Robert Plant - Manic Nirvana (11 tracks) +Album Reviews

Rock On! Turn It Up! Turn It Up!

Robert E Jones | Seattle, WA USA | 01/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a gem. This may be Robert Plant's Rock swansong, but it's a straightforward, no-holds-barred, hard-hitting, solid bang. This is the kind of music one listens to, on the freeway, while driving well beyond the posted speed limit. Most of the songs encourage the listener to turn the music up to levels which, if sustained, would endanger the ears. The pounding, jagged-edged music takes the listener to extreme places indeed.

On closer examination, the ballad "I Cried" is smooth and introspective, worthy of heritage songs Ship Of Fools and Morning Dew. Unlike those two hallmarks, this track contains the dark, rough, rocky undercurrent which permeates the rest of the album. Even this slow, sad ballad is homogenic with the remaining tracks--not a departure from them. Rock, from a true veteran, binds it all together.

After decades of successful performance, the master's voice is craggy and imperfect. Great! If it were mellow and flawless, it just wouldn't ring true.

Part of the thrill of listening to Robert Plant, is hearing his voice venture into the upper registers: He has always sounded dangerous and uncontrolled within higher tones. This album, though, is remarkable for the song "Nirvana": When the artist wails the higher notes on this particular track, he sounds positively unhinged.

Worth every penny, this CD will not disappoint you. After reading the reviews, I almost didn't get it. What a tragic mistake that would have been! I dare you: Just TRY to hold your body still, while listening to these phenomenal tunes.

"

Robert planted his sound firmly on 90's rock scene with this

Eddie Lancekick | Pacific Northwest | 02/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1990 was a time that was just before the grunge era and at the same time starting to come to a close by the overly saturated market of dozens of Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Def Leopard copy cats that were riding the coattails.

First off, you have one of the most recognized voices of rock and roll for all time...Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. This thing booms and howls much more than the pop enebriation we had with some of his earlier solo efforts like 1985's "Shaken 'N' Stirred". Sharp, crisp, and energetic with smooth rythyms and toe tapping beats, "Manic Nirvana" helped itself by standing out from the other records of it's era and helped Plant be able to muscially explore his imagination while at the same time...not forgetting where he came from.

What rock gems we have to treasure on this..."Hurting Kind (I've got my eyes on you) is a staple of FM rock radio today and for good reason..it simply ROCKS! "Big Love" is a track that has booming drums and a great beat, coupled with Plant's signature vocals. The background vocals are superb on the entire album, and really shine on this particuluar track. S S S & Q is a fun song that drops into a great melody of guitars, truly a magical track.

Want some slow, darker tunes? Look no more than the tracks "I cried" and "Anniversary". These tunes have some synth to them and as I said before, have some hauntingly powerful mood's evoked in them. With a mixture of high strung rock and low, brooding soft songs, Manic Nirvana delivers us a diverse yet strongly connected album from one of Rock and Roll's most amazing singers."

PLANT GETS POP AND ROCK

08/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to rate Robert Plant's albums generally. After a period of trial and error and experimentation - Plant generally settled into a more mainstream groove by this album, continuing his success from Now & Zen. His partnership with Phil Johnstone showcases a snazzier cooler Plant sound, making Manic Nirvana among his best produced albums. The standout tracks are Tie Die on the Highway; Anniversary; Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night; Liars Dance and the majestic Watching You. All the classic Zep overtures are embedded in these tracks, and they are refreshing to hear.The album's first few tracks are more along standard monster rock riffs and the late 80s kinda stuff. They're well done but not particularly expressive.The album is worth getting for the last few tracks - otherwise wait for Plant's retrospective...In perspective - it's a real shame that Plant didn't get stick with the same band longer - I think more could have been achieved."

A more basic, straight forward approach

Quinn Miller | Columbus, OH United States | 06/24/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Manic Nirvana is the no surprises, no frills album of Robert Plant's solo career. His first four releases all were considerably diverse musically, but on Manic Nirvana, Plant decides to go back to the basics with an updated Zep approach. Certainly the least adventurous of the lot, Manic still manages a good deal of buoyancy and texture in places. The best selections are where he decides to stretch out a bit from the norm, such as the dramatic snare drum led ballad "Anniversary" and the quiet accoustic "Liar's Dance." Generally, the last half of the album (where both the aforesaid mentioned songs appear) impresses more than side one. The best from that half is the emotional "I Cried," with the majority of the rest being unremarkable radio styled hard rock. Plant seems to be trying to please everyone here, from the Zep fans of old to those who were entertained by the experimentation of Shaken N' Stirred. Problem is, technology got in the way of what could have been some his finest hard rockers since Zep. All said, not bad... just a bit tough to pinpoint."

A burst of Zeppelin in the early '90s

Sal Nudo | Champaign, Illinois | 04/23/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With a name like Robert Plant, you can afford to hire the best musicians for your solo albums. Plant recruited them for "Manic Nirvana," big hair and all (check out their pics in the CD sleeve). Doug Boyle plays a mean guitar with a flaunting style that would make Jimmy Page proud. As for Plant, his voice is strong and this album has a vibrant, modern feel that gives it a leg up, in some respects, when compared to certain Led Zeppelin albums (see Led Zeppelin 1 and Led Zeppelin II).

If you like larger-than-life Zeppelin riffs, they're featured on "Manic Nirvana." "Hurting Kind," "Big Love," "She Said," Nirvana" and "Tie Dye on the Highway" (perhaps the album's highlight, guitar-wise). "Big Love" even contains a Def Leppard-like "Hey!" parts in the chorus to give the song a bit of a 1980s flavor. "Hurting Kind," with its made-for-air-guitar riff and gosh-we-luv-hot-girls lyrics, has a definte Zeppelin and '80s vibe as well.

One gets the sense that Plant was having fun during this time period, writing arena-rock music, catchy choruses and, in some instances, frivolous lyrics. The more interesting tunes on this CD might be the toned-down ones such as "I Cried," "Your Ma Said You Cried...," "Anniversary" and especially "Liars Dance," a beautiful song with some angular acoustic guitar and affecting lyrics. The following tune, "Watching You," though much different, is as equally impressive. Tribal drums, tuned-down guitars, a prominent synth sound and desperately sung lyrics by Plant make "Watching You" the perfect song to close out the CD.

"Manic Nirvana" isn't the most important album that Robert Plant has been involved with in his career, but it does have some very good moments. Interestingly, this CD sits at the outer fringes of the '80s metal music frenzy that preceded it, and there's a tinge of that era within it. However, Plant was astute enough to look in both a forward and backward musical direction, and was therefore able to offer a fresh coat of paint to some rough-edged '70's riffage, mixed with a newer-sounding, more layered production that was actually frowned upon by 1991 due to another musical nirvana."

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