Jimmy Page Albums (6)
'Rock and Roll Highway'
Release Date 7/11/2000
Tracks 12
Label Thunderbolt
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Besides hardcore Led Zeppelin fans, it's a little known fact that Jimmy Page produced and played on a 1970 album by theatrical rocker Screaming Lord Sutch, Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends. In addition to Page's appearance (he also co-penned a few tracks), the other 'friends' included John Bonham, Jeff Beck, Nicky Hopkins, and Noel Redding. Since the album is quite difficult to find nowadays, select tracks have popped up over the years on compilations, such as the 2000 set Rock and Roll Highway. While Sutch's vocals can be quite grating at times, it's interesting to hear songs that come close to approximating the Led Zeppelin sound at the time (namely Led Zeppelin II -- "Wailing Sounds," "Union Jack Car," "Flashing Lights," etc). After a while though, you start to wonder how much better these blues-rock compositions would have been if they included a more capable singer (namely Robert Plant). Also included on Rock and Roll Highway are a few tracks from Page and John Paul Jones' days as session musicians -- "Everything I Do Is Wrong" and "Fabulous." If you're interested in sampling the playing of Page, Jones, and Bonham outside of Led Zeppelin, then Rock and Roll Highway is recommended. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Black Crowes were dogged with comparisons to the Rolling Stones and the Faces throughout the first decade of their career, so it came as a mild surprise that they teamed with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in late 1999 for a couple of concerts. Zeppelin had a mystique and majesty about them that the Crowes never attempted to emulate. They were an earthy, bluesy rock band and while they found a number of different ways to rework their influences, they never tried the stately grandeur that was Zeppelin's second nature. So, some observers were curious to see how these two approaches worked. Well, it worked very, very well indeed. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that it was a good, comfortable fit since Page always demonstrated a true love of blues and early rock & roll, even on Led Zep's heaviest moments. What may be a surprise, at least to listeners that always dismissed the Black Crowes as revivalist hacks, is how supple and muscular the band sounds on Live at the Greek and how powerful vocalist Chris Robinson is. The double-disc album, released originally only through the internet but then through retail on TVT, essentially replicates an entire concert from Page and the Crowes, one of the first before they set out on a full-length American tour in the summer of 2000. They stick to Led Zeppelin classics and old blues and R&B standards like "Woke up This Morning," "Sloppy Drunk," "Mellow Down Easy," and "Shake Your Money Maker," plus the Yardbirds' "Shape of Things to Come" and Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well." No Crowes songs are here due to contractual reasons - the band left American/Columbia in 1999, and they were not allowed to recut any song they released on the label in the years immediately following their departure; but in a way, that only strengthens the album. By pounding out hard-driving blues-rock and classic Zeppelin tunes, the band is able to stretch out and reveal just what a capable, versatile band they are. The true sign of their abilities is that Page sounds looser and happier here than he has in years; he sounds like he's truly enjoying himself, a quality that is debatable on the Page & Plant records, no matter what their virtues are. Live at the Greek isn't a landmark release, and only hardcore Page, Black Crowes, and Zeppelin fans are likely to want this, no matter how vibrant and lucent these faithful interpretations are. But for those fans, they'll be quite pleased with how good, how strong Live at the Greek is. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Death Wish 2'
Release Date 12/28/1999
Tracks 12
Label WEA International
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Though the soundtrack for Death Wish 2 may not sound like an interesting record on the surface, it is actually a significant release for any number of reasons. For one thing, it was the first album that Jimmy Page recorded and released after the breakup of Led Zeppelin, and the album serves as a fascinating transition from Zeppelin's final studio release, In Through the out Door, to the work Page would do with his ill-fated supergroup the Firm. In addition to containing Page's work with a full orchestra, there are several pieces that showcase his well-established ability to create eerie, unnerving guitar and synthesizer lines, mainly to serve as accompaniment to the film. Page also delivers three fully composed rock songs, "Who's to Blame," "Hypnotizing Ways," and "City Sirens." The songs are appropriately creepy and foreboding, and his playing is just as impressive as it was in the Zeppelin era, but they also showcase the one weakness of the album, which is that Page has chosen fairly uninspired collaborators here. Drummer Dave Mattacks and bassist Dave Paton are competent enough, but neither one threatens to overshadow or even push Page (as John Paul Jones and John Bonham would have), and he turns in sometimes lackluster performances because of it. The real clincher, though, is singer Chris Farlowe, who delivers what has to be the most embarrassing ham-fisted blues singing ever heard on record, and his deep-voiced histrionics destroy whatever mood Page hoped to create with the music. (Thankfully, he ruins only two songs.) Still, though this is hardly the place for Page neophytes to begin, listeners interested in discovering a new, interesting side of him should seek this out. ~ Victor W. Valdivia, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Everything about Coverdale/Page, right down to the goofy copping of the Presence artwork, is an attempt to recapture the pompous majesty of Led Zeppelin. It doesn't succeed, of course, but it does leave all of the Zep clones in the dust. Although Jimmy Page plays better here than he has since 1979's In Through the Out Door, there is a conspicuous lack of solos. If you've never liked David Coverdale, his performance will not change your opinion. Both fare better on the rockers; the power ballads tend be slightly tedious. Essentially, Coverdale/Page never quite rivals the bold experimentation of Led Zeppelin, yet at its best moments, it's a guilty pleasure. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Page's debut solo album is a heavy guitar treat employing a varying cast of sidemen, including drummer Jason Bonham and Page's old Led Zeppelin partner Robert Plant, who co-writes and sings one song. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
