Posted on 05/28/2003 1:00:57 PM PDT by Drew68
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the words of one of their songs, Dancing Days are here again for fans of Led Zeppelin.
Defunct for almost 23 years, the pioneering English band behind such hard rock classics as "Stairway to Heaven" and "Kashmir (news - web sites)" has cleaned out its vaults to issue eight hours of previously unreleased live material on DVD and CD.
The "Led Zeppelin DVD" contains footage from four tours spanning 1970 to 1979; the CD "How The West Was Won" combines two Los Angeles shows from 1972 to replicate a single concert.
Remarkably, the band's leader and guitarist, Jimmy Page (news), who compiled the releases, says he remembers all the concerts as if they were yesterday.
"To actually go through it bit by bit and hear sections of it, you go, 'Yeah, yeah, that's really good' or 'I played really well there' or 'My God, that's embarrassing, that bit I played then,"' Page, 58, said in an interview.
Both the DVD and CD were released this week with Page, singer Robert Plant (news), 53, and keyboardist/bassist John Paul Jones (news), 56, embarking on a publicity blitz. Ironically, Led Zeppelin shunned such chores during its 12-year reign, preferring to let the music speak for itself.
But rumors that the trio would play together came to naught. The band has reunited only twice since breaking up after the 1980 alcohol-related death of drummer John Bonham (news). Page and Plant toured and recorded together in the 1990s, to Jones' initial chagrin. These days, the threesome's relationship is more business than social, Page says.
"MAGICAL ELEMENT"
"There were four very different personalities anyway in Led Zeppelin, very different personalities," Page said. "But when they bonded musically, the four elements joined together, took on a fifth element -- a thing which is totally intangible and it can't be charted, which was that magical element."
Led Zeppelin's members fused folk and blues influences to create a genre known as heavy metal. The group's catalog, highlighted by their untitled 1971 album and 1975's "Physical Graffiti" has sold about 200 million copies worldwide.
But their strength was arguably live performances. They toured incessantly, setting new standards for ticket sales. Songs from the albums were radically reworked on stage.
The new CD boasts a 25-minute version of "Dazed and Confused," while Bonham drums relentlessly during the 19-minute "Moby Dick." Spontaneity was the key, which is why the band decided to call it a day rather than try to feign improvisation with a new drummer.
"You had to be totally, totally involved. It's like a sacrifice you were there for," Page said.
The DVD features songs from London's Royal Albert Hall (1970) and Earl's Court (1975), New York's Madison Square Garden (1973) and England's Knebworth Festival (1979). And that's it as far as live footage is concerned, Page says.
"We didn't have a documentary crew going round with us all the time. What would we do it for? We weren't a television band," Page said.
"A BIT OF A LAUGH"
Similarly, the only other audio footage in the vaults was from a university gig, which was done "for a bit of a laugh." Page vows it will never see the light of day because the band made so many mistakes. (Page did use some computer tricks to fix a few wrong chords on the newly released material.)
These days, Page divides his time between a historic London townhouse and a mansion in nearby Windsor. His post-Zeppelin career has been patchy, with highlights including a tour with the Black Crowes and recording a rap version of "Kashmir" with rapper Sean Combs. He says he's working on something "quite surprising" but declined to go into detail.
thats fun to toy with heck imma play with that tuning little later (bit of a break from my Low B-E-A-D-G-B tuning lol
btw in case you didnt know...kasmir is D-A-D-G-A-D hehe :)
save ya some more hours that way
Actually, CDs are superior to LPs frequency response-wise, and superior in the realm of dymanic range.
Why do LPs sound better to you and myself?
Because of being used to its sound, and THD. A digitally recorded and mastered album would not sound too good on vinyl, I would imagine.
btw the strings i use for my tuning are 60-44-32-17-17-13 so if you had any questions on how to tune that low there ya go
try all Gs thats fun too
Why do LPs sound better to you and myself?
I don't doubt you are right about that. Could it be that with digital sampling there is less information to carry around so any frequency changes happen quicker, at the expense of resonance? I don't know, maybe it's like you suggested. Anyway, there are quite a few musicians who have said that they can tell the difference between CDs and LPs and that the latter has better sound quality...for whatever reason.
My original take on Zep is that their music is really folk music. In that it's under produced, under instrumented, minimalist compared to the pop garbage today. Remember that Zep was pop in it's day.
I think you have something there.
There is a reason that all the bands who try to sound like Zep wind up failing --they try too hard and over-produce their sound.
Listen to Jimmy's guitars. They are not that distorted nor that loud. Each instrument is just so well produced that it deceives the listener into thinking that there is something there that isn't.
I don't know if I'd call Zep "pop" as I tend to think of 1970s pop as AM radio top-40 which Zep never was. Keep in mind that like the Beatles, Stones and The Who, Zep never won nor was nominated for a grammy -the measure which defined and still defines "pop" music.
Yes they did. And this is why a reunion would probably only disappoint fans.
Unless Zep could find a drummer with the skill and the sound of Bonham (Dave Grohl is, IMHO, the only one who might fit the bill) there is no way they could capture the "bombast" of their sound.
I read a recent interview where Page laments playing together at Live Aid in 1985. They used Phil Collins on drums and Page said that Collins basically sucked and treated the whole thing as a joke.
Page was right.
As big as a Zep fan as I am, I think history shows that it would probably be best if the three of them never perform as Zeppelin again. I doubt they could rekindle the magic of what they were.
Actually that statement was the more standard "will go over like a lead balloon" and the band turned balloon into zeppelin (as I understand it)
That would be Richard Williams – he is an original member of Kansas – he has always been the main lead guitarist and he is the one that did most of the famous licks. Kerry Livgren was the second guitarist and second keyboard player in the band. Livgren was the main songwriter but Williams has always been the main lead guitarist.
The 1970's era Tubes were an amazing band - great edgy show, great players. They lost me in the "She's a beauty" era.
Right on brother - Marina Belica's vocals are a amazing – GUESS WHAT!!! October Project reformed and released an album this spring and is currently doing gigs. Check out their web site:
BTW: I think thier first album is amazing and should be in eveybody's collection
NOTE: the bands early stuff was on Epic
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