Album Review

Now and Zen is the fourth solo album by Robert Plant, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music) under the label Es Paranza. The album made the top 10 in the US (No. 6) and UK (No. 10). The album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on 7 September 2001. The album was produced by Tim Palmer, Robert Plant and Phil Johnstone.

With a new band and a new perspective on his music, Plant returned in late 1987 with more of the sound that had previously defined him in Led Zeppelin. Although Plant continued to utilize computerized audio technology in a similar fashion to his previous solo albums, for this album Plant integrated the blues that had all but been abandoned on his most recent album Shaken 'n' Stirred (1985). A prominent guitar sound and an exotic feel to the recordings also marked another change in direction for the artist, who now added Middle Eastern tones in songs like ''Heaven Knows''. This is a direction that he would eventually follow in the 1990s with Page and Plant.

The tracks ''Heaven Knows'' and ''Tall Cool One'' feature Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. (On the liner notes, Page's participation on the songs is noted with a Zoso symbol.) In response to the Beastie Boys' unauthorized sampling of some Led Zeppelin songs on their 1986 album Licensed to Ill, Plant also used samples from Led Zeppelin songs (''Whole Lotta Love'', ''Dazed and Confused'', ''Black Dog'', ''Custard Pie'', and ''The Ocean'') on ''Tall Cool One'', additionally singing words from ''When the Levee Breaks''. [wikipedia.org]