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Walking Into Clarksdale - Rediscovered


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  • 3 weeks later...

Forgive me if this was covered elsewhere, but does the LP sound any better than the CD?

Great question - not really, I mean unless you plan on listening to a perfect condition copy on vinyl with a really high end turntable and high end speakers I'm not sure you could tell the difference. Sometimes I notice lower sounds a little better, but really, unless the vinyl copy has cool liner notes not sure it is worth it. The bigger album cover art is a bonus!

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Thanks Charles.  I've thought about purchasing the vinyl a few times, but the prices have always seemed a bit steep without knowing if it sounds better than the CD.  I'll probably continue to avoid it. 

 

One thing that sounds great are the live tracks from Shepherd's Bush that were on the CD singles as b-sides.  Those are tremendous.

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Thanks Charles.  I've thought about purchasing the vinyl a few times, but the prices have always seemed a bit steep without knowing if it sounds better than the CD.  I'll probably continue to avoid it. 

 

One thing that sounds great are the live tracks from Shepherd's Bush that were on the CD singles as b-sides.  Those are tremendous.

I collected a ton of the Page/Plant bootlegs from those 2 albums

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  • 1 year later...

I think that they pretty much listened to each other for inspiration equally and it's an album, that is not that much worse,

from a more typical Zeppelin album, if you like it. It's an artistic decision to do it that way and it should be respected,

if you like the album or not! I like it quite a lot! It's an album of great beauty, poetry, artistic self restriction and emotion.

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  • 3 months later...

I have been rediscovering this album lately.  I remember loving it when I first heard it, and it gets better as the years go by.  It has Zep elements but it is obviously different, more mature (because they are more mature).  I love most of the vocals.  Great guitar throughout.  Some very creative things by Page here.

shining in the light - great acoustic work, Friends type strings, good groove, Plant excellent on lyrics and vocals

When the World Was Young - fantastic lyrics and vocals.  Plant is wistful, reflective, and ultimately positive.  Very moving, especially when the band and guitars kick in.

Upon a Golden Horse - great guitar riffing and countering string arrangement.  Plant gets into it.

blue Train - an absolute gem - a knockout track for the ages.  Grown up Zeppelin!  Haunting.

Please Read the Letter - I don't like this much -  just strikes me a contrived and a bit pop

Most High - I get the criticism in this thread, but it moves and the guitar and rhythm groove are fantastic.  Plant is over the top and in fine form.   

Heart in Your Hand - the real showstopper and my favorite track because it is so completely different from anything else they ever did.  Plant is so heartwrenching, and Page plays dream like lines, harking back to things like Santo and Johnny's Sleepwalk from the 50s that Page used to talk about.  Great lyrics and what a delivery from Plant.  It was horrible how fans on the 98 tour would ignore this song and go for a break or talk.  There were Jimmy Page and Robert Plant playing and singing their hearts out on wonderful new, creative music and the "fans" only wanted to hear Heartbreaker or WLL.  It must have been so depressing for them.   I wonder sometimes if they might have carried on if the new music had gotten a better reception on that tour.

Clarksdale- killer from start to finish, both Page and Plant.   

Burning Up - boring.  i don't like this one at all.  Contrived, a parody of a parody, like a bad version of a John Myles Outrider song or a bad Coverdale page song.

When I was a Child - a much less effective version of When the World Was young.  Not very good in my opinion except for a few good bits.

House of Love - very strong modern rock with all kinds of elements.  Strong riffing from Page.

sons of Freedom - a fantastic blast of a track.  Page is all over the place in Wearing and Tearing mode.  this is one of the powerful yet off beat Zep type rhythms.  they really kick up a storm here for a very strong closer.  Plant goes out of his mind in a dizzying delivery of dizzying oblique Plant lyrics.  Something like Presence meets Wearing and Tearing. 

So by my count that is two or three weak tracks- the rest is great, and the best tracks stand the test of time with any other post Zep output.

Yes the production could be better but I like Michael Lee's playing and I can hear plenty of bass.   

Crank it up and enjoy.  It is a full album of original music by Page and Plant and it is worthy of both of them.

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On 24/03/2017 at 0:11 PM, John M said:

I have been rediscovering this album lately.  I remember loving it when I first heard it, and it gets better as the years go by.  It has Zep elements but it is obviously different, more mature (because they are more mature).  I love most of the vocals.  Great guitar throughout.  Some very creative things by Page here.

shining in the light - great acoustic work, Friends type strings, good groove, Plant excellent on lyrics and vocals

When the World Was Young - fantastic lyrics and vocals.  Plant is wistful, reflective, and ultimately positive.  Very moving, especially when the band and guitars kick in.

Upon a Golden Horse - great guitar riffing and countering string arrangement.  Plant gets into it.

blue Train - an absolute gem - a knockout track for the ages.  Grown up Zeppelin!  Haunting.

Please Read the Letter - I don't like this much -  just strikes me a contrived and a bit pop

Most High - I get the criticism in this thread, but it moves and the guitar and rhythm groove are fantastic.  Plant is over the top and in fine form.   

