Pictures at 11 boasts two cavernous crushers; on "Burning Down One Side" and "Worse Than Detroit," guitarist Robbie Blunt pierces Plant's molten lava cries with peals of thunder.  

 The Principle of Moments spawned two hits in 1983; the floating art rock of "Big Log" and the warm R&B; nostalgia of "In the Mood" neatly represent Plant's diverse interests.  

 The Honeydrippers' Volume One is a one-off EP of vintage soul and R&B; covers; excessive orchestrations distract from Plant's restrained interpretations, while the guest hotshots (Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers) are underutilized. 

 Shaken 'n' Stirred was even more eclectic, with Plant mixing strong doses of hip-hop beats and world rhythms into tracks like "Hip to Hoo" and "Too Loud." 

 Distinguished by sharp material and an equally focused band, both Now and Zen and Manic Nirvana hold up much better than most hard rock albums released in their era. 

 Manic Nirvana (released a year before Nevermind) delivers on the heady promise of its title with a vengeance, confidently skipping from jumpin' boogie ("Hurting Kind [I've Got My Eyes on You]") to brutal funk metal ("Nirvana"). 

 The much mellower Fate of Nations suffers from a muddled second half (and one of the worst album covers in rock history), but its strengths are considerable – notably the gorgeous "29 Palms" and "I Believe." 

 Comprised of four originals and six covers, Dreamland, like the Honeydrippers, finds Plant paying respect to his early influences – this time focusing on psychedelia and folk with a strikingly fresh pass at Bob Dylan. 

 In 2003, instead of putting out a traditional greatest hits disc, Plant released an excellent double-disc anthology, Sixty Six to Timbuktu. The first disc covers high points from the solo albums. 

 On Nine Lives the band repeated itself and others, with "Hole in My Soul" revising "Dream On," while Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" is the template for "Taste of India."  

 Though Plant spent much of his solo career running away from Zeppelin's legacy, he gave in to twenty-seven years of pressure in 2007 and fronted Zeppelin for their first complete show since John Bonham died in 1980.