Robert Plantis proud ofmostof his work withLed Zeppelin.
The iconic front man says his contributions were usually "great." Other times he says he failed pretty miserably.
Plant says he looks around at the other consequential music from the '70s, particularly at the prevalence of activism, and feels like some of his own work pales in comparison.
"My peer group were writing substantial pieces of social commentary," Plant toldPlanet Rockin a new interview, "and I was willowing along the Welsh borders thinking about Gollum."
Plant references theLord of the Ringscharacter by name in "Ramble On," but he also invokes imagery fromJ. R. R. Tolkien's novels in other songs, including "The Battle of Evermore," "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp."
At the time, Plant stood behind his writing. But now he's not sure how well it holds up.
"I liked what I did, but now I look at it and go, 'Wooh, that was a bit iffy," he continued. "But I do like 'Stairway to Heaven.' I can look at it objectively. I can't always get my head around it, but it does do something substantial."
Plant has long beenassumed to be the lone holdout, preventing another Led Zeppelin tour.
Determined tochange with the times, however, Plant has been by far the most prolific musically of his surviving Led Zeppelin band mates,Jimmy PageandJohn Paul Jones, having released 11 studio albums under his own name since 1982.
Plant has been keen to cooperate with Page and Jones on other Zeppelin-related projects, though, includingthe band'sLed Zeppelin By Led Zeppelinbookfrom last fall andits upcoming 50th anniversary documentary film.
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