About the Joe Queenan Article listed as evidence by Peter H --
"...Virtually everything that is maddening about contemporary rock music comes directly from Led Zeppelin: bad album covers, pretentious lyrics, pointless guitar virtuosity, leaden-footed drumming, skinny singers with too much blond hair, pop Satanism, the complete absence of a sense of humor."
And this so called Writer was worried about Satan getting the short end of the stick? Puh-leeze! Who was it again, that sold his soul?
He selfishly anoints himself the Controller of who should have long hair and what Album covers must be; not to mention what can be considered humorous (DOH). Closet Tyrant is more correct, not News Reporter. Obviously, someone inside was alerted about Joseph Queenan, and he found out access was not an option. It's amazing how wastes of space like this one continuously hide behind their job titles all day long. He would have proven his point more directly had he gotten on stage and shown the World how it's get done. Yet, I've never heard of Joe Queenan "Rock Star" .... have any of you?
I rest my point with selective evidence by Peter H to promote propaganda. I just have to wonder how wealthy both Peter H and Joe Queenan have become with their version of public defamation, re-defined as opinion, simply because one of them somehow got hold of a Press Pass.
Jimmy Page doesn't play OFF-KEY, partner .... he regularly tuned his guitar to the key of E ... try it sometime. He didn't conform, a reason he stands out even today.
For decades, any and all good bands, and quite a large number of the great bands have all subsisted with multi-track layering in the studio, also known as overdubs. There is practically NO BAND OUT THERE that has the ability to sound exactly the same in concert as they do on Studio Albums. Not even Peter H's so-called FAV's. Peter's limited evidence of enightenment for what should be considered trash music avoids all spock logic.
I have a couple soundboard recordings of Led Zep from back in '68 (Fillmore West) and '73 (Buffalo). When I was stationed in Chandler AZ, I ran into a guy that was using a bland white cover LP to roll up his doobies with, very much like the Frank Zappa and the Mothers live Album that anyone can still buy today. Tell us you never actually inhaled, please! ... And, it had nothing on it to say who the Band was. You actually had to play it, to know who the band was. It only said: "Live on Blueberry Hill" ... guess what folks, it was Led Zep One and Two (only) and it was all 'live'.
I've been searching for that LP ever since. The guy seriously didn't know what he had - it was a DJ copy as well, not meant for consumer consumption. There was no LZ-3 on it whatsoever, if there was more than one LP in that package, he didn't have it with him - so, I assumed they were still writing that stuff on the Jet as they travelled. This was in mid-Spring of '73. As for LZ being nothing more than a rip-off band, Robert Plant himself, in interviews all the time, outright admits where they got their ideas from and gives credit freely. Admits to having made great friendships with many of those players along the way. I don't hear of any of the blues players from those days saying Page & Plant were ripping them off.
You see, they don't see it as ripping someone else off - look what Elvis did, seriously. Robert Plant AND Jimmy Page constantly give the earlier blues musicians credit for their influence to the songs LZ put together. You would be wrong if you tried to say otherwise.
As soon as you tried to corrolate Led Zep with New York Gangs (the movie "Warriors" comes to mind, which you certainly must have a copy, I'm sure), I knew I was reading lefty hype. I didn't even need to read the next two sentences in that paragraph. Curious how the Left always 'try' to sound high & mighty, but when the real work is getting done, they somehow disappear. Still busy trying to figure a way to skim off the top before everyone around you gets suspicious, are we?
Truth is, Robert and Jimmy both had a taste for good literature and bringing Lord of the Rings to Song is never a crime. I take it you would have played backgammon forever on those plane rides between concerts? They obviously made better use of their time. Again, how much do you have in the Bank?
And, no, Led Zep wasn't everywhere so you HAD TO GO WITH IT .... there were plenty of other bands out there to listen to like YES, or the emergence of the Doobie Brothers or Jackson Browne (?) How about the original Fleetwood Mac? Oh, I know...., since you're such a veteran of the ROCK WARS ... what about Bloodrock?
That's right, you ain't that old that none of the others from that time era have long since gone and passed away. I was born in '54, so we're practically the same age. Although my military service, circa April '72 did keep me from actually seeing LZ on stage, before John Bonham died, I did get to see a great deal many of things from around America (AZ) and Europe (Stationed at Hahn AB). I finally did get to see Page & Plant back in the 90's and Plant (solo) at Alpine Valley before that, in the 80's.
You remind me of the Dem Politicans of today ... trying to sell something using false wit. If your product had merit, you wouldn't have to work so damn hard at it. Your product does not have the ability to sell itself.... too bad for you, I guess. Next thing you know, you'll be asking Harry Reid to help you censor the lot of us who disagree with you.
Most of today's musicians in the U.S. seem to have lost all ingenuity and imagination. The 60's & 70's will remain the peak of music creation as far as Rock Music (and its various versions) is concerned; until we have yet another re-birth of freedom to write what we want AND see it get published as opposed to the current Dictatorship nonsense we see with the pre-formatted groups of the last two decades, who regularly never write their own songs. The sheer mathematical genius within music itself is displayed best in the complex writings of YES, in my opinion. Almost no one in the U.S. comes anywhere close.
Oh, one more thing - no one hates the phrase "Clapton is God", more than Eric himself. Many of Eric's releases are directly attributed to/from the earlier blues greats themselves. You should know better than to perpetuate something a "blues musician still in training" himself can't stand.
