Hmm. Counted in amongst the 1537, although strictly speaking belonging to Mrs 1537* is Robert Plant Big Log. Just played it a few times, pretty much for the first time ever. Hmm.
Now my, fairly ignorant view, was that Robert Plant’s solo work was an attempt at ensuring he wasn’t being pigeon-holed as a rocker and was all a bit mature and keyboardy, until he relented and slipped us a bit of what we fancied when he made Now & Zen; I liked that one and The Mighty Rearranger was one of my favourite LPs in years, although I’m less thrilled by his country-orientated work.
Flash back to ’83, the needle hits the groove on ‘Big Log’ and suddenly we’re all post-coital – possibly being driven through a city in a cab in the rain, or maybe just lounging around on silken sheets in our cool loft apartment, looking out at the harbour lights below**. Unfortunately, the production screams 80’s, there’s just that a certain lack of timbre to the drums, by Phil Collins and the slightly Spanish-flavoured guitar from Robbie Blunt is a little too tasteful. Plant, of course, sings it beautifully, if well within himself, he sells the mood, easily.
The lyrics deal with longing? an affair? the term ‘Big Log’ is not mentioned at all – I’d assumed, without hearing the song, that it was a pet term for Percy’s, umm, Percy. Sadly, it seems I was wrong, we’re dining out on Smooth Street here, not Mucky Avenue.
The B-sides, both rather stingily, album tracks from The Principle of Moments, are very unremarkable, ‘Messin’ With The Mekon’ and ‘Stranger Here … Than Over There’, pass me by completely; the latter features a certain amount of sodding about making keyboards sound like cars and stuff, a bit ‘Autobahn’ but not as good. Sorry.
A quick trip to Smooth Street was fine, I wouldn’t want to live there though, no matter how big the logs – there’s less to write about.
399 Down.
*18 years married, two children and our records are still not merged – I’m just really not sure I’m ready for that level of intimacy yet.
** stark bollock naked, of course.