Powerful Grammy-nominated rock ‘n’ blues vocalist BETH HART takes on one of her most dazzling endeavors to date by channeling the legendary voice of Robert Plant on A Tribute To Led Zeppelin.
The album will be released on February 25th 2022 via Provogue / Mascot Label Group and will be available digitally, CD and LP (black vinyl, orange clear vinyl, and gold red Splatter vinyl).
The nine-song album highlights the incredible spectrum that Led Zeppelin operated on, from powerful rock to psychedelia, folk, jazz, progressive, blues, funk, soul and more.
Rumors about the album have been circulating for a few years. At the helm were super producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance) and engineer Doug McKean (Goo Goo Dolls, Adam Lambert, Gerard Way).
mad with passion and fury..
The A-list musicians include Cavallo on guitar along with Tim Pierce (Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner), on bass was Chris Chaney (Rob Zombie, Jane’s Addiction, Slash), keyboards were Jamie Muhoberac (Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Rolling Stones), on drums Dorian Crozier (Celine Dion, Miley Cyrus, Joe Cocker) and Matt Laug (Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper), with Orchestral arrangements by David Campbell (Muse, Aerosmith, Beyoncé).
Things fell into place when Cavallo was producing Hart’s previous album, War In My Mind (2019), and the performer did an impromptu version of “Whole Lotta Love” in the control room. Cavallo later asked about doing a Whole Lotta Record, but Hart was hesitant at first.
Beth told him: “I’m not doing this whole album. To do Zeppelin, you’ve got to be pissed off to hit that right. I can’t go there; I’ve worked years to put my rage away.”
But then things changed, “the pandemic and all the things around it hit. So now I’m pissed off. I called my manager and said, have Rob and Doug send me all the music because I am ready to do this.”
“They had this huge unlimited vocabulary,” Hart suggests. “When I started to delve deeper into Zeppelin, I realised what a magnificent composer Page is, and I had no idea how educated Plant is. Let’s not forget they were kids at the time, and Page is such a badass that he was coming up with new ways of producing and getting sounds outside the box. It’s phenomenal. They are modern-day Beethovens. They’re insane; that’s insane music.”
”Good Times Bad Times” (music video shared below) is, as you might imagine, as exciting as having a rattlesnake shoved down the front of your pants! It spits acid and electricity, the voice drives you mad with passion & fury and, even though you know the licks are deadly dangerous, you’ll still want more. Oh yeah! The pleasure ‘n’ pain will drive you insane…
It feels as if “Whole Lotta Love” was made for Beth’s raspy/buttery sandpaper ‘n’ buttercream voice. Plus, she embodies the sentiment behind every tingle and shiver. One thing worth saying about this track is how amazingly perfect the production is: the resonance and texture feels authentic, as if it was recorded way back… way back when. Yep, this is sublime.
Most folks will probably gravitate to “Stairway to Heaven” and why not? This is an accurate interpretation of the classic. When her voice enters, it glides towards us like a velvet angel riding a gauze swan. Yes, softness and calm is the mood here. But there is also strength and vehemence!
We always loved “Black Dog” and perhaps the song is better suited to Hart’s voice than a pseudo-folk prog-rock-ish dreamland journey into fanciful rainbows. So song this sizzles like ripped steaks in the skillet. It’s flamin’ and it’s sexy-groovy (just like it always was) but also tender, juicy and thickly unctuous in the right places. A joy!
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Out February 25 : grab your copy- https://smarturl.it/BethHartStore
Track listing
1. Whole Lotta Love
2. Kashmir
3. Stairway To Heaven
4. The Crunge
5. Dancing Days/When The Levee Breaks (Medley)
6. Black Dog
7. No Quarter / Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (Medley)
8. Good Times Bad Times
9. The Rain Song