MANIC NIRVANA

Despite having very little that could be mistaken for prog on it, this is a good hard rock album. This is because the songs are well produced, and were recorded with a high level of excitement and energy. At times, the arrangements seem so lush that they remind me a bit of productions by Todd Rundgren.

Robert Plant's voice is in excellent form on this album, he even comes close to some of those high pitched screams we heard on the Led Zeppelin albums. His lyrics are a bit clumsy, however. Instead of the sexy innuendo of The Lemon Song, his Big Love contains simple, crass lines about the size of a certain body part, and what his woman wants to do with it. And the quoting of Black Dog he uses in Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night comes off as gratuitous.

Still, lovers of good hard rock, like early Aerosmith, should get some enjoyment out of this album.