Led Zeppelin: Classic Or Dud?

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

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

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/articles/ap/2012/12/02/Letterman_up_for_jabs_with_Kennedy_Center_Honors/_jcr_content/contentpar/articleBody/image.img.jpg

Hahahaha

Who's the black dude and the woman next to him?

Buddy Guy and dancer Natalia Makarova.

http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/John+Paul+Jones+35th+Kennedy+Center+Honors+UnWjoEY3bEDl.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/12/02/article-0-164F9586000005DC-869_634x409.jpg

Clinton inquiring about No Quarter chord voicings

I would see this version of the band.

hillary is the sandy denny of U.S. foreign policy

JPJ turning into Lance Henriksen there.

10 years drone

For some reason I thought this was given only to Americans, but looking back I guess not. It does look like lately they've been throwing in a string of British rock royalty. Macca, Daltrey and Townshend, Led Zeppelin...

Kid Rock actively supported Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, we all know that.

So what do you think happened at this weekend's Kennedy Center Honors when Michigan's favorite rock son had a few minutes with President Barack Obama:

"It was nice. I saw the president tonight," he told CNN. "He said, 'I'm still here.' I said, 'No hard feelings.' "

Just to be clear, he was just there (with his mom), not honored.

Mr Obama, who was only seven years old when the band formed in 1968, said that Americans had immediately embraced Led Zeppelin even "when the Brits initially kept their distance"

Is that true? I have no idea.

I mean, I believe Obama was 7.

It's true, to an extent. Zeppelin made its name touring the US. They basically set the standard for arena touring. I want to say the first album was even released in America first, well before the British release.

Though of course critically, the US was infamously not much of a friend:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/led-zeppelin-i-19690315

Jimmy Page, around whom the Zeppelin revolves, is, admittedly, an extraordinarily proficient blues guitarist and explorer of his instrument's electronic capabilities. Unfortunately, he is also a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs

And this is an album that starts out with "Good Times, Bad Times"!

Limited producer? Weak writer? "around whom Zeppelin revolves?" I guess this is the (one?) perspective of someone coming to the group from the Yardbirds, myopically missing possibly the greatest rock rhythm section of all time.

"an extraordinarily proficient blues guitarist and explorer of his instrument's electronic capabilities. Unfortunately, he is also a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative song"

lol i've always thought his playing was kind of meh (compared to say Hendrix) and that he really excelled at songwriting & producing!!

Everyone is kind of meh compared to Hendrix. But compared to his contemporaries, Page was pretty great. Sloppy live, but ace in the studio. Also, one of the few guitarists as notable for his acoustic work as for his electric.

i do like his acoustic stuff it's true

i mean, i like it ALL. but i think zep's strength is in their massive, quality song catalog, innovative prodcuction, and a dope ass rhythm section augmenting the riffs -- much more so than Jimmy shredding or whatev

I've never seen that Rolling Stone review. So Plant was "a pretty soul-belter who can do a good spade imitation." Uh...

page is a great guitarist, every bit as good as hendrix, he does a lot of amazing stuff, in terms of layer guitars and overdubs and the whole UK folk side of playing that hendrix doesn't do

I thought it was hilarious to flip through Rolling Stones' recent Led Zep special issue and read the reviews of each album that are drastic rewrites of history for them.

page is a great guitarist, every bit as good as hendrix, he does a lot of amazing stuff, in terms of layer guitars and overdubs and the whole UK folk side of playing that hendrix doesn't do

― U.S. State Department, Office of Rare Psych (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, December 3, 2012 4:09 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahahahahahahaha

I've never seen that Rolling Stone review. So Plant was "a pretty soul-belter who can do a good spade imitation." Uh...

― Naked webcam celebrity (Dan Peterson), Monday, December 3, 2012 4:07 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You'd be happy to hear Plant's enlightened discussion on the subject, i'm sure

iirc, only the first three records were trashed (and only by John Mendelsohn) in RS. Everything after (untitled) got positive reviews.

That sounds right. amazing it took 3 albums, though.

I want to say that Black Sabbath was sabotaged by Rolling Stone, too, but 1 star reviews for Led Zeppelin is beyond the pale.

page is a great guitarist, every bit as good as hendrix, he does a lot of amazing stuff, in terms of layer guitars and overdubs and the whole UK folk side of playing that hendrix doesn't do

― U.S. State Department, Office of Rare Psych (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, December 3, 2012 4:09 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahahahahahahaha

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Monday, December 3, 2012 3:33 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

which part of this is funny bill?

actually i semi-take back the overdubs start, obv hendrix really produced and arranged stuff very cool, but in a different way than page

but the acoustic part of page's playing is very distinct from hendrix and i think v awesome, really the only mainstreaming of the whole 60 uk folk movt, incredible string band, jansch, etc

And Rolling Stone was the ONLY publication that ever really hated them. Try and find another negative review from 1969-74, you can't! Christgau liked them a lot, they got great reviews in Melody Maker, too. But I guess it shows you how much Rolling Stone meant back then that "bad review in Rolling Stone"="critics hate you."

Jimmy Page, around whom the Zeppelin revolves, is, admittedly, an extraordinarily proficient blues guitarist and explorer of his instrument's electronic capabilities. Unfortunately, he is also a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs

So dated!

which part of this is funny bill?

^ all of it. I spit coffee all over my computer screen when i read it.

The only way hendrix and that plagiarist page belong in the same sentence is because of a somewhat similar first name. Otherwise the comparison is laughable.

I want to say that Black Sabbath was sabotaged by Rolling Stone, too, but 1 star reviews for Led Zeppelin is beyond the pale.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, December 3, 2012 4:49 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would say its about right.

i don't think you really spit coffee all over your screen bill
i'm calling u out

true, i dont drink coffee this late in the day

it's all been a lie :(

are we really doing this again

Agreed, my thoughts are well documented on the issue. I will abstain.

If there's any way Hendrix is comparable to Page it's definitely in the "layers of guitars and overdubs"

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