Led Zeppelin & the two year itch

Charlie Jefferson

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Every two years or so I retreat from my new music discoveries - recently, thanks to some good advice on this forum, Ella & Louis, MJQ, and a host of others ( particularly,The Fall & Bruce Springsteen at present) - to Led Zeppelin. This season's sojourn in Zep land has been prompted by all the hoo-ha surrounding the O2 Arena gig and the Mothership compilation. My rather rambling point here is, when all the dust settles and all prejudices or pre-conceptions are put to one side, just how good is this music? I've loved it since I was a pre-pubescent sat on the stairs outside my brothers bedroom whilst he rocked the rafters with ZepIV. Now, thirty years on I'm just as thrilled, awed and startled by their thing. The blues, the rock, the pastoral, the drums of the mighty Bonham, the raw sweet, sweat of Robert Plant's vocals, that non-specific production magic whereby layer upon layer of guitars sit beautifully enmeshed with the sheer viscera of drums and bass. Subtle AND bombastic. The weft and warp of ancient forms drawn anew. Like The White Stripes. Only better.
 

gregory

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just heard when the levee breaks on the radio and realised i dont have zep 4 on vinyl.going to my local 2nd hand shop after work to buy it.i have everything else and like all bands some good some not so good but they are still my favourite band.
 

Clare Newsome

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It's about The Beatles - not Zep - but I find this a fascinating piece (by a psychology professor) on why we love familiar music.

I cut the piece out of the paper when it was published back in June, and have it stuck to the wall next to my desk!

The best quote is:

"In my laboratory we've found that listening to a familiar song that you like activates the same parts of the brain as sex or opiates do."

Sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll, indeed.....
 

Andrew Everard

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[quote user="Charlie Jefferson"]The blues, the rock, the pastoral, the drums of the mighty Bonham, the raw sweet, sweat of Robert Plant's vocals, that non-specific production magic whereby layer upon layer of guitars sit beautifully enmeshed with the sheer viscera of drums and bass. Subtle AND bombastic. The weft and warp of ancient forms drawn anew. Like The White Stripes. Only better.[/quote]

Are you missing editing Hi-Fi Choice, Tim?

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Anonymous

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Led Zeppelin - no other band like them and there never will be. Sure, there might have been bands who have sold more albums (not that Zepp havent had their fair share of sales!!!) but IMO no band has had such a profound influence than Zepp. Almost all the great bands since Zepp have all cited Zepp as an influence. Not to mention their music still sounds as fresh today as i imagine it did when it was first released (unfortunately im only 26 and never was around to witness their "day"). I think all the proof of how mighty the Zepp really are is to see how many people applied for tickets for their reunion gig - 22 million - thats one third of this entire country!!! Rock and Roll!!!
 
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Anonymous

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btw, like the OP i also like to take a break from my more modern music and revisit the Zepp every now and again. everytime i do i just go - wow! fav Zepp song = Achillies Last Stand
 
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Anonymous

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Interesting article Clare. However to me the Beatles are like Mozart, I find them boring. Perhaps their music is just TOO well crafted (?)....

"the songs themselves, the intricate and beautiful interplay between rhythm, harmony and melody"....

I can understand why this does effect many people on a certain level.

But why do I go 'yeah!' when I hear Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix? Such music (and Led Zep) seems to effect me on a different, perhaps more primevil, level. It's as if the SOUND is equally ,if not more important, than the actual notes. I doubt Voodoo chile on baroque instruments would have the same effect (!). I'd like to see this aspect of music explained as well.

jules.
 

Simon Lucas

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[quote user="jules153"]However to me the Beatles are like Mozart, I find them boring.[/quote]

Got to say, that's one of the more startling opinions on these forums...

But as for Led Zep, I find them exhilarating in small doses. A full album's like being bombarded by testosterone, though.
 
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Anonymous

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Sorry but it's true! I was just recently puting together a classical CD compilation for a friend to introduct them to classical music they may find interesting. Bach's Goldberg, Schubert's 5th, Beethoven's piano sonata No.30, Tchaikovsky's Serande for Strings, Sibelius' 5th, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Steve Reich's 18 musicians, Arvo Part.... etc etc

But I couldn't find any Mozart that was 'interesting' IMO.

jules.
 

Anton90125

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[quote user="ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit"]but IMO no band has had such a profound influence than Zepp[/quote]

I don't know, I can think of a few. Pink floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Black Sabbath, Beatles, Rolling Stones to name but a few. I think however, from the era (mid 1960's to late 1970's) there are a number of bands/musicians which set the trends. The really telling thing is can the same be said about the musicians/groups of this era? I listen to rock/prog rock mostly from 60s/70s and am struggling to find music from today (last 15 years) that comes close. To me the Black Crows came the closest.Before anyone says Oasis I do not like or rate them (IMO a cheap/poor/unoriginal Beatles wanabe band). Brit Pop sums it up. Quite depressing really
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Simon Lucas

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[quote user="Anton90125"] I listen to rock/prog rock mostly from 60s/70s and am struggling to find music from today (last 15 years) that comes close. [/quote]

Anton, give Mars Volta a go - a King Crimson man should dig them. Or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Or Sunburned Hand of the Man.

There are prog bands out there. But it's the love that dare not speak its name.
 

Andrew Everard

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[quote user="Simon Lucas"]There are prog bands out there. But it's the love that dare not speak its name.[/quote]

(Hastily hides complete ELP album collection)
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="Simon Lucas"][quote user="Anton90125"] I listen to rock/prog rock mostly from 60s/70s and am struggling to find music from today (last 15 years) that comes close. [/quote]

Anton, give Mars Volta a go - a King Crimson man should dig them. Or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Or Sunburned Hand of the Man.

There are prog bands out there. But it's the love that dare not speak its name.[/quote]

if prog is your thing then also check out TooL (quite frankly i think they are the best band to emerge in the last 20 years and have just gotten better and better!!!) Dream Theater and The Tea Party. Enjoy
 

Charlie Jefferson

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I agree with Simon's "modern-prog" choices; Godspeed & Mars Volta somehow work in and out of the same framework as those 70's bands. A shared sensibility. In similar vein I had a Tortoise phase a while ago, and this year Battles have come to prominence with their complex, polyrhythmic onslaughts.Yet for all their dexterity and brazen technique the one thing all these current bands seem to lack is the charm and whimsy of Gong, Henry Cow & Hafield and The North. Or is that just me needing some words and humanity to cling onto during the occasionally abstruse journey's of prog? Or is it my inherent parochialism? Oxbridge over The Ivy League, perhaps.
 

Charlie Jefferson

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[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Name me any other website where you'd read [quote user="Charlie Jefferson"]In similar vein I had a Tortoise phase a while ago[/quote]

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[/quote]

Well. . .its either Post-Rockists R Us or possibly Vets In Pets!! But I had to stop going to the latter when I developed hives. Or should that be The Hives, my girlfriend says.
 

Andrew Everard

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[quote user="Charlie Jefferson"]

But I had to stop going to the latter when I developed hives. Or should that be The Hives, my girlfriend says.[/quote]

???
 

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