauss and his decision to step away from Led Zeppelin after their one-off reunion show that year is welcome evidence that Plant, 61 years young, remains as contrary as ever.”

– Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 132.

Below are the major album releases by Robert Plant in his post-Zeppelin career (1982 to present).


  1. Pictures at Eleven (1982)
  2. The Principle of Moments (1983)
  3. Volume One (The Honeydrippers: 1984)
  4. Shaken ‘N’ Stirred (1985)
  5. Now and Zen (1988)
  6. Manic Nirvana (1990)
  7. Fate of Nations (1993)
  8. No Quarter (live with Jimmy Page: 1994)
  9. Walking into Clarksdale (with Jimmy Page: 1998)
  10. Dreamland (2002)
  11. Sixty Six to Timbuktu (compilation: 2003)
  12. Mighty Rearranger (2005)
  13. Raising Sand (with Alison Krauss: 2007)
  14. Band of Joy (2010)
Led Zeppelin’s DMDB page

Also check out Led Zeppelin’s DMDB page!

Pictures at Eleven 3.214 stars out of 8 ratings
Charted: 7/17/1982 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 5 UK chart peak 2 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 1.0 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 1.0

Tracks: 1. Burning Down One Side 2. Moonlight in Samosa 3. Pledge Pin 4. Slow Dancer 5. Worse Than Detroit 6. Fat Lip 7. Like I’ve Never Been Gone 8. Mystery Title

Review: “Though a UK and US Top 5 album, Plant’s first solo album would always struggle to match the level of expectation and post-Zeppelin hysteria, particularly in America. Recorded with old Midlands pal/guitarist Robbie Blunt and ‘name’ drummers Phil Collins and Cozy Powell, it was a cautious sounding record that found its mark with the twisty funk-rock of Burning Down One Side and Slow Dancer, on wich the late Powell was said to have implored ‘Planty’ to just let rip like he used to in the old days.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

The Principle of Moments 3.331 stars out of 9 ratings
Charted: 7/30/1983 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 8 UK chart peak 7 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 1.0 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 1.0

Tracks: 1. Other Arms 2. In the Mood 3. Messin’ with the Mekon 4. Wreckless Love 5. Thru’ with the Two Step 6. Horizontal Departure 7. Stranger Here…Than Over There 8. Big Log

Review: “One for fans of Peter Gabriel, Plant’s second solo album was full of ‘80s quirks and production tics, and a hit single, Big Log, that sounded curiously like Dire Straits.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

The Honeydrippers: Volume One (EP) 3.162 stars out of 5 ratings
Charted: 10/20/1984 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 4 UK chart peak 56 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 0.5 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 0.5

Tracks: 1. I Get a Thrill 2. Sea of Love 3. I Got a Woman 4. Young Boy Blues 5. Rockin’ at Midnight

Review: “The Honeydrippers were a musical collective that included Plant, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Nile Rodgers. They cut this EP of R&B covers at Atlantic Records’ boss Ahmet Ertugen’s request. Plant excelled on Rockin’ at Midnight but landed an accidental US hit when DJs began playing the band’s version of the 1959 smoochie Sea of Love. Cue: a knuckle-sucking video showing Plant in Bermuda shorts, looking as if his career’s about to be washed out to sea.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Shaken ‘N’ Stirred 2.736 stars out of 7 ratings
Charted: 6/15/1985 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 20 UK chart peak 19 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 0.5 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 0.5

Tracks: 1. Hip to Hoo 2. Kallalou Kallalou 3. Too Loud 4. Trouble Your Money 5. Pink and Black 6. Little by Little 7. Doo Doo a Do Do 8. Easily Led 9. Sixes and Sevens

