The enduring image of Robert Plant
From the Wolf Blitzer Reports staff in Washington:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As the swirling, kinetic lead vocalist for Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant took blues-rock to new levels. The group took pop music by the throat in the 70s and was one of the dominant bands of the decade.
On their way to becoming one of the biggest-selling groups of all time, they fronted for a generation carving its own identity, severing a connection to the 60s but still in need of some kind of rebellion. Led Zeppelin gave it to them and virtually invented the phrase "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll" both on-stage and off.
But if this is your image of Robert Plant, allow for one more.
Plant was a successful performer in his own right before and is even more so now after Led Zeppelin.
The death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 brought the band's dissolution. Led Zeppelin never reunited, but Plant took off as a soloist, playing to a different generation still in the market for edgy rock, but with some polish.
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The late 80s and 90s brought multi-platinum sales and acclaim for Plant.
Now, a new double CD presents some of his best-known work and some that's virtually unknown. It's the first-ever compilation of Plant's solo recordings, spanning nearly 40 years.
"Sixty-six to Timbuktu" features the familiar, mainstream rock, but as a celebration of a life's work, the most tantalizing material could be the pre-Zeppelin releases from the 60s when this raw, ambitious teenager kicked around with a group called The Band of Joy and turned out cover songs and other singles on his own.
The release comes on the heels of a hugely successful CD-DVD set out this past spring, featuring Led Zeppelin's legendary concerts.
But this set is a statement from Plant, as if to make clear he's long-since been out of the Zeppelin's shadow and is by no means "done" in his mid-fifties. A born performer, Robert Plant is vibrant, relevant and only about 40 years into his career.
