The Firm

• Genre: AOR

About

For the rabid Led Zeppelin fan base, the early '80s were dark times. Robert Plant's solo albums were decidedly not Zeppelin albums, and Jimmy Page had released one measly solo record, the instrumental soundtrack to Death Wish II. That may have featured some tasty licks and even his trademark violin-bow witchcraft, but it featured zero squeals from Plant to round things out. So when it was announced that Jimmy Page and former Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers were forming a supergroup, releasing a record and touring as the Firm, expectations were understandably high. Their self-titled first album closed out with a cut that was initially intended to be Led Zeppelin's final song but was never recorded; the Zeppelin cut was known as "Swan Song," and on the Firm's 1984 debut it was titled "Midnight Moonlight." Unfortunately the album, despite the moderate hit "Radioactive," and its follow-up, Mean Business, were considered weak by fans and critics alike. Nevertheless, the Firm sold out stadiums on both sides of the Atlantic in the course of four tours, effectively tossing the legions of Zeppelin fans a bone until Page and Plant would finally collaborate again in 1994.

- Mike McGuirk