Robert Plant Now and Zen released

Now and Zen Robert Plant

Released: February 29, 1988 Peak: 6 US, 10 UK, 4 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Heaven Knows (1/18/88, 1 AR, 33 UK, 65 CN, 32 AU) Dance on My Own (6/25/88, 10 AR) Tall Cool One (3/5/88, 25 US, 31 CB, 27 RR, 1 AR, 87 UK, 46 AU) The Way I Feel (11/12/88, 46 AR) Helen of Troy Billy’s Revenge Ship of Fools (3/5/88, 84 US, 3 AR, 76 UK) Why White, Clean and Neat Walking Towards Paradise (1/18/88, B-side of “Heaven Knows”, 39 AR) Total Running Time: 46:59

Rating: 3.723 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Quotable: “Robert Plant’s best solo album and a must-own for fans of Led Zeppelin.” – Vik Iyengar, All Music Guide

About the Album: “By 1987, Robert Plant had traded in his original solo band for younger models, including a new songwriting partner, keyboard player Phil Johnstone.” Q He would go on to play with Plant on subsequent albums. Once again, Plant looked like a windswept Celt, while his boyish backing group appeared a Top Shop Led Zeppelin.” Q Now and Zen “relies on standard rock arrangements except that the vocals and drums are at the forefront and the keybards instead of guitars are used to fill out the sound.” AMG Plant even embraced his Led Zeppelin past, bringing former bandmate Jimmy Page in to play on Heaven Knows. Plant also responded to the Beastie Boys’ unauthorized samples of Led Zeppelin songs on their 1986 Licensed to Ill album by using samples of some of the greatest riffs from Led Zeppelin songs (“Whole Lotta Love,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Black Dog,” “Custard Pie,” and “The Ocean”) WK on Tall Cool One. Fans embraced both songs, sending them to #1 on the album rock chart. While most of the album consists of “mid-tempo songs aimed at rock radio, Plant includes the lovely ballad Ship of Fools, which demonstrates that he is more than capable of vocal subtlety.” AMG It proved hitworthy as well, reaching #3 on the album rock track chart. “On the downside, there’s the overcooked ‘80s production: the Linn drums, the Fairlights…On the plus side, this oddball collection of techno-pop, heavy rock and power ballads…was Plant’s most focused work in an otherwise unfocused decade.” Q Plant “writes some of his most direct songs, and the way in which the lyrics complement the melodic arrangements are partially responsible for the commercial success” AMG of the album. Rolling Stone’s Kurt Loder hailed the album as “a seamless pop fusion of hard guitar rock, gorgeous computerization and sharp, startling songcraft.” WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Robert Plant AMG All Music Guide review by Vik Iyengar Q Mark Blake, Q magazine, Sept. 2010, p. 133. WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 9/27/2010; last updated 8/28/2021.

 

“This Woman’s Work” released as part of She’s Having a Baby soundtrack

This Woman’s Work Kate Bush

Writer(s): Kate Bush (see lyrics here) Released: February 8, 1988 (as part of She’s Having a Baby soundtrack) Released: November 20, 1989 (as a single) First Charted: December 2, 1989 Peak: 6 CO, 25 UK, 89 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.6 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Kate Bush made her name in the music world in 1978 when, at 19 years old, she topped the UK charts with “Wuthering Heights.” She had four more top-10 hits in the UK. She didn’t fare as well in the United States, only reaching the top 40 once with 1985’s “Running Up That Hill.” She did, however, reach the top 10 a few times on Billboard’s alternative rock chart, most notably with the #1 hit “Love and Anger.” That album, 1989’s The Sensual World, also featured “This Woman’s Work.” Bush originally recorded the song more than a year earlier for the soundtrack of the film She’s Having a Baby. The rom-com, directed and written by John Hughes, starred Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern as newlyweds. “This Woman’s Work” is used in the movie when McGovern has complications when giving birth to their child. The song was written specifically for the movie and that sequence. She wrote the song from the man’s perspective, matching words to visuals which had already been shot for the movie. A montage of flashbacks of the couple is intercut with scenes of Bacon’s character waiting for news about the condition of his wife and baby. As Bush said, “It’s really very moving, him in the waiting room, having flashbacks of his wife and him…It’s exploring his sadness and guilt, suddenly it’s the point where he has to grow up.” SF The song was re-edited from the original for her album, The Sensual World and there was even a slightly different mix for the official single, more than a year and a half after the song first appeared on the soundtrack for She’s Having a Baby. Bush directed the video for the song herself, using the same basic concept as the movie. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Kate Bush SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 4/3/2021; 12/23/2022.