Jimmy Page has been wandering the halls of his own past for some time now, compiling a photographic autobiography and overseeing a sweeping reissue project focused on Led Zeppelin. It’s time, he says now, for something new.
Of course, fans of Page know that, despite his legacy of music with Zeppelin, the guitarist has been rather stingy with solo product since his old band split up in 1980. Take out soundtracks and signature collaborations with the likes of Paul Rodgers, David Coverdale, Roy Harper and his old partner Robert Plant, and Page has really only ever issued a single disc.
That would be 1988’s Outrider, and truth be told, Plant appears on one of the tracks from that project, as well.
There were two albums with Rodgers in a band they dubbed the Firm, highlighted a 1985 eponymous release. The self-explanatory Coverdale Page followed in 1993. Page then mounted a full-album reunion with Plant in 1998 for Walking into Clarksdale. His Roy Harper collaboration, called Whatever Happened to Jugula?, was also issued back in 1985.
Otherwise, there has been precious little for the poor Led Zeppelin fan to go on.
Until now: Page tells Rolling Stone, he’s writing songs again — and even considering putting a band together.
“I play guitar at least once a week, but now that the Zeppelin project is finished, I’ll be playing daily for the foreseeable future,” Page says. “I’ve got lots of material I’ve written on acoustic guitar — lots and lots — and right now I need to get myself up to speed, and that won’t take too long. But I don’t know what musicians I’d play with. I do have material and a passion for it. I need to work towards it, and now I can without all the other side issues going on.”
It’s particularly good news, considering that Plant has seemingly put the idea of another Led Zeppelin reunion to bed for good.
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