CD Review: Coverdale-Page

C D Review: Coverdale –Page
By
Hunter60

There are many, even fifteen years later, who will decry this disc as nothing more than Zepplin-lite, a cheap attempt try and create a faux monster heavy rock band by teaming up two major talents. Jimmy Page, the hard rock guitar pioneer and the raw generator behind the genre bending sound of Led Zepplin and the howling, screaming vocal powerhouse of White Snakes' David Coverdale. I have to admit, in a way, I was expecting more and yet what was delivered was more than adequate. Between the two, they created, if nothing else, a curiosity for fans of either Page or Coverdale or folks who just like a good, solid rocker. It could prove a bit disappointing if you are looking for a brief reincarnation of Zepplin and were not fortunate enough to have been there for their recent London shows.

Even before the disc was cut, there was a fair amount of carping and nonsense going on behind the scenes. It has been said time and again that Page had been harping at Robert Plant to get together on another project with him to no avail. He then approached David Coverdale for the reason that Coverdale sounds so much like someone doing a Robert Plant impression. His vocals have been compared to Plant and Paul Rodgers (Bad Company and The Firm) so often in the press that it's difficult to know if anyone has ever really heard the real Coverdale. This irked Plant to the point where he often refers to Coverdale as "David Coverversion" in snippy asides in interviews. This has always struck me a little odd considering how often Plant has gone to the old Delta Blues well and come back with his taut, throat ripping, Hells own gospel choir tinged vocals, but hey, who's looking?

The idea, from Pages perspective, was to try and lure Plant back into the studio, figuring that his ego would never allow him to be outdone by Coverdale. It didn’t' work and this disc is the result.

This may be the best work that Page had done up to that point in his post- Led Zepplin career. All of the tracks have a serious Zepplin vibe underneath, the guitar work is clean (even when it's dirty). "Shake My Tree", "Pride And Joy" and "Absolution Blues" almost sound as if they could have been culled from previous Zepplin sessions. Curiously though, the entire disc is light on guitar solos, the trademark of Page's mastery through the late Sixties and into the early Eighties. "Pride And Joy" does exhibit some of Page's glee in working the bluesy grind, accompanied by the rot gut harmonica of John Harris lazing over the track.

The ballads lack a few things. The guitar work again, very capable. Even when Page's guitar work is slightly less than what we've come to expect, it's still better than 90% of what we hear from so many hard rock guitarists. However Coverdale proves himself to be rock and roll singer. The ballads seem to leave him trying too hard, almost crooning in effect. It's not that he can't sing ballads as he's proven more than once in his work with White Snake. Perhaps it's the songwriting. It lacks the punch and imagination, the smug confidence and overt pleading, that we've heard from him before and since. Coverdale is much better as Coverdale. He leaves something behind when he's trying too hard to live up to the Robert Plant comparisons. Listen to "Over Now" and "Easy Does It" and you'll practically wince, as he seems to be slogging under the effort.

Coverdale seems to recover a bit for "Take A Look At Yourself", recapturing his sense of balance for the ballad. But the track is again … well … dull for lack of a better term. The guitar work does not tax Page at all here. It's as if he showed up at the studio, plugged in and banged out the track – technically proficient and nice but again, lacking the imagination and punch we would have expected.

"Don't Leave Me This Way" is a well-rounded track, showcasing the abilities that both Coverdale and Page brought to the project. There's an eeriness to both sides of the coin here. The guitar coils and winds through the track laying a near perfect foundation for the vocals. Coverdale stays in his most comfortable range for the majority of the track where he can yowl at the upper end and still hold it together when it drops into his too much whiskey and too many Marlboro's edginess.

"Absolution Blues" is about as close to Led Zepplin as you're going to get on this disc. There is clearly a "Presence" vibe to the track from the cranking up of the heavily distorted guitar which blows into some of Pages best work in a long, long time to Coverdale's identity shattering screams. It's six minutes of some of the finest rock that you'll find. This ain't your Grandpa's blues.

The final track "A Prayer For The Dying" lulls you into believing you're in for what may be just another sluggish ballad with decent guitar work underneath and that's precisely what it is for the first minute and a half. Coverdale's vocals are tired, as if he had run out of energy by the time they opted to record this track. However in what could be considered a staple of the metal / hard rock genre, the song leaps up in the middle of the track in an almost aural ambush, catching you somewhat unawares. This track was a very pleasant surprise on this disc.

Over all, this is a very solid effort but one that leaves you wondering if they had bigger plans than what they actually were able to deliver.