( Rolling Stone ) -- Robert Plant 's 2007 album with pop-bluegrass songbird Alison Krauss , Raising Sand , did something 25 years of solo records never quite managed . It fully transformed him from former Led Zeppelin golden god into a roots singer . Plant had never sung so tenderly or collaboratively , commanding a crack modern string band that defined power in terms other than `` Physical Graffiti '' . `` Band of Joy '' -- named after Plant 's first band with late pal John Bonham -- smartly takes some cues from `` Raising Sand . '' Plant uses an A list of country voices and players ( Patty Griffin , Buddy Miller ) and an inspired mix of vintage and modern songs . If it 's not quite as seamless and sublime a record , well , it 's pretty damn good , and what it lacks in coherence it makes up for in magnified rock & roll mojo . Miller helps with the latter . The journeyman guitarist-songwriter ( and former Emmylou Harris collaborator ) co-produced the record with Plant , and he contributes muscular playing and singing . His guitar is low and nasty on the lead cut , a coiled , mandolin-dusted cover of Los Lobos ' `` Angel Dance . '' And he opens up on `` House of Cards , '' a cover of Richard Thompson 's scalding 1978 folk rocker , bright leads carving the air while Plant and Griffin 's harmonies recall Zep 's `` The Battle of Evermore . '' But what 's most striking is Plant 's vocal versatility . As a solo act , his songwriting has been spotty , if impressively versatile . But he 's proved himself to be an excellent interpreter , from his 1984 `` Honeydrippers '' EP of old-school R & B and pop through Raising Sand . He does the same here , and the songs give him plenty to work with . He returns to the late , great Townes Van Zandt ( whose `` Nothin ' `` was a highlight on Sand ) for the bleak `` Harm 's Swift Way , '' working a metaphor that turns the idea of time into a woman beyond a man 's control . Plant does n't oversing a whit , delivering poetic meditations on mortality with Griffin 's harmonies clinging to him like a spangled death shroud . The two most striking songs are the most left-field , both penned by the brooding husband-wife indie-rock band Low . `` Silver Rider '' is a glittering dirge , another showcase for Griffin , who 's such a good songwriter that 's it 's easy to forget what a great singer she is . Plant sings `` Monkey '' almost as a whisper . `` It 's a suicide/Shut up and drive , '' he snarls , in what sounds like the opening scene of a David Lynch film . It 's as menacingly restrained as anything he 's ever uttered . This is a record primarily about loss and time 's march , and Plant sings with gravity , working his middle range . It does n't all click . `` Even This Shall Pass Away '' tries too hard for profundity . And the old spiritual `` Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down '' mostly makes you want to hear Plant back cruising Lucifer 's daughter on `` Houses of the Holy . '' But Plant is n't singing like the old days . The closest he comes is `` You Ca n't Buy My Love , '' first recorded in 1965 by R & B singer Barbara Lynn . Plant knocks it out playfully , like a lost demo from Led Zeppelin I , with a few hollers and sexy woo-oh-ohs . And in 3:10 , it 's over . You ca n't buy his love , and you ca n't turn back time . It 's a notion other rock vets could do well to ponder . Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone .
Robert Plant releases new album titled `` Band of Joy '' on his own label. Plant 's was Led Zeppelin 's former frontman .