PICTURES AT ELEVEN left many Zeppelin fans scratching their heads when it was first released back 1982. The overall sound of the album was quite mellow and also a bit eclectic sounding when compared against the brash hard rock of Led Zeppelin. However, Plant's new music was fully meant to redefine his creative vision and results are gorgeous once you set any preconceptions aside. He does continue his tradition of creating maddeningly oblique song titles which are so difficult to remember because they fail to reference the lyrics in any meaningful way. Robbie Blunt's appropriately clean Strat tone just shimmers. His very tasteful chord choices and delicate fills adorn these songs with an understated beauty that has only grown with time. Of course, Plant sounds wonderful as always and imbues these songs with all of the emotion that these songs deserved. Initially, I felt that the harder rocking tracks like "Burning Down One Side" and "Pledge Pin" were the standouts, but don't overlook the gorgeous subtlety of songs like "Moonlight in Samosa" and "Like I've Never Been Gone" or even the Middle-Eastern flourishes in "Slow Dancer". Robbie Blunt really deserved much more praise for this work than he has. Although there are subtle nods to Page & Zeppelin, Blunt makes it clear that he's his own man. Not just anyone can play a clean toned Strat and make it speak as magically as he does here.
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