Now & Zen - Robert Plant

Unbelievably bad

I bought this when it first came out (in the days when I pretended to like Led Zeppelin) and I was stunned at just how bad this was. I wrote a review earlier for Shaken & Stirred which sums up this album as well - it's another slab of terrible 80s pop as well- but consider lyrics which go;

Laahten up beebee ahm in luuuv with yoo!!!
Laahten up beebee ahm in luuuv with yoo!!!
Laahten up beebee ahm in luuuv with yoo!!!
Laahten up beebee ahm in luuuv with yoo!!!

(Translation; "lighten up baby I'm in love with you")

Worst of all the main 3 note riff to White Clean and Neat is a complete rip off of the Spencer Davis Groups Keep On Running, not exactly an obscure song.

Avoid.

why remaster a digital recording ?

This is a great recording. Perhaps even one of Plants best. It also sounds great. I don't have this version, I have the original release. The original release is an all digital recording "DDD". So why I ask would there be a need to remaster? If you already own it you will not need to upgrade. Beware of marketing, Remastered...my *^%!

Very good album, but a little dated now

Released in 1988, this was Robert Plant's fourth solo album (not including the Honeydrippers). The original is 47 minutes long and these new bonus tracks bring it close to an hour.

The sound quality of the original CD was very good, especially for a CD released in the late eighties. There were many poor quality CD's released during that time, like Peter Gabriel's So, for example. Although the sound quality of the original Now & Zen was very good, it wasn't as good as today's standards. The sound could be muted and muddy at times. So, on this remastered recording, I don't know how much better the sound would be, or if it is just more of a different mix.

When this was released, it received rave reviews from the music press, especially Rolling Stone. While his earlier albums sold well, they did not get much respect. Now and Zen was the best received album both critically and in sales, hitting number 6 on the Billboard 200.

On this album, Plant partnered with keyboardist Phil Johnstone for the first. Johnstone has a very heavy influence on the sound.

This CD sounds very much like it came from the late eighties. It is as if you crossed Led Zepplin with later day disco, new wave and punk.

It is lively, energetic and has a crystal clear sound. It has that clean digital sound that most of the best sounding CD's had in the early days of the technology. It reminds me of Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms or Pete Townshend's White City.

The CD has some great songs on it, like Tall Cool One, Heaven Knows and the bluesy Ship of Fools.

However, the CD does have that late eighties sound, and it can sound a little dated now. You listen to it, and you know right off it was a product of the eighties. It does not have a timeless sound like old Led Zepplin. But, it is still very entertaining and one of the good things to come out of the eighties, before Grunge took over.

Could Be The Best AOR album of the 1980's

Once upon a time, rock radio programmers had the freedom and the fortitude to do and program as they pleased. And in 1988, Robert Plant's "Now and Zen" was played close to 10 tracks deep on mainstream rock stations all over this great country. This is not recycled Zep, even though "Tall Cool One" boasts of samples from Plant's youth. "Zen" represents something distinctly different from prior solo efforts. In the mix is a progressive tinge. And it was recorded all digital, making it sound like Donald Fagen meets Deep Purple at times. The painstaking production, the lack of a true zep immitation, and Plant's own ability to spin and weave a quirky narrative, make "Now and Zen" the best and most interesting work for the solo Plant. "Ship of Fools" haunts the emotions long after it's notes fade away. Doug Boyle's shameless parody of Mark Knopler's plucking make for a near perfect execution on "Fools". And even though old horse Jimmy Page solos away on "Tall Cool One" and the opening "Heaven Knows", it's Boyle who steals the proverbial show.
You also get the sense that Plant is beginning to mellow and is okay with "Dance On My Own" and "Billy's Revenge" complete with a flicker of jazz, new wave and pop all lumped in a ball. Not to worry though, Plant knows where to fill with catchy hooks and progressive tangents. "Zen" steals no pages. It expands the mystical, magical ride started on "Shaken and Stirred" and flickered a bit on "The Principle of Moments". Plant is no longer a Zep mimmicker here, he has cleverly morphed into a melting pot of past and present with new style thrown in for good measure. "The Way I Feel" sums up the theme of this collection. Plant feels less constrained by the past, but okay with it at the same time. Now and Zen is one of the most complete recordings I've ever heard. It makes sense as a collection. It finds a new niche. And it won't be duplicated any time soon. This is Robert Plant's best work to date.

Robert Plant - 'Now & Zen' (Atlantic)

This Robert Plant solo CD was good when it first came out in 1988, but is it just me? Has any one else ever considered that after those two Page & Plant reunion tours and CD releases we got in the later '90's that most of Plant's solo works were like more or less a conciliation record? Don't get me wrong, 'Now & Zen' is okay - just nothing to get all that excited about. Tunes I can still get some enjoyment out of are "Heaven Knows", the awesome middle age rocker "Tall Cool One" and "Billy's Revenge". Personally, I think "Ship Of Fools" is simply one of those all too many over-played songs that I'm burned out on. A decent catalog pick.