Robert Plant is undeniably good. And marvelously consistent. Just like sting, who turned his back on pop and rock music only to indulge in English folk and play the lute, Plant is not afraid to deny any rumours of a Led Zeppelin reunion and world tour, nor is he afraid of playing country and bluegrass – two words unknown and sometimes hated by the regular hard rock fan. What’s more important – Plant pools it off rather fabulously each and every time. And it’s rather hard to put out a truly convincing album after tow releases of the magnitude of ‘Mighty ReArranger‘ (along with The Strange Sensation) and ‘Raising Sand‘ (collaborating with country darling Alison Krauss). ‘Band of Joy‘ sees Plant play with the third (or probably fourth) incarnation of his own group Band of joy, delivering a handful of covers done the right way. The album kicks off with a suprising but suiting rendering of Los Lobos’ ‘Angel Dance‘ and continues lightly ahead into blues, country, bluegrass and folk territory with the mild sound of the banjo, mandolin, soft percussion and the interacting voices of Plant and Patty Griffin (known for her work with country legends Dixie Chicks). The tracks in ‘Band of Joy‘ feel like at least five musical streams coming into one and that’s not far from the truth – for these are rather free interpretations of everything from 60’s r’n’b and soul (Barbara Lynn’s ‘You Can’t Buy My Love‘), country (Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Harms Swift Way‘) to one of the album’s great highlights – the gospel epic ‘Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down‘. Truly powerful stuff.