Review: “With Plant public denouncing ‘Motley Crue and all those other poodle-hair bands’, his third album found him on a quest for what he called ‘the land of spook’. Little by Little was a minor hit, but most of Shaken ‘N’ Stirred was filled with idiosyncratic pop (future Curve vocalist Toni Halliday sang backing vocals), big on tricky rhythms but troubling short on tunes, suggesting that Plant was trying too hard not to play to his strengths. Two months after the album’s release, he reunited with the rest of Led Zeppelin at Live Aid and wondered what to do next.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Now and Zen 3.964 stars out of 7 ratings
Charted: 3/12/1988 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 6 UK chart peak 10 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 3.0 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 3.0

Tracks: 1. Heaven Knows 2. Dance on My Own 3. Tall Cool One 4. The Way I Feel 5. Helen of Troy 6. Billy’s Revenge 7. Ship of Fools 8. Why 9. White, Clean and Neat 10. Walking Towards Paradise

Review: “By 1987, Robert Plant had traded in his original solo band for younger models, including a new songwriting partner, keyboard player Phil Johnstone. Once again, Plant looked like a windswept Celt, while his boyish backing group appeared a Top Shop Led Zeppelin. Better still, Jimmy Page played on two songs, while Tall Cool One featured samples of Zeppelin’s greatest riffs; inspired by the Beastie Boys recent samplyin of the band’s back catalog. On the downside, there’s the overcooked ‘80s production: the Linn drums, the Fairlights…On the plus side, this oddball collection of techno-pop, heavy rock and power ballads – Heaven Knows became a minor hit – was Plant’s most focused work in an otherwise unfocused decade.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 132.

Manic Nirvana 3.004 stars out of 8 ratings
Charted: 4/7/1990 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 13 UK chart peak 15 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 0.5 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 0.5

Tracks: 1. Hurting Kind (I’ve Got My Eyes on You) 2. Big Love 3. S S S & Q 4. I Cried 5. She Said 6. Nirvana 7. Tide Dye on the Highway 8. Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night 9. Anniversary 10. Liars Dance 11. Watching You

Review: “A disingenuous Robert Plant began the ‘90s with his heaviest rock album yet. His trick was to balance the big riffs with some nouveaux quirks, as heard on SSS&Q, a song that sounded like Led Zeppelin, James Brown and Malcolm McLaren’s Buffalo Gals. Tracks such as Liars Dance were more restrained, but overall this was Robert Plant as supposedly self-parodying rock star; a too-subtle distinction that went over the heads of those Cult and Guns N’ Roses fans who helped put it into the UK and US Top 20 anyway.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Fate of Nations 3.203 stars out of 7 ratings
Released: 5/27/1993 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 34 UK chart peak 6 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 0.5 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 0.5

Tracks: 1. Calling to You 2. Down to the Sea 3. Come into My Life 4. I Believe 5. 29 Palms 6. Memory Song (Mello Hello) 7. If I Were a Carpenter 8. Promised Land 9. The Greatest Gift 10. Great Spirit 11. Network News

Review: “Plant’s last solo release before reuniting with Jimmy Page was a more sophisticated affair than its front cover image – children watching a melting Planet Earth – might suggest. At last, Plant sounded at peace with himself: covering Tim Hardin’s If I Were a Carpenter, reprising Led Zeppelin’s old bluster on Calling to You and singing about the death of his young son on the plaintive I Believe. It made the UK’s Top 10, but the eco-conscious Fate of Nations would be Plant’s last solo album for seven years.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

No Quarter (live with Jimmy Page) 3.706 stars out of 8 ratings
Released: 11/8/1994 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 4 UK chart peak 7 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 1.1 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 1.1

Tracks: 1. Nobody’s Fault But Mine 2. Thank You 3. No Quarter 4. Friends 5. Yallah 6. City Don’t Cry 7. Since I’ve Been Loving You 8. The Battle of Evermore 9. Wonderful One 10. That’s the Way 11. Gallows Pole 12. Four Sticks 13. Kashmir

Review: “With Led Zeppelin’s 2007 reunion gig eclipsing everything Page & Plant did as a duo, it’s too easy to forget how anticipated this MTV concert was at the time. The original album included three passable new songs, but these pale alongside the revamped Zeppelin works. Plant’s excellence comes from reinterpreting his ‘70s rock-god routine, and managing to be heard over the din of a six-piece band and an army of string players and percussionists, including big-shot Egyptian drummer/arranger Hossam Ramzy. Like apocalyptic heavy rock played in an Arab soul: insane, noisy and inspired.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 132.

