Published on Feb 1, 1997
If any one guitarist defined rock and roll, it was Jimmy Page.
With the three other musicians that made up Led Zeppelin, Page
changed the face of rock forever with his flowing, sometimes sloppy
leads that captured all the emotion one could pour into a Les
Paul.
Being too young to appreciate Zeppelin during their heyday (and
being too stupid to care about them until I was 16 years old), the
release of Page’s first solo album in 1988,
Outrider, was a cause for celebration. At last, Pagey could
shake off the ghosts of Led Zeppelin and the forced supergroup The
Firm, and cut loose on his own.
Too bad we learned he needs that supergroup behind him most of
the time for his magic to work.
The album starts off fine with “Wasting My Time,” a cut that
throws together power riffing and fluid solos on top of Robert
Plant-wannabe John Miles (who would be the touring vocalist). For
the first five minutes, things looked incredibly good for Page.
But things sour on the very next track, “Wanna Make Love.” The
bump-and-grind beat is a distraction, and the song itself never
takes off into greatness. And while we’re on the subject of making
love, can someone tell me why Miles and secondary lead throat Chris
Farlowe, on the track “Prison Blues,” continually sing about
getting laid or wanting to? These guys got more action when they
were 18 than I did, and they still need to whip it out and try to
do the middle-aged nasty in the songs? (Line from “Prison Blues”:
“I got a weasel in my pocket / I’m gonna stick that weasel right
down that little hole” – give me a fuckin’ break.)
And who else drops by Mr. Page’s neighborhood but – you guessed
it – former Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant, on the track “The
Only One” – which really isn’t a bad track. Seems like Plant came
by to re-pay the favor Page did for him by playing on two tracks on
his 1987 album
Now And Zen.
It is when Page ditches the vocalists on
Outrider that the album is at its best. “Writes Of Winter”
has Page squeezing out licks that many critics thought he’d never
be able to play again. And the track “Emerald Eyes” is one of the
most beautiful songs Page has played on in a long time. It should
also be noted that drummer Jason Bonham (
yes, the son of deceased Zeppelin drummer John Bonham) plays
his best on “Writes Of Winter,” when he’s allowed to break out
rhythmically. (And while his work left something to be desired, it
was good to hear ex-Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow
again.)
Besides some weak songwriting and a mish-mash of three singers
on one album, the only other big mistake Page makes is playing
synthesized guitar – a technology Page has apparently never been
thrilled with – on the cut “Blues Anthem.” The lyrics here are a
tad corny, and should be taken with a grain of salt.
If Page had chosen to do a mostly-instrumental album, there’s no
doubt
Outrider would have been a masterpiece. But the way it
stands, it’s only a marginal solo album that is geared for the
diehard fans only.