Heart in Your Hand - the real showstopper and my favorite track because it is so completely different from anything else they ever did.  Plant is so heartwrenching, and Page plays dream like lines, harking back to things like Santo and Johnny's Sleepwalk from the 50s that Page used to talk about.  Great lyrics and what a delivery from Plant.  It was horrible how fans on the 98 tour would ignore this song and go for a break or talk.  There were Jimmy Page and Robert Plant playing and singing their hearts out on wonderful new, creative music and the "fans" only wanted to hear Heartbreaker or WLL.  It must have been so depressing for them.   I wonder sometimes if they might have carried on if the new music had gotten a better reception on that tour.

Clarksdale- killer from start to finish, both Page and Plant.   

Burning Up - boring.  i don't like this one at all.  Contrived, a parody of a parody, like a bad version of a John Myles Outrider song or a bad Coverdale page song.

When I was a Child - a much less effective version of When the World Was young.  Not very good in my opinion except for a few good bits.

House of Love - very strong modern rock with all kinds of elements.  Strong riffing from Page.

sons of Freedom - a fantastic blast of a track.  Page is all over the place in Wearing and Tearing mode.  this is one of the powerful yet off beat Zep type rhythms.  they really kick up a storm here for a very strong closer.  Plant goes out of his mind in a dizzying delivery of dizzying oblique Plant lyrics.  Something like Presence meets Wearing and Tearing. 

So by my count that is two or three weak tracks- the rest is great, and the best tracks stand the test of time with any other post Zep output.

Yes the production could be better but I like Michael Lee's playing and I can hear plenty of bass.   

Crank it up and enjoy.  It is a full album of original music by Page and Plant and it is worthy of both of them.

I too revisited it recently and thought it was better than I remembered. Probably the weight of expectation had dwindled with time.

It's still no classic, but some of Page's surf guitar-cum-David Lynch soundscapes are very interesting.

 

 

 

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Great post, John M!  I will break this out again and give it a listen.  The muddy production always throws me, and it remains disappointing all these years later that Page and Plant allowed the album to be hampered that way.  I've been hot and cold on this album at various points across the years.

Standouts to me are WTWWY, nice deceptive mellow groove at the start, and then very powerful.  Blue Train strikes me well in recent times.  Most High is great, but I actually prefer the "single" version.  It's more concise and punchy imo.  Heart In Your Hand is brilliant, and I imagine Plant's lyrics can probably hit home with most folks.  Clarksdale is one of the best songs they ever came up with, and Page is tremendous here.  Many of the live versions of this were incredible.  Burning Up is a bit silly in a way, but I still always like a song where Page lets it rip, and Plant's "like a volcano" refrains at the end are cool.  I like When I Was A Child, Plant is singing well and with emotion, and I really like Page's guitar work there.  House Of Love and Sons Of Freedom are strong and edgy rockers.  

The Japanese "bonus" track Whiskey From The Glass is a sort of post-apocalyptic dirge, very effective.  And the b-side The Window is a very dark and moody piece.  Also I would again mention the live b-sides from the Shepherd's Bush gig.  I think it would really be great if Page and Plant released that gig as an "archive" release.  The band played well that night, and the recording is amazing.

 

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2 hours ago, White Phone said:

Great post, John M!  I will break this out again and give it a listen.  The muddy production always throws me, and it remains disappointing all these years later that Page and Plant allowed the album to be hampered that way.  I've been hot and cold on this album at various points across the years.

Standouts to me are WTWWY, nice deceptive mellow groove at the start, and then very powerful.  Blue Train strikes me well in recent times.  Most High is great, but I actually prefer the "single" version.  It's more concise and punchy imo.  Heart In Your Hand is brilliant, and I imagine Plant's lyrics can probably hit home with most folks.  Clarksdale is one of the best songs they ever came up with, and Page is tremendous here.  Many of the live versions of this were incredible.  Burning Up is a bit silly in a way, but I still always like a song where Page lets it rip, and Plant's "like a volcano" refrains at the end are cool.  I like When I Was A Child, Plant is singing well and with emotion, and I really like Page's guitar work there.  House Of Love and Sons Of Freedom are strong and edgy rockers.  

The Japanese "bonus" track Whiskey From The Glass is a sort of post-apocalyptic dirge, very effective.  And the b-side The Window is a very dark and moody piece.  Also I would again mention the live b-sides from the Shepherd's Bush gig.  I think it would really be great if Page and Plant released that gig as an "archive" release.  The band played well that night, and the recording is amazing.

 

Funny you should mention that gig.  On Jimmy Page.com today is a clip of that gig showing part of Clarksdale and No Quarter.  JImmy is in fine form.  

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Heart in Your Hand is my favorite off the album and one of my favorite songs Page & Plant did including Zeppelin. The two unreleased tracks, The Window and Whiskey from the Glass, are my next favorites off the album and really should have been included. Not sure what guitar Paged used on HIYH but it sounds like a Gibson Birdland or possibly a 335, a very hollow-body sound that I really like and gives the song so much depth and space.

