POLL LOTTA LOVE - ILM Artist Poll #6 - Led Zeppelin

Plant, maybe more than anyone in the band, just got better and better. As a solo artist that is born out pretty well (sorry Bonham), but he was way more of a technician than most would give him credit for. Some interesting quotes from Albini somewhere about what a revelation it was for him working with Plant on that Page/Plant record in the 90s.

Also Alfred, your thoughts on "In the Evening" totally made me rethink that song. I didn't like it much as a 12-15 year old, but that album, and that song, are now real highlights for me. Especially the dialogue between JPJ and Page's guitars.

"Kashmir" is a perfect example of Plant's prowess. The guitar's just more or less a DADGAG drone, the bass not really a player in this song, Bonham keeping it straightforward, more or less. Plant's moaning melody carries much of the whole thing.

yeah i was gonna say, Plant's easily had the most creatively fruitful and ambitious musical life post-Zep, especially compared to Page seemingly happy just to play the old riffs with whatever B-listers are up for it

Whoops, DADGAD. Sorry Davey.

Plant's musicality, particularly his unusual harmonic sensibility - his ideas about how to fit a melody over Page's chord progressions - is vastly, vastly underappreciated

--------

This took years for me to hear.

― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, August 21, 2011 9:54 AM

me too.

Just before I sat down to do my ballot, I had the idea to reserve four spots, one for each of the four players' individual highest high points. The songs I picked for Jones and Bonham were ones that would have made my ballot anyway, but the Page & Plant picks were tracks that probably wouldn't have. (Not telling what they are until Friday afternoon.)

xp DADGAG means you broke a string
Sure is fun to say, though

Pretty awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2QX7GZJRpE&feature=relmfu

I think that's the one on the DVD, the Garden show. I love when they do '50s stuff like the bit at the end. The version of they did of Eddie Cochran's "Something Else" on the early tours is so amazing, they sound like the Sex Pistols, no joke

so i may have just impulse-bought the complete everything box set to help in completing this poll.

Just forward your receipt to WmC, he'll cover it.

Just forward your receipt to WmC stet, he'll cover it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBZm5fOrHuU

Ballot sent. had to put "Bring It On Home" at the top because once the song kicks in it's just VICIOUS. Shaking my head at the "Page is the weak link" comments upthread. Ahh, ILM... (I'd call JPJ on that one)

Led Zeppelin are like the Beatles, I'd say--trying to figure who was the weak link, or who made them great, is a dead end. They're Led Zeppelin. You can't replace any of them, and when Bonham died, they were smart enough to realize that. (Cf. the Rolling Stones and the Who.)

― clemenza, Sunday, August 21, 2011 7:30 AM

trying to parse this... bc if you're saying the stones shoulda hung it up when brian jones died then no.

This book - if you can score it cheap - is pretty great. Gets deep Zep's use of mystical imagery, ritual and the musically "exotic" to gain and turn on a giant fanbase.

"deep into"

Also, to clarify: I shouldn't call JPJ the "weak" link. More like the most - well - replaceable out of the four.

trying to parse this... bc if you're saying the stones shoulda hung it up when brian jones died then no.

After Jones's death, no--they enter my favourite period at that point. (They seemed to have had no choice there, anyway, even if Jones had lived.) If they had stopped around the time Ron Wood came on board, I'd be fine with that. I know most people wouldn't agree with me there, but at the very least, Bill Wyman's departure should have been it.

If the Stones had called it quits earlier, imagine how many Mick Jagger solo albums we'd have had by now. Thank god for nostalgia.

Also, to clarify: I shouldn't call JPJ the "weak" link. More like the most - well - replaceable out of the four.

I would call Plant the weak link, but again, it's all relative. While I like him in Zep (and whoever said that thing upthread about his harmonic sense relating to Page's chords, OTM), I also think he's the single most negative influence on vocalists in the last 50 years. Not his fault, obviously. But for me it's easier to imagine Zep with Steve Marriott or Terry Reid (two of Page's original choices) than it is to imagine them without JPJ.

