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The best Zeppelin album Plant never made
Classic Rock has an interview with Coverdale entirely devoted to his short lived collaboration with Jimmy Page:
Whose idea was it was to make a record together?
David Coverdale: The synchronicity was rather special. I’d spoken to a mutual acquaintance, my friend and agent, Rod MacSween, and said that I was taking some time off to recover from four years of non-stop hard work. Around the same time, Jimmy told Rod he wanted to get back to work and could he recommend any singers. That was all the energy that was needed.
What are your memories of making the album?
DC: Working with Jimmy was an utter treat. He was, and still, is a hero of mine. The album took longer than we’d hoped, but I treasure every aspect. The hardest part for me was losing my mam during the recording, but Jimmy was very gracious and supportive and we put the work on hold so I could be with her. Nothing else came near to being as hard as that time for me.
Read more in Classic Rock.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I liked it when I was a kid, but now it plays like a clichéd hodgepodge of recycled blues riffs and lyrical tropes delivered with zero subtlety. Page is his typical sloppy mess and Coverdale’s overwrought caterwauling borders on self-parody.
March 15th, 2014 at 18:26Would be nice to see in my cell.
March 15th, 2014 at 18:39i agree page is sloppy comparing him to blackmore. is joke. his technique is flawless almost like think,s about every note before he play,s it
March 15th, 2014 at 18:39This is one of the greatest Led Zeppelin albums this band never recorded…indeed! David Coverdale was the only Plant replacement there could be and it’s clear to see if you know Coverdale/Page bootlegs. I still hope they’ll do another one… Hats off to this collaboration!
March 15th, 2014 at 18:42More like the worst album Page has ever been involved with! A mismatch if ever there was one, this album was a dud IMHO. Why didn’t it get past a few ‘gigs’ in Japan, well that says it all really! At least Coverdale has worked with two of the greatest guitarists in Blackmore & Page, credit where credit is due. I much prefer his Blackmore/Purple material, he was young & in a way naive back in ’73 & it worked out well. Coverdale has had a rather successful ‘solo’ career, the most success out of any of Purple’s lead vocalists. Cheers.
March 15th, 2014 at 22:57who’s idea?…John Kolodner can be blamed for everything bad.
March 15th, 2014 at 23:03Page: rock and roll in human form.
March 16th, 2014 at 00:24He has a bunch in the can…. Video, audio, the works. HELLO DAVID. WTF are you waiting for???? Get in touch with JP and Do It!!!!
!Ch-BeerZ?
March 16th, 2014 at 01:53I love this album and wish they would make another slightly older version. More chilled in the vein of Zep 3.
March 16th, 2014 at 07:50YES PLEASE.
Ritchie rules even Page is alegend too
March 16th, 2014 at 08:22WONDERFUL!!
March 16th, 2014 at 13:22MacGregor @5:
I presume you are one and the same as Valhalla whom commented on this under the article in ‘Classic Rock’?………. Where you wrote:
Valhalla says:
07:44am March 15 2014
“One of the greatest mismatches in rock music! This album was a dud for me & the fact no touring followed it, into the abyss it fell! Still, at least Coverdale has worked with 2 of the greatest rock guitarists in Blackmore & Page! It’s more than a lot of vocalist would ever do!
March 16th, 2014 at 20:23I much prefer his Purple/Blackmore collaborations though & as he was young & ‘green’ in 1973, his ego wasn’t established yet! Well not the out of control ego at least!”
Page..Clapton..Hendrix…overrated. Ritchie Blackmore..G.Moore..M.Schenker..Rory G….much better.
March 17th, 2014 at 11:31I liked it at the time: It was better than the crap Coverdale was making with his band,commercially successful,but a parody of rock,with all the glam and hair! He was trying to be more a musician and less of “over decorated X mass tree”like he would declare himself so years later . But honestly what is better of this than post Zeppelin time Jimmy Page had done ?! Nothing!! It might be recycled ideas,but it is still a good solid blues rock album,so I don’t get people in here,bashing Coverdale for being a Plant wanna be and such! The guy has his own style of singing and screaming,you may not like the man and his hair do,but he is still a good singer with lots of balls ,no pun intended! lol I wish we could have more like this collaboration and less of his last couple of albums with his own Whitesnake! that sucks and it is a cliche and formula of the 80’s and 90’s.The albums is not masterpiece or better than Zeppelin albums,but good solid effort,during grunge time.
cheers
March 17th, 2014 at 19:43@ 5 McGregor
dude you think this album is worse than the Firm back in the 80’s ?!
March 17th, 2014 at 22:15That is bad and so dated.It is shocking actually that Jimmy Page is playing(not playing ) in that awful pop rock outfit,or more like a Paul Rodgers band,cause Page has no input whatsoever.I said all the time that Page is cashing in on Led Zeppelin,cause he hasn’t done zip all these years and done nothing musically.This album is the only “highlight” of his long time “hibernation”.
