Monday, March 19, 1990

Robert Plant Manic Nirvana released

Manic Nirvana

Robert Plant

Released: March 19, 1990

Peak: 13 US, 15 UK, 11 CN, 26 AU

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.06 UK

Genre: rock

Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

Hurting Kind (I’ve Got My Eyes on You) [4:04] (3/17/90, 46 US, 1 AR, 45 UK, 14 CN, 63 AU)
Big Love [4:24] (4/7/90, 35 AR)
S S S & Q [4:38] (8/18/90, 47 AR)
I Cried [4:59] (4/7/90, 39 AR)
She Said [5:10]
Nirvana [4:36]
Tie Dye on the Highway [5:15] (3/31/90, 6 AR)
Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night [4:36] (6/9/90, 8 AR, 90 UK)
Anniversary [5:02]
Liars Dance [2:40]
Watching You [4:19]

Total Running Time: 49:43

Rating:

3.237 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“A disingenuous Robert Plant began the ‘90s with his heaviest rock album yet. His trick was to balance the big riffs with some nouveaux quirks, as heard on SSS&Q, a song that sounded like Led Zeppelin, James Brown and Malcolm McLaren’s ‘Buffalo Gals.’ Tracks such as Liars Dance were more restrained, but overall this was Robert Plant as supposedly self-parodying rock star; a too-subtle distinction that went over the heads of those Cult and Guns N’ Roses fans who helped put it into the UK and US Top 20 anyway.” ^Q

The album failed to produce a top-40 hit on the pop charts, but Plant continued to be embraced by album rock radio where he landed at #1 with Hurting Kind and had two more top-10s with Tie Dye on the Highway and Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night.

Still, the album fell fall short of the commercial success of its predecessor, 1988’s Now and Zen. That album reached the top 10 in the U.S. and sold 3 million copies. Manic Nirvana peaked at #12 and stalled at half a million in sales. It faced a similar fate in the UK, missing the top 10 and falling short of gold status – both accomplishments which Now and Zen achieved.

Notes: A 2007 reissue added bonus tracks “Oompah (Watery Blint),” “One Love,” and “Don’t Look Back.”

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