According to Billboard Business News, Robert Plant’s new album was met with an enthusiastic reception during a London debut event on June 1, 2010.

Richard Smirke writes:

The new record forms a triumphant follow-up to “Raising Sand”, replicating the raw organic sound of its predecessor while, at times, pursuing a rockier direction.

Standout tracks include album opener “Angel Dance,” a driving blues number, “Silver Rider,” an epic duet (probably with Griffin), which alternates between quiet relaxed verses and an infectiously catchy rock chorus, and “I’m Falling In Love Again,” a beautifully soulful country ballad.

Elsewhere on the record, “You Can’t Buy My Love” delivers a foot-tapping cross between Johnny Cash and Hamburg-era Beatles, while “Monkey” momentarily harks back to Plant’s days in Led Zeppelin with its potent mix of feedback, grinding rock riffs and deep bass. The wonderful “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” meanwhile, is a blues number which pushes Plant’s still-powerful vocals to the fore.

The album closes with blues rock number “Even This Shall Pass Away,” which finds Plant singing, “What is wealth the King would say/Even this shall pass away” before culminating in an extended instrumental outro.

“‘Band of Joy’ was an appropriate title for an amazing group of people who had nothing to lose,” Plant told the assembled media audience before leaving the room, declaring: “I’m off to make another one.”