After years of rumors, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant reunited in 1994, recording the No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded album for MTV Unplugged. Plant and Page didn't invite bassist John Paul Jones to join the reunion, choosing to assemble a band comprised of studio musicians. No Quarter performed respectably and the duo's subsequent 1995 tour was a sold-out success, prompting them to take a stab at a studio project. In 1997, they hired indie rock producer Steve Albini to work on their collection of new original songs; it was the first time Page chose to work with an outside producer. The resulting album, Walking Into Clarksdale, was released to generally good reviews in the spring of 1998.