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Robert Plant, eh! A bit of a strange cove and one I have always found to be a tad on the annoying side. I was too young for Led Zeppelin and I could never quite work out why he seemed so pleased with himself throughout a run of unsatisfying solo releases. I even forced myself to go and see him live in the eighties but by then he'd turned into a latte version of what a rock star should be. So we parted ways.

I even avoided the reunion with Jimmy Page, never having understood the so called 'Zep magic' but I was lured back into his world when apparently wise heads started salivating over his new work with Strange Sensation. And what I got was coffee shop rock. Beanscene with a hurdy gurdy. So perhaps I'm not the best person to be viewing this, his first ever solo DVD. But, hey, better that, than some sad fanboy who still wets themselves thinking about "Kashmir".

So, bile forced back down at the sight of the rug bedecked TV studio floor (did we learn nothing from the ELP debacle?), I must admit it's alright. Sure, the new tunes aren't particularly memorable but he he has a fair crack at "Black Dog" and "Four Sticks". The latter manages to overcome the kaftan klad surroundings and actually rocks. However, let's not talk about his take on "Hey Joe", only a llama away from the Dr Doolittle soundtrack.

As the TV show only lasts an hour, extras are obligatory. So you get a couple of videos, and well chosen they are. His cover of Tim Roses "Morning Dew" may not be a patch on the Nazareth version (and Blackfoots was good too) but it's such a good song, even Perce can't break it. And I'd forgotten that "29 Palms" is probably his finest solo single. There's also a couple of Top of the Pops appearances. "29 Palms" is revisited and then, the horror (!), we get "Big Log". Everything I disliked about Perce solo condesnsed into 3 minutes. The jumpsuit. The drum pads. The sweater draped over the shoulders. The shame.

But fans will love this, and there was enough good music to make me make good use of the skip button second time around.

:twisted :twisted :twisted / 3 out of 5
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