Jo Whiley is on hand at the London Roundhouse as archetypal rock frontman, Robert Plant, takes to the stage for the second of three Radio 2 Electric Proms for 2010.

Decades after the death of drummer John Bonham and, for all intents and purposes, the demise of the group, Led Zeppelin's popularity continues unabated--and why not, as long as they keep coming up with offerings as worthy as No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded. Originally released on CD in 1994 and then in a remastered version simultaneously with this DVD, the 115-minute program (including bonus footage) was recorded on a London soundstage, in the hills of Snowdonia, Wales, and outdoors in Marrakech, Morocco. It finds guitarist Page, vocalist Plant, and an array of other musicians performing some new material, but for the most part, the repertoire focuses on their Led Zep legacy--not a surprise, considering that what they did together in that group was better than anything they've done separately, including some pretty good Plant solo efforts and Page's regrettable stint as a member of the Firm. Yet instead of simply parroting their Zeppelin period (and relying on tired warhorses like "Stairway to Heaven" and "Whole Lotta Love"), they've given the music new life, adding exotic instruments like the bodhran (an Irish drum) and the hurdy-gurdy (played by cranking a rosined wheel against a set of strings) to less familiar fare like "The Battle of Evermore" and "Gallow's Pole." Add to that three brilliant new songs performed with a quartet of Moroccan players, a full complement of strings from the London Metropolitan Orchestra (on "Since I've Been Loving You" and others), and a host of Egyptian percussion and strings on an epic version of "Kashmir" (also from the London session), and you've got a world music blend that is at times genuinely thrilling--especially for those with 5.1 Surround Sound capability. --Sam Graham

Robert Plant discusses his musical journey from Stourbridge, the British blues boom, superstardom with Led Zeppelin in the 70s, to the Band of Joy album. He also looks at his work with The Honeydrippers and North African musicians, his reunion with Jimmy Page, and his pairing with Alison Krauss.
Robert Plant has been performing and recording for more than 40 years. For 12 of those, he was the front man for what many still consider to be the greatest rock band ever - Led Zeppelin. BBC 2 presents a rare opportunity to hear what the man himself has to say about a life spent in music: from his earliest days as a school kid in Stourbridge to the world domination of Led Zeppelin, which ended when he was only 32 years old. The programme also looks at his triumphant solo career with bands such as The Strange Sensation and his startling collaboration with country singer Allison Krauss.

The title of this bonus-track-rich, 10-disc chronicle of Robert Plant's post-Led Zeppelin career refers not only to the number of solo albums the singer has released since Zep flamed out in 1980, but also his penchant for stubborn endurance and artistic reinvention in the face of time and the tides of fashion. While both Plant and Jimmy Page have never been able to fully escape the lengthy shadows of their original world-beating collaboration, it's the vocalist who's best--if irregularly--tempered, teased, and folded Zep's legacy into his mercurial solo career, with his 1982 debut Pictures at Eleven and 1988's Now & Zen being the most overt about it. More crucial to Plant's restless muse has been a willingness to move beyond Led Zeppelin, whether successfully casting a more structured set of songs in synth-drenched new wave veneer on "Principle of Moments" (supplemented here by the previously unreleased "Turnaround" and three live cuts, including an unlikely cover of Bob Marley's "Lively Up Yourself"), revisiting a wide swath of influential roots on the Honeydrippers EP and his first release with contemporary backing band Strange Sensation on 2002's Dreamland, or the symphonic ambitions of Manic Nirvana and multihued folk retrenchment of Fate of Nations. Enhanced by 26 bonus tracks of outtakes, demos, live cuts, and remixes, the nine albums anthologized here are also covered in an insightful essay by journalist Ed Vulliamy. The set's bonus DVD contains an hour-long retrospective hosted by Plant himself and features rare film clips and comments from many of his collaborators and admirers, as well as 20 career-spanning solo videos.