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20 minutes ago, IpMan said:

Heart in Your Hand is my favorite off the album and one of my favorite songs Page & Plant did including Zeppelin. The two unreleased tracks, The Window and Whiskey from the Glass, are my next favorites off the album and really should have been included. Not sure what guitar Paged used on HIYH but it sounds like a Gibson Birdland or possibly a 335, a very hollow-body sound that I really like and gives the song so much depth and space.

Agreed on The Window and Whiskey.  They should both have been on the album - they could have left off two of the weaker tracks and had a real groundbreaking record there.

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Regarding the tour and the end of Page/Plant, I read that Robert wanted to do smaller venues.  One way they could have accomplished that would be to do a Zep free tour with all of the Clarksdale album, the two bonus tracks /b-sides (Whiskey, Window), Yallah, Wonderful One and City Don't Cry.  That would have been a lot of new very creative material.   

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2 hours ago, bluecongo said:

I just can't get past the poor production, sorry.  And there are some good songs on there for sure. 

 

I  listen to it once every few years and I hate it more each time.  

I've never been able to get into it. Ever. But I was blown away by how good the songs are live

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8 hours ago, White Phone said:

Great post, John M!  I will break this out again and give it a listen.  The muddy production always throws me, and it remains disappointing all these years later that Page and Plant allowed the album to be hampered that way.  I've been hot and cold on this album at various points across the years.

Standouts to me are WTWWY, nice deceptive mellow groove at the start, and then very powerful.  Blue Train strikes me well in recent times.  Most High is great, but I actually prefer the "single" version.  It's more concise and punchy imo.  Heart In Your Hand is brilliant, and I imagine Plant's lyrics can probably hit home with most folks.  Clarksdale is one of the best songs they ever came up with, and Page is tremendous here.  Many of the live versions of this were incredible.  Burning Up is a bit silly in a way, but I still always like a song where Page lets it rip, and Plant's "like a volcano" refrains at the end are cool.  I like When I Was A Child, Plant is singing well and with emotion, and I really like Page's guitar work there.  House Of Love and Sons Of Freedom are strong and edgy rockers.  

The Japanese "bonus" track Whiskey From The Glass is a sort of post-apocalyptic dirge, very effective.  And the b-side The Window is a very dark and moody piece.  Also I would again mention the live b-sides from the Shepherd's Bush gig.  I think it would really be great if Page and Plant released that gig as an "archive" release.  The band played well that night, and the recording is amazing.

 

Which songs make the b sides? Know where I can get em? 

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3 hours ago, Xolo1974 said:

Which songs make the b sides? Know where I can get em? 

How Many More Times, Walking Into Clarksdale and No Quarter. From the Shining in The Light ep (Japanese).

 

Edited by luvlz2
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On 3/25/2017 at 5:41 PM, Xolo1974 said:

Which songs make the b sides? Know where I can get em? 

Whiskey From The Glass, as far as I know, is only available on the Japanese CD of the album.  The Window is a b-side which can be found on the Most High CD single.  Also I forgot to mention a version of Upon A Golden Horse sans strings, which stands alongside The Window on the double b-side Most High CD single.

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Anyone cool enough to own a Japanese import of WIC on vinyl? I'm looking for one because of Whiskey from the glass. Sure it's easy to find it on cd, but where's the sport in that? I'm pretty sure I'm correct in assuming that it is on the vinyl and not just the cd right?

Edited by luvlz2
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On March 29, 2017 at 7:17 PM, luvlz2 said:

Anyone cool enough to own a Japanese import of WIC on vinyl? I'm looking for one because of Whiskey from the glass. Sure it's easy to find it on cd, but where's the sport in that? I'm pretty sure I'm correct in assuming that it is on the vinyl and not just the cd right?

Sorry my friend. Pretty sure it doesn't exist on vinyl. I have UK vinyl copies and US vinyl copies of the album, but I've never seen a Japanese copy with "Whiskey...". The U.K. Mercury vinyl issue is way better than the U.S. Atlantic vinyl pressing. If you want a neat little vinyl collectible, buy the U.K. 45 RPM pressing on Mercury of "The Window". It's an awesome tune and a beautiful little accoutrement to the Walking Into Clarksdale album. I still give that album a 9/10. I love it. 

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38 minutes ago, The Dark Lord said:

Sorry my friend. Pretty sure it doesn't exist on vinyl. I have UK vinyl copies and US vinyl copies of the album, but I've never seen a Japanese copy with "Whiskey...". The U.K. Mercury vinyl issue is way better than the U.S. Atlantic vinyl pressing. If you want a neat little vinyl collectible, buy the U.K. 45 RPM pressing on Mercury of "The Window". It's an awesome tune and a beautiful little accoutrement to the Walking Into Clarksdale album. I still give that album a 9/10. I love it. 

Probably a space issue with the vinyl I'm guessing. Still need to get the U.K. Mercury pressing, having been buying other Zeppelin related stuff. Just picked up a soundboard recording from the Outrider tour by Westwood One, sounds excellent. Funny you mentioned 'The Window", because I was going to get it this weekend, but decided to hold off until after I pick up a few things this coming Record Store Day. I  can't give WIC anything but a very high rating, that album was such a gift for us fans. Glad we got it!

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