Tracy@12- Yes it is me Tracy. I thought I would use a different pseudonym over at that site. I use our ‘traditional’ or should I say ‘original’ Clan name here of course & also at black-sabbath.com & Planet Rock. Cheers.
March 18th, 2014 at 05:31I remember enjoying this album when it was first released. I haven’t listened to it in many years, and probably won’t listen again. I’ll remember the way I enjoyed it rather than find myself disappointed years after my original appreciation of the work.
March 18th, 2014 at 14:03al@15- I enjoy The Firm much more than the Coverdale/Page debacle, there are some very good songs on those 2 albums! Paul Rodgers is a class act, great vocalist & a very good songwriter, it was a good band, 2 albums & some decent touring! Page’s solo album Night Rider is good also, then the Plant collaboration ‘No Quarter’ material, sensational & one of my biggest regrets is missing their 1996 concerts here in Oz! Love ‘Walking Into Clarksdale’, what a pair those two guys are, unique in rock music!
March 20th, 2014 at 11:18Page was rather busy for 2 decades following Zeppelin’s demise! It is only in the last 10 years or so that he has focused on minor issues & not played or recorded much at all! How can Page ‘cash in’ on something that is his, he looks after it, no one else does, someone has to keep an eye on it’s heritage! Cheers.
@ we agree to disagree man,about Firm and and Page’s music post Zeppelin.No quarter is just a switch off,poor effort,OutRider forgettable an Walking Into Clarksdale,just mediocre!I remember my Zeppelin friends ,getting all excited and after the first couple of listens,the CD ended up in a garbage can! lol oh well every one has their own taste about things and albums.
cheers mate!
March 20th, 2014 at 17:15al@19- yes we like what we like etc. This has inspired me to dig out the debut Firm album & play it today! Man I haven’t listened to that album since the 90’s, I loved hearing it again! It is interesting when owning so much music, how we can forget about some of it for long periods. It usually is a blast when we remember & play it & realise why we still own it! Although sometimes it can be the opposite after after an extended period of not listening. The song or album can quickly get put back into the rack from where it came after hearing it & then thinking, what did I ever like about that? Cheers.
March 21st, 2014 at 12:14@ 20
don’t get me wrong man,I used to listen the hell out of it 10 years ago,I love Paul Rodgers work(Free,Bad Company) and we are going to mention that work( the Firm),but it falls on that category that we have mentioned before,80’s sound,to polished and pop,radio friendly,no subtlety on it,overall the talent of Rodgers and Page doesn’t quite work on this,after reviewing those albums,but that is only my opinion and taste.I used to be kind of “obsessed” with Paul Rodgers work and willing to like everything that the guy had put out,but with years I became kind of selective.But you are right sometimes it had to do with the place and moment and feelings at the time you were listening.For me the music of Bad Company is always connected with the subway in New York at midnight,trying to get home! so you are right in a way! lol
cheers
March 22nd, 2014 at 23:07Al at #19
March 23rd, 2014 at 17:29Must agree. I remember seeing The Firm in Oakland CA in ’85 and people were goin’ crazy to see Page again!! It was good, Page actually played some solo’s! Fast forward to 1995 and I saw Page/Plant (also in CA) and I was disappointed. They of course had a bunch of Hindu back up musicians to “add” to the sound. Page did’nt play one solo ALL night! Too bad Coverdale Page only played 4 or 5 shows in Japan before knocking it on the head, as that would have been better than Page/Plant for sure! No backup musicians or whiney vocals, just good bluesy hard rock! I do not recall why Cov/Page disbanded in the first place ??… I should dig out my DPAS Darker than Blue Mags to find out as it was featured quite heavily at the time.
great album with a better singer than Plant, both live and in studio…
March 26th, 2014 at 20:18Going to disagree with most of you here. This was an incredible album. Coverdale was fantastic and the solos Page was doing on this album were outstanding. Of course Page is not Blackmore but the way he lets each note do the talking is exemplary. Great love songs, great blues, excellent mix EPIC ALBUM. Thanks Dave. Thanks Jimmy. Now do it again. Oh by the way Happy Birthday goes out to Ritchie Blackmore.
April 14th, 2014 at 00:23Coverdale/Page an absolutely fantastic lesson of hard & blues; pay it loud again masters !!!!!!!!!!!!
May 15th, 2014 at 06:07excuse me, play, not pay
May 15th, 2014 at 06:14Well, if you pay them enough they might get together again so maybe you weren’t that far off. 🙂
May 16th, 2014 at 08:24A live Coverdale/Page album should be released!!
June 25th, 2014 at 17:49Cov/Page – a REALLY good, but not a great album. “Absolution Blues” and “Whisper A Prayer For The Dying” are two EPIC songs. I’d much rather listen to this than any 1990’s and beyond Whitesnake album.
March 7th, 2017 at 20:56Greatest rock album of the 90s.
February 2nd, 2020 at 17:54