Posting for a friend

[Zepplinite@xxxxxxx]

I was sent this from a friend who isn't subscribed to the list. I gave him 
the list address but it doesn't look like his message came through. So here 
it is.

<<New Page and Plant Album!!
Well sort of. There isn't actually a finished new album. But I have had the 
pleasure to listen to a few tapes of songs that are either finished and being 
considered, or are still in a semi-finished/demo stage. I'm doing this from 
memory and notes (I do not have copies of these tapes) so it will be a little 
sketchy. There were three finished and mixed songs that were described as 
being from the WIC sessions. This seems to make sense as the songs sounded a 
lot like those on WIC, both in style and sound of recordings. Unfortunately 
the rest of the songs were not very easy to listen to (bad copy), probably 
because this was an "unauthorized" tape. I will try to do a track by track 
review as best I can. I was allowed to listen to the tapes all evening and 
took notes the third and forth time through.

1. This is song #1 from the WIC sessions. It was probably scraped because of 
the guitar effect Jimmy was using. The best way to describe it is the guitar 
on the Yardbirds's "Glimpses". It starts out very cool but the effect drowns 
the riff until you nearly can't hear it anymore. It has a droaning feel and 
Robert moans a lot. Probably won't ever see the light of day.

2. Song #2 from the WIC sessions is a definite winner. It features Jimmy on a 
snakey slide guitar that wanders over a sinister bassline with the occasional 
ecchoed guitar bash. Robert sings about fallen angels rising to the light, 
very haunting. An occasional therimin whip. The best part is the solo. Jimmy 
nearly exactly matches the slide with a regular electric.

3. The final song from the WIC sessions is a storm. IMO they left it off the 
album because it didn't fit the moody feel of the rest of the songs. Jimmy's 
guitar army in full glory. Maybe Robert didn't want to be overshadowed? This 
definately would have done it on stage. It's a quick galloping riff with 
little guitar lines soaring above and below. Albini must have stepped out of 
the booth for this one because the bass and drums rumble. Robert actually 
sings hard (to match Jimmy's fury) and abandones the whining for a bit. I 
really hope they release this one.

4. The rest of these songs are unfinished and of much less sound quality. The 
first is what I personally was waiting for, a return to the blues. If "Tea 
For One" was SIBLY part two, then this is part three. It has a subtle but 
beautiful string arrangement by a "special guest". (Yes my source copped a 
few notes of his own, more on this later). The lyrical story seems to have 
advanced the 20+ years and finds Robert singing more about loves lost and new 
love being created. It has probably the most inspired guitar solo from Page 
since TFO.

5. A return to the WIC moody feel. Same effect as the first song but much 
less and much more effective. Somewhat like that on Kashmir from the No 
Quarter album. There are no vocals, but a scratch track. If you have the old 
No Quarter demo version where Robert just sings along but doesn't really say 
anything, you'll understand this. The good news is the drum sound is much 
thicker from what I could hear. Instead of a guitar solo there is a bow solo. 
I nearly jumped out of my seat when this started. He seems to make an attempt 
at playing notes with it. Great stuff.

6. Again a visit from the special guest, this time on bass. No vocals at all. 
Just an instrumental workout. Sounds like it could develop into something 
very good. For what it's worth at this stage, it sounds like a standard 
rocker.

7. Finally an accoustic song. Purely accoustic with no drums. There were 
actually a few takes of this on the tape. The verses are six string, and the 
chorus adds a twelve string. Robert sings about leaving his home in the 
country to travel across the world, and something about leaving his love and 
I couldn't hear the rest of that line. The lyrics changed from take to take. 
Faster chorus's, slower verses.

8.  Synths? yep. Special guest? Yep. A very strange song. Again with no 
vocals. Almost techno. My guess is that Robert had no part in this one. I 
didn't really care for this one. Kinda like Carouselambra on acid. It 
actually wasn't all that bad, just not what I expected from a Page and Plant 
song.

9. Sadly there was only one purely accoustic song. This one came close 
though. It started out with just accoustics, layered on each other. Then a 
slightly distorted guitar and bass came in. A little bluesy, a little folky. 
Doesn't really stand out. Lyrics weren't audible, but there were some. A nice 
solo, and overall it looks like Jimmy is putting solos back into his songs. 
Now that I think about it, very similar to TYG.

10. A nice clean blues song. Almost a B.B. King tone. Nothing special about 
it except it's another blues song which we haven't seen from P&P. My guess is 
that lyrics haven't been written because Robert was just dealing out blues 
standards. A good clean solo and, get this, a harmonica solo. It sounded a 
little rusty but was nice to hear. 

11. A studio jam I think. No real start or finish. But it does have 
structure. Again no vocals, but Jimmy brings out the wah and works it. I've 
wondered why he hasn't been using the wah, but it sounds great here. A cool 
jam, should become something later.

There were a few more "jams" and "clips" but nothing really structured enough 
to describe. I was told that besides the few tapes that these were spread 
across, that there is one or two more with loose jams and ideas. My friend 
has access to the studio, but shouldn't be copying tapes or notes that are 
laying around. This is why he wouldn't let me copy them for fear that Jimmy 
would have his head for it. From what he seen in the way of studio notes is 
that the special guest is only listed as that "special guest". There were a 
few names for the tracks he copied but he couldn't remember them. I would 
like to stress that I DO NOT have copies of these tapes. I only see this 
friend infrequently but I will get to visit with him again next week. He said 
the only other news he can relate is that this stuff was recorded recently, 
but not within the last month or so, and that it was recorded at various 
times and dates.
I can try to answer questions if there are any. More news if I hear any.

The Hermit>>