Your' an idiot! Of course they don't sound like they are in the studio when they are playing LIVE!Why go see them, just go buy the album if that is what you want to hear. They were raw and in your' face , improvised, jammed and that's what made people want to see them. And did they ever. Page was a genious engineer in the studio and was also used recording techniques that were new to achieve the all too well known LZ sound. There has never been three musians that ever assembled at one time that had more talent and ability than Jones,Bonham,and Page; then throw in Plants' stage prescence and natural bluesy voice and there you have it, the worlds' greatest rock band that existed and ever will, period! No band ever had such a positive effect on rock as Zeppelin.They came, they conquered and there will only be imitators or admirers, but not original or creative. Thats' just my opinion as shared by every rock publication/ guitar mag or any other musical forum. So, with that said; all you Zeppelin critics need to go find a more suitable category of music to listen to that is more to your' taste such as Culture Club,Village People or maybe Flock of Seagulls! In the near future, stop looking like an ass and just keep your' dumb-ass misguided opinion to yourself. I'm sad to say but it is scary to know there are people out there who are as ignorant as you .Well, i'm exhausted. I have probably lost 75 to 100 i.q. points just responding to this BS.

 

I am a big Zep fan, love to listen to them, but I have to say that their lyrics are pretentious, childish, simply bad writing. Even the "great" stairway to heaven, which I love, is lyrically awful. Just a bunch of meaningless crap trying to sound deep.

Like any other art form, beauty is in the eye - or in this case, the ear - or the beholder.

As we all know Zeppelin went from being an acid blues band of exceptional interpretive abilities and virtuosity to one capable of great writing and musical innovation. During that journey many "fans" were left longing for more of the same thing that had been done on an earlier album and were not pleased with a new direction by their beloved Led Zeppelin, but as mentioned by sqeegn4t3, even the Beatles and The Who made albums that left their public feeling less than satisfied.

The body of work by Led Zeppelin should, I believe be judged not as the sum of it's parts, but by each album itself. My personal favorite is Led Zeppelin III because it is such a diverse album and displays all of the artists' range.

That said, remember there can be only one "Mona Lisa", one "The Thinker", one "Tosca." All other of those artist's works simply serve to further elevate their greatest masterpiece.

3 years later and people are still riled up about my original post. I love the statement, "There has never been three musians that ever assembled at one time that had more talent and ability than Jones, Bonham, and Page..." Ever? John, Paul, George? Eric, Jack, Ginger? Ever? No jazz trio? No dudes who rocked with Mozart? Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds and Kid Ory blew more minds and radically changed music in ways that are still being felt than LZ ever dreamed of. All Led Zeppelin did was recycle blues riffs and introduce us to Hobbits. They got a lot of girls (some by force) and they wore the tightest pants and judging by your lack of inclusion of Robert Plant employed the worst rock "singer" in the history of whatever. They were great musians but so-so musicians.