Led Zeppelin: Classic Or Dud?

God Robert Plant was a handsome man.

At the screening of the Mekons movie I saw last night, Jon Langford revealed the inspiration for the band's awesome "Rock and Roll" album was he and Tom reading "Hammer of the Gods" in the tour van and wanting to make an album that sounded the way the book describes Led Zeppelin (as opposed to how Zeppelin actually sounds, which they considered a let-down after the book).

isn't that on How the West Was Won

― PLATYPUS OF DOOM (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, May 1, 2014 2:25 PM (44 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's on the DVD released at the same time (just called "Led Zeppelin DVD," I think).

As is this, which is my favorite Led Zeppelin thing Led Zeppelin ever did in the history of Led Zeppelin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC6SwzXvyzw

^^What Tarfumes said. Plus: But now it's on Youtube! In a great rip!

On a semi-related note, I recently got to hear Jimmy Page/Black Crowes live set from 2000--it's fantastic! And probably more interesting re:set list than we'd have gotten from a proper Zep reunion at the time: loads of deep cuts ("Celebration Day"! "Out On The Tiles"! "Your Time Is Gonna Come"! motherfuckin' "SICK AGAIN"!!!!!), good blues covers, nods to peers (the Mac's "Oh Well", the JBG arrangement pf "Shapes of Things"), and a handful of the big hits/radio staples. Chris Robinson is Chris Robinson, which is good because he never tries to be Plant. The band provides nice, fullbodied accompaniment with due reverence.

The biggest issue I have is it does oversell the Blooze aspect of Zep. They throw in a couple folky numbers and I wish they'd gone further in that direction to present a more well-rounded portrait of the bands music--which we did get at the Celebration Day show, but still was within the Crowes wheelhouse when their Page union was happening.

Chris Robinson is Chris Robinson, which is good because he never tries to be Plant.

Plus, Page finally got to find out what Zep would've sounded like with Steve Marriott!

I almost saw Page/Crowes; they were supposed to open for the Who's 4-night MSG stand in October 2000, but Page got sick or hurt his hand or something. Rumor had it, though, that he backed out because he refused to open for the Who.

I remember seeing them on Leno doing "The Wanton Song", and Page was doing all these kicks and other rock star moves...it was like the next day that news broke that he'd fucked up his back and the rest of the tour was cancelled. Surprise surprise.

Okay, Jimmy wasn't quite as animated as I remembered...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzjt-lEZ8uY

Perhaps appropriate story I heard once, 100% true. A friend was supposed to interview Neil Young, flew out to LA and everything. Then, at the last minute, the interview was cancelled because Neil hurt his back. Days later the interview is re-scheduled as a phoner, and my friend asks "Hey Neil, how's your back doing?" "Oh," replied Neil with a laugh. "Is that what they told you?"

Back then the Crowes/Page tour appeared to me as the epitome of desperate hackery. Well, maybe not as bad as Coverdale/Page, but still bad. Me, now? I would see the hell out of that show. Crowes/Page. Not Coverdale.

timely revive! i just got word from the powers that be @ work that we're getting Robert Plant here as part of Nonesuch Records' 50th anniversary festival! i saw Page and Plant yearrs back at Jones Beach but this is still pretty cool.

I love the sequencing on the first box set (1991?) It's back and forth, but generally forward.

Disc 1
1 Whole Lotta Love (5:34)
2 Heartbreaker (4:14)
3 Communication Breakdown (2:28)
4 Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (6:40)
5 What Is and What Should Never Be (4:43)
6 Thank You (4:46)
7 I Can't Quit You Baby (4:15)
8 Dazed and Confused (6:26)
9 Your Time Is Gonna Come (4:14)
10 Ramble On (4:23)
11 Travelling Riverside Blues (5:09)
12 Friends (3:54)
13 Celebration Day (3:28)
14 Hey Hey What Can I Do (3:55)
15 White Summer/Black Mountain Side (8:01)
Disc 2
1 Black Dog (4:55)
2 Over the Hills and Far Away (4:46)
3 Immigrant Song (2:23)
4 The Battle of Evermore (5:51)
5 Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (4:17)
6 Tangerine (2:57)
7 Going to California (3:32)
8 Since I've Been Loving You (7:23)
9 D'Yer Mak'er (4:23)
10 Gallows Pole (4:58)
11 Custard Pie (4:13)
12 Misty Mountain Hop (4:38)
13 Rock and Roll (3:41)
14 The Rain Song (7:39)
15 Stairway to Heaven (8:01)
Disc 3
1 Kashmir (8:32)
2 Trampled Under Foot (5:35)
3 For Your Life (6:20)
4 No Quarter (7:01)
5 Dancing Days (3:42)
6 When the Levee Breaks (7:07)
7 Achilles Last Stand (10:23)
8 The Song Remains the Same (5:28)
9 Ten Years Gone (6:32)
10 In My Time of Dying (11:04)
Disc 4
1 In the Evening (6:50)
2 Candy Store Rock (4:07)
3 The Ocean (4:30)
4 Ozone Baby (3:35)
5 Houses of the Holy (4:03)
6 Wearing and Tearing (5:29)
7 Poor Tom (3:02)
8 Nobody's Fault But Mine (6:27)
9 Fool in the Rain (6:13)
10 In the Light (8:45)
11 The Wanton Song (4:06)
12 Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreux (3:50)
13 I'm Gonna Crawl (5:31)
14 All My Love (5:51)