Walking into Clarksdale (with Jimmy Page) 3.448 stars out of 8 ratings
Released: 4/21/1998 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 8 UK chart peak 3 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 0.5 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions 0.5

Tracks: 1. Shining in the Light 2. When the World Was Young 3. Upon a Golden Horse 4. Blue Train 5. Please Read the Letter 6. Most High 7. Heart in Your Hand 8. Walking into Clarksdale 9. Burning Up 10. When I Was a Child 11. House of Love 12. Sons of Freedom

Review: “Recorded with Nirvana man Steve Albini, Page & Plant’s sole studio album was a low-key affair that exuded a downbeat, gloomy charm.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Dreamland 3.242 stars out of 5 ratings
Released: 7/16/2002 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 40 UK chart peak 20 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA -- sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions --

Tracks: 1. Funny in My Mind (I Believe I’m Fixin’ to Die) 2. Morning Dew 3. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) 4. Last Time I Saw Her 5. Song to the Siren 6. Win My Train Fare Home (If I Ever Get Lucky) 7. Darkness, Darkness 8. Red Dress 9. Hey Joe 10. Skip’s Song

Review: “Plant’s first solo album after dissolving the Page & Plant partnership was recorded with a new backing band, the Strange Sensation. It was a dignified but tentative affair, on which Plant swapped heavy rock for folk-noir, blues and pyschedelia. The five original songs complemented the mood of the covers, including Dylan’s One More Cup of Coffee. Dreamland won Plant two Grammy nominations and critical kudos from once sniffy broadsheet journalists, but it only just snuck him back into the Top 20. There was better to come.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Sixty Six to Timbuktu (compilation) 3.860 stars out of 5 ratings
Released: 11/4/2003 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 134 UK chart peak 27 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA -- sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions --

Tracks, Disc 1: 1. Tie Dye on the Highway 2. Upside Down 3. Promised Land 4. Tall Cool One 5. Dirt in a Hole 6. Calling to You 7. 29 Palms 8. If I Were a Carpenter 9. Sea of Love 10. Darkness, Darkness 11. Big Log 12. Ship of Fools 13. I Believe 14. Little by Little 15. Heaven Knows 16. Song to the Siren

Tracks, Disc 2: 1. You’d Better Run 2. Our Song 3. Hey Joe (demo) 4. For What It’s Worth (demo) 5. Operator 6. Road to the Sun 7. Philadelphia Baby 8. Red for Danger 9. Let’s Have a Party 10. Hey Jayne 11. Louie, Louie 12. Naked if I Want To 13. 21 Years 14. If It’s Really Got to Be This Way 15. Rude World 16. Little Hands 17. Life Begin Again 18. Let the Boogie Woogie Roll 19. Win My Train Fare Home (live)

Review: “As it contains 35 tracks, it would be fairer to describe this as Robert Plant’s greatest hits and misses. Listeners get the best of every solo album up to and including 2002’s Dreamland, but the non-chronological running order also spotlights the schizophrenic nature of the music. At times, though, that’s part of the fun. One minute, Plant’s crooning through country bluesman Charlie Rich’s Philadelphia Baby, the next he sounds like he’s auditioning for New Order on Upside Down or singing some creepy trip-hop blues on Rude World. Listen out, too, for You’d Better Run, Plant’s 1966 recording debut with the group Listen, and demos from his pre-Zeppelin outfit, Band of Joy.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Mighty Rearranger 3.500 stars out of 4 ratings
Released: 5/10/2005 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 22 UK chart peak 4 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA -- sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions --

