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JIMMY PAGE & THE BLACK CROWES
Live At The Greek (Musicmaker.com)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
Gotta hand it to Jimmy Page. Every five years or so, the man figures out another way to make some money off the Zeppelin catalog. This time around there are a few interesting twists to the story.Instead of hooking up with one or both of his surviving Zep cronies, Page elected to have at it with The Black Crowes, one of the more powerful bands in the biz, recording 18 Zeppelin classics in front of an audience at Los Angeles' Greek Theater. The results are mixed. On the one hand, the instrumental side is quite powerful. With three guitarists on stage, Page is finally able to ditch the formerly required stripped-down arrangements in favor of full-blown sonic onslaught. It seems to have energized ol' Jimmy, and his own performance is as if time had stood still. I suppose it should be no surprise, but Rich Robinson and his warm Les Paul tones are the perfect catalyst for Pagey's pyrotechnic solos.
On the other hand, Crowes vocalist Chris Robinson is on the ropes for half the fight. Let's be honest here: nobody ever sang like Robert Plant except Janis Joplin, and she's dead. There are notes in these songs that clearly aren't in Mr. Robinson's neighborhood, and it's a tad painful listening to him trying to hit them. This isn't the case with every single tune, and in fact he does a pretty fine job with some, but I found myself grimacing more often than I'd like. Even when he's as on as he could be, there's just a huge difference between Chris Robinson and Robert Plant. It's a little like Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida on an acoustic guitar. (Note to Pagey: Next time see if Slaughter's still together. The singer'd probably get a kick out of having a legit reason to ape Plant.)
The other major twist here is the distribution method. If you want it, you gotta buy it at musicmaker.com. You're presented with the option to buy it as a complete 2-disc set or as a customized disc with just the tracks you want. Of course, opinions are subjective, but here are mine. "In My Time Of Dying" is a must. Chris Robinson is on the money and the band just cooks like crazy. "Sick Again" slams hard, and "Nobody's Fault But Mine" translates well for The Crowes, letting Robinson make it his own. Warning: the medley of "Out On The Tiles/Whole Lotta Love" is half a killer, with Chris Robinson in the groove and in perfect tune for the first half, but... well, word to the wise here: if you're gonna cover Zeppelin, don't cover "Whole Lotta Love" unless your vocalist is Robert Plant or Ann Wilson.
Final analysis? Otherwise great performances are marred by vocals that just don't cut it for the most part. If you can get used to that, or if you're insane enough to think Plant ruined Zeppelin in the first place, then there's plenty to love about these 18 tracks.
© 2000 - DJ Johnson