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Rock critic :
Sixty Six to Timbukto offers the listener two CDs worth of solo Robert Plant hits, key album cuts and obscurities, beginning with his vinyl debut in 1966 (a precocious cover of the Youngbloods' hit "You Better Run") and ending with a live version of "Win My Train Fare Home", recorded in the most famous city in Mali (hence the album title).

Aficionados will head straight for disc two: although it's not comprehensive (it contains only one of Plant's four recordings from 1966), it's a bounty of rarities. While there's nothing from Plant's pre-Zeppelin combo "Hobbstweedle", the raw crackle of two "Band of Joy" cuts from 1967 (featuring John Bonham on drums) serves to remind us how much the White Stripes are indebted to the lion-haired lemon-squeezer from West Brom. And while there's plenty of interesting stuff collated from sources as diverse as film soundtracks (the rockabilly "Philadelphia Lady" from Porky's Revenge, a ludicrous "Louie Louie" from that cinematographic masterpiece Wayne's World 2) and collaborations with Alexis Korner, Afro Celt Sound System and Jools Holland, one can only marvel at the generosity of a man who can place a song as superior as "Hey Jayne" on a B-side.

Disc one (hits and album tracks) is a more than useful meet-and-greet for the uninitiated. The earlier post-Zep material suffers from a thin 80s production (the tippy-tappy drums would have driven Bonzo Bonham bonkers) but the Fate of Nations stuff is great. "29 Palms" would have sounded positively regal if presented by Roy Orbison and British hit "Big Log" makes long-distance haulage seem as romantic as a noctural cruise along the Nile. --Kevin Maidment