Tracks: 1. Another Tribe 2. Shine It All Around 3. Freedom Fries 4. Tin Pan Alley 5. All the King’s Horses 6. The Enchanter 7. Takamba 8. Dancing in Heaven 9. Somebody Knocking 10. Let the Four Winds Blow 11. Mighty Rearranger 12. Brother Ray

Review: “Sharing the credits with the Strange Sensation band, Mighty Rearranger was Plant’s true comeback album after the tentative Dreamland. An imaginative, confident record, it found room for booming Zeppelin-style drums on Shine It All Around, 21st-century rockabilly on Freedom Fries and African rhythms in Somebody’s Knocking. Tellingly, his Now and Zen co-writer Phil Johnstone was back as a co-producer. But, restless as ever, Plant would soon jump ship for Alions Krauss.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133.

Raising Sand (with Alison Krauss) 4.148 stars out of 16 ratings
Released: 10/23/2007 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine 2 UK chart peak 2 Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA 1.2 sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI 0.1 estimated world sales in millions 2.91

Tracks: 1. Rich Woman 2. Killing the Blues 3. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us 4. Polly Come Home 5. Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) 6. Through the Morning, Through the Night 7. Please Read the Letter 8. Trampled Rose 9. Fortune Teller 10. Stick with Me Baby 11. Nothin’ 12. Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson 13. Your Long Journey

Review: “While a huge star in the world of country and bluegrass, singing fiddle player Alison Krauss was also an ardent heavy rock fan. Plant, meanwhile, had a passion for bluegrass and country. The Plant/Krauss dream team came together under the aegis of producer/band leader T Bone Burnett. A stately sounding Plant joins Krauss to sing the works of Sam Phillips, Tom Waits and more. Scoring a hit album and a Grammy Award, Plant found himself with a new audience of roots-rock aficionados, and a dignified career resurrection that, for once, had nothing to do with Led Zeppelin.” – Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 132.

See DMDB page.

Band of Joy No rating yet.
Released: 9/14/2010 Peak: US chart peak, according to Billboard magazine -- UK chart peak -- Sales (in millions): sales, in millions, in the U.S. as certified by the RIAA -- sales, in millions, in the U.K. as certified by BPI -- estimated world sales in millions --

Tracks: 1. Angel Dance 2. House of Cards 3. Central Two-O-Nine 4. Silver Rider 5. You Can’t Buy Me Love 6. Falling in Love Again 7. The Only Sound That Matters 8. Monkey 9. Cindy I’ll Marry You Someday 10. Harm’s Swift Way 11. Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down 12. Even This Shall Pass Away

Review: “Robert Plant may seem an unlikely American artist. But the educated know the original Band of Joy – which he and future Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham played in, as well as Zep – was more than profoundly influenced by what drifted across the pond…Band of Joy follows in the fertile vein of 2007’s Grammy Award-winning Raising Sand with Alison Krauss. The new set incorporates an edgier, resonant kind of ambience from producer Buddy Miller, a more aggressive female vocal foil in Patty Griffin and (on several of the 12 tracks) a greater ensemble attitude. The material is just as fascinatingly diverse, from the trancey flow of Los Lobos’ Angel Dance to doo-wop-by-way-of-Nashville treatment of the Kelly Brothers’ I’m Falling in Love Again, and the swampy but spare groove that frames the mid-19th-century poem Even This Shall Pass Away. A pair of Low songs – Silver Rider and Monkey – are solidly in the wheelhouse Plant is working here. And the Plant-Miller original Central Two-O-Nine is a train song so authentic in tone that it almost sounds like a Johnny Cash chestnut. Plant has steadfastly resisted a return to the Zep fold; Band of Joy makes us glad for that.” – Billboard magazine, Sept. 4, 2010, p. 28.

See DMDB page.

This page last updated September 27, 2010.