Song to the Artist
D. J. Sapen | 12/06/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"prologue: buy Dreamland. the following comments about Plant are true for the whole fine album. There are now quite a few covers of this greatly loved song by Tim Buckley. Dozens of songwriters treat it as a musical icon. Song to the Siren is arguably the purest expression of the yearning for and exile from oceanic bliss that was a central theme for the extraordinary singer. There are steadily increasing numbers of of new and re-releases of Buckley's studio and live recordings. The renaissance began more than a dozen years after his 1975 death, spurred on both by the tragic success of his late son, Jeff , a brilliant memoir by friend and lead guitarist Lee Underwood, and a few buried live coals of devotion from those who always loved his music. Still, there are many who discovered "Siren" from the version by This Mortal Coil, featured in a popular horror flick, and many who have never gone to the source (TB).A cover of a great song is a great challenge, and love is not enough. Few people have ever had the vocal chops or naked passion that Buckley could bring to a song, nor the artistry; as a consequence, most of the covers of Siren that I have heard are simply not very good, no matter the sincerity they might convey. So what can one expect from an aging Robert Plant?Surprise! I've always been a huge Zeppelin fan, not just for the joy of their power and aura, or the over-the-top musicianship of the members. Plant's yowl has been foully imitated and expanded by numerous rock singers; no one got the point. Plant balanced posturing with a love of the mystical, the untouchable, and a great deal of his singing conveyed a grasping ecstasy and richness of emotion. The voice has never been particularly about pitch or power, but has always been astringent and full of hidden flavors, like good gin. This quality has endured long after the pitch and volume have diminished.Seemingly aware of exactly what his tool kit contains, Plant doesn't go ethereal, crooning or weepy, like in many of the other covers of Siren. Nor does he exaggerate the portentous wonderment-of-it-all as in Rain Song, Kashmir or No Quarter from his distant past. His voice, compact, understated but throwing off small rainbows of sound, like a sitar or a late-Beethoven quartet, deals out the fatal romanticism of Siren in precisely the opposite (is there such a thing?) manner as the expansive beauty of Buckley's original treatment. Add to that a pretty unusual and ear-catching instrumentation, and you have a perfect cover of an uncoverable song (hence the missing star). Plant makes it personal, and it works. That's all. Glad I didn't review the whole album?"
Transformative
Maryjane Heyer | NYC, NY United States | 12/13/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"buy Dreamland, it's what I did anyway.That said, Plant takes a beautifully tragic icon and transforms it into something that is almost - maybe forget the "almost" - hopeful. Rather than the pathos that I hear in the Tim Buckley original, here is Plant and he cant help but be (gently) seductive. Somehow, I am left feeling better about the whole thing. (thus the 5 stars)The music itself is stunningly beautiful, evocative of the ocean, like being on warm ocean tides, I really didnt want it to stop."
