Robert Plant's Rainbow a Mellow Chord On The Artistic Color Wheel

Robert Plant. Would there even be a history of heavy metal to be reminiscing about without him? Methinks not bloody likely. At this stage in his career he no longer has to prove his viability in the musical orbit. Could be that's why his new single "Rainbow" is about the most tumbleweed blowing in the breeze effort I've ever heard from him. To discuss anything comparable you'd have to go back to 1983's "The Principle Of Moments" album which contained the classic twang of "Big Log" and the caressing lilt of "In The Mood". "Rainbow is heavy on atmosphere. Here's Robert exhibiting his tender side which teaming up with Allison Krauss could only have helped. Gone are the Led Zeppelin jugular vein chord sequences, in comes a lamb like spirit of gentleness. His lyrics reflect as much. Young Robert probably wouldn't have given two glances at such polite adult contemporary fare. Older wiser Robert doesn't bother to question what you may think about him. He's got the classic discography and you have a faulty reverse mortgage hanging over your head. Who got the better of that deal? There's plenty of Hello Kitty backpack worthy sentiments on the lyric end. How adorable. Here's a lucky charm dressed up with love. He wants to bring you the female half of the crowd the beauty from the stars above. Though the storms of discontent may rage in your heart he's got the rainbow following on its heels. I think the last time he showed off his masculine side might have been 1988's "Tall Cool One". That ditty was equal parts swagger and theatrical review. "Rainbow" is content to go in which ever direction the wind is blowing at the time. I gather it's rewarding to be inching over towards a career benchmark where it's less about the royalty check and more about music for the sake of music. The textures are very light footed in keeping with the gentle demeanor the song projects. Notes drift in and out from the varying instruments like osmosis through a permeable membrane. There's Robert at the center, the mild serenity keeping your thoughts out of the abyss. You may despise me for copping to this notion but "Rainbow" is a touch too lightweight to take up much shelf space in my cranium. He's part of the pantheon of great rock vocalists. Nobody's ever going to successfully dispute that. If "Rainbow" is his de-fanged stab at soft rock so be it. He can get away with the same way Aerosmith could get away with "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing. My contention is although he can get away with it, "should" is an entirely different matter. Lovestruck? It's possible. Weak as water? Maybe. Seems his higher artistic statement came from the album title, "lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar". The emphasis in "Rainbow" is on the lullaby portion. Lulling us to sleep may not be the impression he wants to leave us with. "Rainbow" paints a soft watercolor picture but like the prismatic charmer itself, this song too quickly fades in the ozone.