Led Zeppelin: Classic Or Dud?

yes i recanted that part!

Yeah, that's one reason Page was so sloppy live. He was trying to do a lot at once, which was sort of impossible.

But I guess it shows you how much Rolling Stone meant back then that "bad review in Rolling Stone"="critics hate you."

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, December 3, 2012 4:52 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think Zeppelin, and Page in particular, absolutely loved to play up the "critics hate us!" bit. Zep needed to highlight every difference, however minor, between them and their contemporaries. Since critics generally liked the Who, Hendrix, Cream, and the Jeff Beck group, Page exploited the "we were despised!" angle for all it was worth.

the interview/press mtg footage in How the West Was Won is very illuminating in this respect - lots of questions about where Zep stands in relation to the Beatles, for ex.

ie the press clearly does not understand what Zep is about at all

True, but the mainstream press in the early 70s was as clueless about rock as the mainstream press was in the 50s and 60s. The Beatles were asked where they stand in relation to Elvis, so since the primary (or only) point of reference for mainstream journalists in the 70s was the Beatles, that's what they asked Zep about.

Also, just found out they're going to be on Letterman tonight (being interviewed, not playing).

http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./660/371/Kennedy%20Center%20Honors_Cala.jpg

who's going to buy the remasters (w/"new" bonus trax)?

Depends how much rare stuff there is. I have this box (Amazon had it on sale for like $50 one day so I jumped at it) but if they were all expanded to 2CD sets with studio leftovers or maybe even previously unreleased live stuff, I might go for 'em.

i might get them just to have the original albums in proper song order on CD (I own the vinyl and the first box set which has great sequencing, but i'd rather hear the records as they were released)

i hope they do vinyl reissues with 1/2 speed stan ricker masters like they did for the mothership box

I have the same box as 誤訳侮辱, and like him I might pony up again depending on the bonus stuff. I have so many amazing bootlegs that I'd love to see cleaned up and authorized.

sorry for posting that kennedy center honors group picture twice...forgot i posted it last night.

Figured bump would be for this: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-monday-night-20121201,0,4849323.story

― billstevejim, Saturday, December 1, 2012 7:06 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd be more excited if they were playing instead of sitting on a couch.

― EZ Snappin, Saturday, December 1, 2012 7:12 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

ugh, got all hyped for a second there

it'd be hilarious if they played and paul joined in

all doing a boogie woogie version of the beginning of "no quarter"

Dave asking 'em about "Sonny Boy Williams" - awkward

Was great seeing them on TV goofing and seemingly happy but...why? They didn't hype the new CD/DVD (Dave did) and there was no talk of working together again whether as Zep or something else. So why'd they do this? Curious.

I mean...I would've expected Plant to hop on the first plane to Kashmir after the Kennedy Center stuff was over since he seems the most reluctant to hang around the ghost of LZ. So it was strange seeing them all chummy and stuff. I guess I have
some little spark of hope in me these fuckers will announce something soon haha.

there are to be further reissues? would be much much more excited about new rarities released than a reunion tour...

Robert Plant has a great "can you believe how rich I got doing this shit?" look on his face the entire time. Jimmy Page was pretentious. John Paul Jones was, I dunno, thinking about the sessions he has to do in the valley tomorrow morning or whatever it is he does.

I dunno - they seemed like the same dudes you see in old interviews. Jimmy's not pretentious. He's just flash.

yeah Jimmy's kind of in-his-own-world/eccentric, but I wouldn't call him pretentious.

what are these new bonus tracks/remasters ye speak of

that It Might Get Loud movie was really stupid but Jimmy easily the most likable/goofy/cool of the three

Jimmy said in his Rolling Stone interview that he's remastering the entire catalog and trawling (or trolling, as we may find is the case) the vaults; there is apparently tons of unreleased studio and live recordings that may see the light of day starting next fall/winter.

I just hope St. Louis 1975 finds its way to a remastered format sometime in the future. That bootleg is hot fire.

xp Yeah that movie was ridiculous. And The Edge and Jack White easily waaaay more pretentious than Jimmy Page. I think I could watch an entire docu of Page just talking about music etc. without him playing one lick of guitar.

Best part of that film is him playing "Rumble" on 45, beaming smile from ear to ear and bobbing his head. I'd watch a movie that was just him playing records for the camera.

yeah I had no idea how likeable he was until I saw that doc. -- the rest of it was p much garbage, for sure.

Yeah, it was a really bad documentary but mostly worth it just to watch Page air-guitar to Rumble like a giddy school boy learning his first song.

the thing that really blew me away was that he spent 3/4 of that documentary talking about his life *before* he even joined Led Zeppelin. When it was laid out like that, it was kind of astounding what a rich life, musically, he led.

I actually kind of want to see that now.

it's 100% worth it for jimmy. Edge is okay. White is just kind of, I dunno. I normally like him, and I've heard interviews where he's relaxed and cool but he was embarrassingly pretentious in It Might Get Loud.

Yeah, Jack White came across as completely artificial in the doc. The Edge was mostly "look at me, I might possibly still be relevant!" Page seemed to be the only one who had fine things to say about music and guitar. Also, I love that he's a super-sloppy guitarist and doesn't even try to hide it.

there were parts of Edge that were okay, where he went back to the room where they played their first gig, and some of the early archive footage was p cool

Yeah, The Edge's bits about going back to Dublin where the band formed were kinda cool. The stuff with him hanging around in his practice room playing "Get On Your Boots" a zillion different ways was a drag.

u_u yes

Picked up that When Gods Walked the Earth book again last week and tried to get through it again. It was pretty agreeable if I skipped the second person parts, but then there was an enormous chapter devoted to Aleister Crowley. As far as I can tell, it was completely unnecessary.

I did love, however, that the song they all chose to play together wasn't some guitar wank showdown where they all tried to cut heads with each other. It was "The Weight".

yeah, that was a nice touch.

back on topic, I wonder what other kind of unreleased material Page could possibly dig up in the vaults. if there's stuff like How The West Was Won lying around in a mislabelled shoebox, bring it on I say.

iirc, when the first box was released in 1990, Page said there were literally no unreleased studio recordings, that everything had come out on Coda.

yeah that's what I thought too

that being said more live stuff like HTWWW would be very welcome, love those discs

we need to initiate a worldwide search of abandoned houses, attics, and mislabelled shoeboxes.

just to be sure

the lack of led zep rarities has always been really odd, esp in comparison every other major classic rock band

there are demos and alt versions around. Maybe not all complete, but good enough for an archival release.

He may have said something like that in 1990 because he was still trying to promote a solo career. I bet now that there's a whole generation of new money to be made, Led Zep outtakes will be recovered and released pronto.

I dig HTWWW, but I'm hoping for early-early stuff to come out, like the '68-'69 US shows where they had to pad out their set with things like Spirit's "Fresh Garbage."

i couldn't even imagine, but like what if it's like "oh hai guys did i tell you there was this complete other song we left off of IV"