Led Zeppelin

 Ok...Airing my appreciation!

 Might not be up on all the facts and figures but I Love Led Zeppelin!

 Nicely done, Floyd. 

GG

From a drumming perspective Bonhan was probably one of the most under-rated drummr ever.

Some of his "fills" are still being studied to this day.

Unfortunately with the equipement used then , the finer points were lost in the "meelay"of sound  that was Zep, and it's only with todays gear that the fills can be isolated and heard in their full glory.

 

Rock On

Nice thread Floyd.

Have to say that over the years Zeppelin were probably my favourite of the lot. I've an eclectic taste,always had... ( Remember picking up an Echo and The Bunnymen album in Sound Cellar with hair half way down my back and attracting several comments from staff and customers alike.)...but for me there was never and will never be a band with the range of talents and the ability to squeeze every last riff,note and beat out of a classic rock or folk song like Zeppelin.

Just think that the raw sound Zeppelin produced has never and will never be bettered. Never seemed to write a song to a " formula ", just seemed to kick it off and when it was finished,it was finished.

For me, Page is the best of the lot where the guitar is concerned.As Floyd mentioned,his versatility and his desire and willingness to record the soft folk tunes as well as the legendary riffs which have become part of rock folklore, How Many More Times, Communication Breakdown, Kashmir, What is and What Shall Never Be and of course, Whole Lotta Love covince me that he is a musician in total control of his art.

Having said all that,if you ask me to name my five favourite albums and you won't find a Zeppelin album in there.Just that from their first to their last album there is a constant level of performance that no other band has been able to match.

Was at the Page / Plant gig in the Point and also saw Plant in the Olympia couple of years ago and he still has it.

Still not sure if I'd be on for a " reformation " tour though.

Everytime I hear a Led Zep song I think of the grove and my house on a Sunday morning. My brother was and still is a huge Led Zep fan, so every Sunday morning he would blast all his LP's on his record player all over the house and that how I grew to love them too. 

Led Zeppelin.

My friend from the Grove 1972 -1975, Ken Ridgeway, was big into Zeppelin. I actually have a poster he painted way back then of Zeppelin.

Whereas I was not an avid fan of Zeppelin, they were a soundtrack to those early years in the Grove.

Every night back in the "original" Grove, Led Zeppelin were played.

The problem in those days was that so much good music was played, you wanted to buy all the bands/artists albums but money forced you to decide what you wanted to buy and so I prioritised what I wanted.

And even today I prefer to listen to collections of Zeppelin's music rather than have all their albums.

I too remember them saying they weren't happy with Phil Collins playing and didn't want the
performance aired,but I remember the whole thing was shown in 1995,sort of a 'retrospective'
look back type of thing. And there it was! The Zep performance! We watched it in our local
cos we were going to the Point gig a few weeks later.

Thing about this band for me was the whole song,not just the lyrics or the guitar riff,but
everything else-the bass,drums,keyboards,and later when I started playing in bands myself,the
recording and production work,the layers,multi-tracking and overdubs. The WHOLE SONG was an
aural piece to me. I marvelled at how these guys could WRITE these songs,as well as put them
down as a finished piece.
I remember being on a train from Cork listening to the Song Remains The Same live album,and
the title track was on. Everything was building,tempo filling,crescendo
rising,guitar,bass,vocals,drums-all guns blazing. I was sitting there,almost sweating,fingers
dug into the seat,feeling every note,little hairs and goosebumps everywhere,when it climaxed
to that finish,I could finally breathe. It is followed by the Rain Song,which,like an anti-
dote to the fever I had just gone through,this beautiful song soothed and calmed me right
back down,easing me and settling the frenzy I had just felt.
Getting a little carried away with myself maybe, but I thought if they can fire me up like
that,then with a completely different song,take me right back down,then THAT is a powerful
thing they have.

Mushrooms? Sounds like he was having a ham shank!

What are your views on the Song Remains The Same movie concert???
Was probably 16 when I saw it first and was glued from start to finish. The thought of seeing
the band play was great,but then the 'cinematic' pieces came on and it seemed to me to be
really trippy.
Mature appraisal of it now has somewhat diminished,as it's concert footage are by no means
comparable to todays standards,and the so called cinematic pieces in it were criticised since
as being the bands own excuses for their own fantasies (but was probably the whole point) but
it's still worth a look.
I got the double DVD with loads of extras last Christmas which re-kindled some affection for
it.
Your thoughts on this??? Did you have gangs around to your house to watch it with curtains
closed?

Floyd wrote: What are your views on the Song Remains The Same movie concert???

Love it Martin.

In the old days when there wasn't the opportunity to see every band produce a " Bells and Whistles " DVD this was perfection.Saturday night down the Fairview Cinema a couple of times a year to see it was a treat and a half. 

From Jimmy's little skip at the start of Rock and Roll to the violin bit in Dazed and Confused,to the haunting melodies of No Quarter to the raw power of the end of Whole Lotta Love to finish the show,this was magnificent from start to finish when I first saw it and for still is today.

Don't have an issue with the fantasy sequences as it's really all about the music. 

I love some of the versions on this album,especially No Quarter,Rain Song and
Since I've Been Loving You. It honestly blew me away to see (spoiler ahead!)
Jimmy climbing up the mountain to the hermit to see the hermit himself growing
younger into Jimmy himself! Then that (rather primitive by todays standards)
effect of the staff waving and changing colour-fantastic!
Stairway to heaven version is still cracking.