Robert Plant

★★★★ Digging Deep: Subterranea ES PARANZA/WMG. CD/DL Led Zeppelin frontman incentivised by his podcast. The success of Digging Deep, Robert Plant’s podcast, has spurred this 30-song trawl through his diverse solo career. Plant’s recent work with the Sensational Space Shifters is well served by the trippy folk noir of Rainbow and Embrace Another Fall. But, to his credit, he hasn’t erased the 1980s from history. Twittering synths and windswept power ballads also get a look in; ‘Percy’ going brilliantly off-piste on Wreckless Love (like Peter Gabriel jamming with Led Zeppelin). Three previously unreleased songs provide a hook for completists. The spelling of Charlie Patton Highway (Turn It Up – Part 1) – not Charley? – niggles, but the song is a filmic blues stripped to its bone marrow, and Too Much Alike is a cheery duet with country singer and former partner, Patty Griffin. The whole thing zigzags restlessly between genres; Plant’s solo journey in a nutshell, then. Unpredictable, contrary and sometimes brilliant. Mark Blake