I think marking Stairway as as the end of one phase of the band and Kashmir as the beginning of the next is somehow spot on

For a long time this was the only zep I had. Disc 3 rules, and definitely has been most played disc of the set. When I finally got a copy of Physical Graffiti I couldn't believe it didn't open with Kashmir & close with Time of Dying.

josh, page/crowes at tinley park was awesome

xpost

I think of the box set like this:

Disc 1 = raw, hard rocking early stuff
Disc 2 = bunch of moody acoustic stuff
Disc 3 = proggy epics
Disc 4 = weirdo late period tracks

proggy epics are pretty much my thing, so yes.

Back then the Crowes/Page tour appeared to me as the epitome of desperate hackery. Well, maybe not as bad as Coverdale/Page, but still bad. Me, now? I would see the hell out of that show. Crowes/Page. Not Coverdale.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, May 1, 2014 4:43 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Why not. Coverdales done some great shit. Don't let late 80s whitesnake ruin it for you. If you've never heard Burn or Come Taste The Band you should go back and educate yourself. Better than what Zeppelin were doing at the time

magill have you heard coverdale/page?

"someone did some great stuff in the 70s, ergo they will be doing some great stuff in 1993" is a dangerous way to live imo

I like 80s Whitesnake

There you go again on your own.

But seriously, I like a lot of 80s Whitesnake, too, at least until the dire Slip of the Tongue.

Slide it In is great

whitesnake ruled, s/t is near the peak of slick '80s commercial pop metal.

And even despite that, Coverdale/Page does not rule.

The scenes of the brothers walking into the ring through the crowd, punching the air to "Here I Go Again" was the best part of The Fighter, so cute

derailment of thread!

has anyone heard the new winger album?

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/a-very-serious-conversation-with-kip-winger-about-being-taken-seriously-prog-rock-and-metallicas-scorn/

I listened to a bunch of recent-era Kip Winger stuff last month, dude is a really talented musician. Very heart-on-sleeve on the power balladeer style but if you're up for it he writes enjoyable sorta power-metal-lite

SHES ONLY SEVEN TEEN

"someone did some great stuff in the 70s, ergo they will be doing some great stuff in 1993" is a dangerous way to live imo

― it definitely wasn't designed to be a pants pocket player (stevie), Sunday, May 4, 2014 3:26 AM (14 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I read the post as criticizing Coverdale , not Coverdale /page. I would assume the latter would include some purple and whitesnake stuff in conference

Concert.

I would totally go to a David Coverdale TED Talk

Page and Plant actually played "Shake My Tree" off the Coverdale/Page album at some shows.

David Coverdale is like Robert Plant if every time I looked at Robert Plant I burst out laughing.

Also, tbh, I can't think of Coverdale without thinking of Whitesnake, and I can't think of Whitesnake without thinking of
http://24.media.tumblr.com/51adb996ed5118723b40925d54810f8c/tumblr_mu6bpnbLbm1swgho7o1_400.gif

Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont

tbf, his bass is actually a giant Jolly Rancher.

lol

Oh hey dig this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tgCFlX5jHxg

(it's the rough mix/alternate vocal of "Whole Lotta Love" coming out on the new reissue dealies)

huh kinda cool, altho differences seem pretty minor (some extra flanging here and there etc)

well and the lead guitar track is missing

This Black Crowes/Page live album is pretty good! I mean, it's Zep, but they're not really/always trying to sound like Zep, especially the drummer, who does not sound like Bonham or even really try.

BTW my fave fake Zep remains Billy Squier."Lonely is the Night" ftw.

That's pretty spot on.

http://m.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-raid-secret-vault-for-super-deluxe-album-series-20140507

first mention of this, no?

previously unknown cover of the blues classic “Keys to the Highway” from 1970

It was posted upthread when the track listings were first revealed in March.

Would definitely be cool to hear. That Page interview is a little frustrating, though; it sounds like there's a lot more in the vaults, and obviously it's his call, but a "complete sessions" approach with false starts, breakdowns, and studio chatter would be pretty fascinating.

my bad, must've missed it. my memory was that the bonus tracklistings announced are mostly instrumental/alternate mixes or whatever. I kind of don't believe Page that there's actual extra completed, unreleased songs in the vault but who knows. Some sort of Beatles Anthology type thing might be interesting tho.

Isn't Zep infamous, like Bowie or Pink Floyd, for really not leaving much behind? Alternate takes, sure, but we're hardly talking, like, Springsteen's backlog of 200 quality songs that never made it to albums. Or Neil Young, for that matter.