No Quarter [SHM]

Personnel includes: Jimmy Page (acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin); Robert Plant, Najma Akhtar (vocals); Porl Thompson (guitar, banjo); Jim Sutherland (mandolin, bodhran); Nigel Eaton (hurdy gurdy); Ed Shearmur (Hammond B-3); Charlie Jones (bass, percussion); Michael Lee (drums, percussion); Hossam Ramzy, Ibrahim Abdel Khaliq (percussion); Abdel Salam Kheir (oud); London Metropolitan Orchestra, Hassan El Arfaoui, El Mahjoub El Mathoun, Abdelhak Eddahmane.
Recorded in Marrakesh, Morocco; Bron-Y-Aur, Wales; London, England.
"Kashmir" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
In this age of unplugged it was inevitable that Led Zeppelin would return in some shape or form to reclaim a legacy which fused folky musings with harder leanings. On NO QUARTER, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page are joined by a core group of musicians featuring the Cure's Porl Thompson, The London Metropolitan Orchestra, and a multitude of Middle Eastern musicians playing exotic instruments. The result is a fascinating blend of Zeppelin classics and three new songs. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Friends" are given a slightly altered interpretation while the more recent "Yallah," "City Don't Cry," and "Wonderful One" revel in multicultural trappings. "Yallah" and "City Don't Cry" are both steeped in chanting in a foreign tongue while "Wonderful One" sounds like an outtake from HOUSES OF THE HOLY.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page's world music approach casts a positive sheen on the remainder of this collection of Zeppelin songs which include exotic versions of "The Battle Of Evermore," "Gallows Pole," and "Kashmir."