I can't imagine a more restrained singer leading THIS band with THIS guitarist -- Plant understood that he needed to sound like a second guitar.

hell, even a soul belter like Steve Winwood would have been a ghastly mistake.

Yeah, if you want to play what if, listen to David Coverdale to hear what could have gone terribly wrong.

Like, he's just got too much .. pique?

After Jones's death, no--they enter my favourite period at that point. (They seemed to have had no choice there, anyway, even if Jones had lived.) If they had stopped around the time Ron Wood came on board, I'd be fine with that. I know most people wouldn't agree with me there...

― clemenza, Sunday, August 21, 2011 1:55 PM

We'd have missed out on a few gems but no argument here really. Who knows what might have been if they'd hung on to Mick Taylor.

xpost Plant's epic weirdness was the real difference-maker for this act. Without the gollums and wikings Zep would been a killer pub rock act. Picture Coverdale or Marriott coming up with Kashmir.

Can I just say that spreadsheets terrify me now. I'm scared that one stray mouse click will undo a couple of hours of work.

39 ballots in.

Please arrange your ballots in descending order, 1 to 20, not 20 to 1!

Kashmir made my most hated list

Please arrange your ballots in descending order, 1 to 20, not 20 to 1!

Haha yes, this is a killer.

My ballot's coming later today, got bogged down with other things this weekend.

this is gonna go down to the wire for me 'cause i want to get in one more listen each of presence and ittod before voting. maybe some of phys graffiti as well.

i know there was some conversation earlier in this thread abt how hard matching led zep song titles to songs can be; this morning after many many years i finally learned which song is fool in the rain.

listened to the first one straight through yesterday--it's got tremendous bookends but the two willie dixon numbers really drag it down #hatingonelectricblues

True. I never got why bands (not just Zep) spent so long concentrating on that stuff.

xpost Plant's epic weirdness was the real difference-maker for this act. Without the gollums and wikings Zep would been a killer pub rock act. Picture Coverdale or Marriott coming up with Kashmir.

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Sunday, August 21, 2011 9:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

True, I definitely don't see Marriott getting into those areas at all.

just sent my ballot, honestly considered putting stairway to heaven on both the most loved and most hated list. Ultimately decided that there are several Led Zeppelin songs that I hate way more than stairway

Hmm, haven't gotten yours yet, and it's not in the spam filter either. Did you sent to gmail or via ILXmail?

via ilxmail

No luck. Would you resend it?

just resent it through gmail

Got it -- thanks!

I wonder if "Thank You" is going to do surprisingly well in this poll.

It made my top 20, but very low.

It seems like the kinda song that could make a whole lotta ballots, low yeah but there aren't that many songs here & prolly songs from the first five albums are gonna dominate. "Thank You" used to be a classic rock/AOR staple. It's the one song for which my experience mirrors those who've had a hard time placing song names with songs; for years I didn't even identify the song with Zeppelin.

Hmmm, will be interesting to see. There are LZ ballads I rate much higher, but it is a pretty personal thing. Definitely a good song. Oddly, one of the few songs I didn't relisten to in preparing my ballot.

Haha I kinda prefer the Posies' rip "Flood of Sunshine" to the original "Thank You."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOYFDHvwbM

Also, I did not find that "there aren't that many songs here"! I had about 45 on my list, and none of them were "Thank You", so yeah, this poll should be interesting. I am not sure that my ballot will be very representative, but we'll see. I imagine that my top 5 probably only has 1 song that is likely to place in it, but I am really happy with it.

"Flood of Sunshine" is great (love the solo, the Posies lift off!) & I'd never thought of it as a "Thank You" rip but I can see what you mean.

whew, voted

YOU HAVE 24 HOURS LEFT TO VOTE.