Led Zeppelin split up today 40 years ago

And for what it's worth, Immigrant Song is still a tune.

beauf wrote: »

I had to track back to see who brought Lizzy into this. I'm a big Lizzy fan but there's almost nothing in common between Lizzy and Zeppelin.

The diversity in Zeppelin broadened their appeal. Folk, Blues, Rock and they experimented with lots of stuff.

I never said there was, I'm not comparing bands although all the genres you mentioned there can be found in Lizzy's music along with other genres too.

Love led zeppelin and I bought all the albums years ago when most of my friends didn’t care about them. I know there are more well known songs but I’ve always loved gallows pole because it starts out one way and then changes. It’s a great song on an album led zeppelin III that when it was released didn’t do as well as the two albums before it nor the two after it but thankfully as the years have gone on it’s gotten the love it deserves.

I will say the albums after PG were different and in through the out door while a big success has a different vibe because it was John Paul Jones and Robert plant who were involved more than bonham and plant who were circling the airport so to speak at that point. Fool in the rain on that album is a song I like but it’s kind of out of place.

Achilles last stand from presence is a great song.

chopperbyrne wrote: »

You didn't think you needed this in your life, but you did, and still do.

Bloody hell. I can't decide whether I'm impressed or appalled.

These ladies seem to be making a bit of a name for themselves on the tribute front:

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Love 'em. I think they are an inspiration in simply how they are still going.

Last truly great album was Back in Black, but yeah, what you hear is what you get with AC/DC. For the most part anyways:

I'm all for depth and artistic growth, but, man I love AC/DC. The Bon Scott era was, quite frankly, unbelievable.

It's fair to say they aren't all that complicated and all that smart, but I think a large proportion of everything they did up until Back in Black was, in it's own way, genius. They had a formula, but, man, did they get some mileage out of it. Off the top of my head I could list off about two dozen or more AC/DC songs that are absolute classics. Malcom Young knew how to put a song together.

Bambi wrote: »

It doesnt need depth, its rock n roll and rock n roll isnt meant to be deep. I dont listen to their new stuff but I like that they never had any airs and graces about them. Same with Quo.

Maiden to an extent can be added to that list

Led Zepplin IV is genius songwriting, playing , arranging .... love that album... it would be firmly in my top 20 albums of all time and Going To California one of my all time favorite songs.... weirdly I find it difficult to get into the rest of their stuff... lots of great songs but on most of their albums to me, a lot of filler and self indulgence.... as a body of work, songwriting and nuanced performances IV has always been my favorite..

Bambi wrote: »

The bould Phil was a genius songwriter but a bit of a magpie in terms of muscial style

In a thread about Led Zeppelin I don’t think it’s fair to bring up others “borrowing” bits and pieces.

I, personally, was very disappointed when I learned that they “lifted” ‘Dazed & Confused’ from another artiste.

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

Awful self-indulgent muck. I always associate Led Zeppelin with balding men in their 40’s wearing a denim jacket with band patches on the back. A lot of that Dad Rock from the 70’s is vastly overrated.

Nonsense. Led Zep songs are full references to mythology and lord of the rings.

Robert Plant has a podcast it's quite good. He tells some good stories from the good old days.

Thank you OP for remembering the date! I did not have time to add to this yesterday apart from a quick post, so a lot of my points have been covered already, notably by keyzer (post 58) and jupiterkid (73).

Firstly, the music. Let's look at the individual members, if you look at any lists of the top 10/100 greatest rock guitar/drum/bass/singers, each of the 4 will be very near the top,or at the top. This is in basically any list I've seen from any source. As jupiterkid mentioned they hit the gound running. The band was Jimmy's and he hand picked the rest of the band, who were already accomplished musicians in their own right. A supergroup if you will. But we have seen many times this is no guarantee of success, but with Zep they gelled, like The Beatles did for example.

It's pointless to try to convince another person to like a band or song, it's personal taste, but I will say they had a huge range from the soft and beautiful like Tangerine to the loud and visceral Heartbreaker, to intricate compositions like Rain Song and using instruments like the mandolin, mellotron, theremin, Jimmy's bowing etc. They did not settle on one style, never afraid to experiment, yet, every song had a distinctive Zep DNA in it.

In terms of influence, musically, there is no shortage of bands after them that will cite their influence, and that (along with others of course) paved the way for another genre, metal. Listen to 1969's Dazed and Confused for example. They had an equal influence on the music business. As already mentioned, they came to Atlantic Records with there first album ready to go, paid for by Jimmy (don't forget, he was already a big star in The Yardbirds) and that and Peter Grant (the manager) where able to negotiate unheared of levels of creative control. Want to buy Whole Lotta Love? Too bad, you gotta buy the album. Want to see the band perform? Not on your TV mate, you gotta go to a gig! Who in the right mind would form a band and the never release singles (bar a very few after Atlantic begged enough!) or go on TV (apart from a handful of early appearances)? But they made it work, they were that good. And as mentioned bands that followed can be thankful with their pay cheques after a gig because of them.

Some have mentioned they were over indulgent or self centered, Well, firstly, you owe the band nothing, you don't have to like them. In return they perhaps don't owe us much either. They made music for themselves, as did bands of the time. I'll trade a 10 min drum solo any day of the week for all the One Direction designed by committee hits. In any case, the studio work was mostly very tight and disciplined. So what if some of it was 8 min long, more enjoyment for your ears! It was a journey of discovery.
Others have mentioned the excess and debauchery. OK, transport yourself back to the 70's, you are a 20 something red blooded rock god, social media and the PC brigade had not been invented. It would be rude not to...... yes? In any case, it seems a lot of the stories are either untrue, wrongly attributed or embellished in some way. And yes, I'm thinking of THAT thing! But, the past is a foreign country and they do things differently there....

As for the occult, that was Jimmy's personal hobby/interest, nothing more. True, being the wealthy man, he was able to take his hobby a bit further than you or I, sure he bought Aleister Crowley's house, but I don't recall any influence in the music. Much more Tolkien than Crowley!

I will concede that it appears Jimmy made some other choices that were questionable, at the time.

But anyway, to quote the philosopher Homer Simpson, after his visit to Rock n Roll camp, “You're supposed to be reckless and destructive... and be celebrated for behaviour that would land normal people in jail.”

To make this a balanced post I cannot neglect the P word, I cannot bear to type it so will say forgetting to give credit to others whose work was the basis for Zep work:) This is something I never understood on many levels. The band had more than enough talent, not to need to lift stuff and write their own things, there was simply no need for it. And, also, there is no shame in saying this is our version of a Dixon or whatever track. They made them their own, superior versions. Like Hendrix and All along the Watchtower. If there are any F1 fans here, I liken it to Senna and more so Schumacher, they were head and shoulders above in driving talent, could have driven clean and fair, but just could not, had to win at any cost. I think it's ego in play and maybe same with Zep.

For me though, the treatment of Jonesy was their worst sin. Again, why? