The band Robert Plant said ruined their potential
If there’s one thing that Robert Plant has learned from his years in the music industry, it’s the importance of momentum.
As much as people like the idea of working at their own pace, there’s no chance that anyone could manage to stick around in the industry without having some traction behind them when they make a new record. And while Led Zeppelin could pump out classics like clockwork most of the time, Plant was always disappointed when he saw a good band fall by the wayside.
At the same time, was anyone really looking to compete with what Zeppelin could do? The band already had their hands full making the best hard rock anyone had ever seen, and even when they made records that didn’t resonate with everybody, it wasn’t hard for albums like Led Zeppelin III to find an audience with people who preferred a more acoustic approach to heavy music.
It’s not like Plant wanted to be the gold standard for what rock and roll was supposed to be. Every member of the band kept their ears open whenever they heard someone they liked, and by the time they had hit their stride, it wasn’t out of the question for Jimmy Page to talk about wanting Joni Mitchell to join the band or talking up bands like Little Feat in between making their own classics.
But Plant’s tastes were always a bit eclectic compared to everyone else. Not everyone was going to be listening to folksy music the same way he did when he was in The Band of Joy, and even when he was blasting more mellow music, he wanted a bit more of a challenge whenever he threw on Steely Dan records. Because, really, anything by ‘The Dan’ was going to need a bit more attention to fully appreciate.
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were studio lab rats in every sense of the word, and when they came out with their records, they always wanted the opportunity to test the waters of what rock could be. They figured it wasn’t out of the question to make jazzy pop songs every now and again, but whereas albums like Can’t Buy A Thrill were fantastic for their time, Plant felt that they started to slowly lose him when they started making Pretzel Logic.
As opposed to the straightforward tunes on the first two records, Plant felt that the band severely dropped the ball the third time around, saying, “I’ve been following Steely Dan’s progress. Now, I thought that their first two albums were really great. But they fell into the trap of making their vitally important third album far too quickly. What their third album amounted to was nothing more than a weak restatement of what they’d done much better on previous outings.” It’s not like he doesn’t have a point, either.
Third albums are usually the moment where people realise that a band is going to be around for a long time, but Pretzel Logic is far from a dud. ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’ is one of the band’s greatest pop tunes, and while there are moments that are rough around the edges in some spots, they always used that to their advantage when they were making later projects like The Royal Scam.
Some tunes may have sounded a bit rushed to Plant’s ears, but if there’s one thing to know about Steely Dan, it’s that nothing was put on the record by accident. Everything was meticulously crafted, and even if it takes a while to sink in, it’s impossible not to get swept up in the pure vibe that they create in the studio.
