After his storming appearance at the Cornbury Festival 18 months ago, Robert Plant went strangely quiet, with UK activities just about limited to a show in the Brecon Beacons. Well, the singer is back from the hills with a vengeance with the Led Zeppelin reunion, triggering a new Zep compilation and an extended version of the band's concert film The Song Remains the Same on DVD.

But with Zep hysteria reaching new heights, he has chosen this exact moment to remind everyone that this is one reunion not born out of creative desperation. For Plant's new album with American bluegrass icon Alison Krauss, Raising Sand (MBC), represents one of his most satisfying projects in 20 years. The unlikely pairing came about as a result of a duet at a Leadbelly tribute at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. And they have come together to cover less well-known material from a wide spectrum of US blues and country songwriters, including Tom Waits, Gene Clark, and Phil and Don Everly. The brave gamble has paid off but, sadly for Zep fans, a tour with Alison looks like being an altogether more tempting proposition than a stadium tour with his old pals.

Bruce Springsteen will also soon be back in London, reunited with the E Street Band, to promote Magic (Columbia) their first studio album together for five years. It's back to high energy rock 'n' roll, kicking off with Radio Nowhere, which re-ignites the old flame. But the momentum is not entirely sustained. There are moments of E Street magic, but tracks like I'll Work For Your Love once would have been left for the outtakes box set.

Those who caught the 2005 REM tour have had to wait a long time for a souvenir from one of the best live acts to come out of the US. The first live-package in their 27-year career will go a long way to make up for this omission. REM Live (MBC) features a 22-track audio of their whole show before a fanatical Dublin crowd along with a DVD of the set. The band, still feeling bruised after indifferent reviews of Around the Sun, clearly came out with a point to prove.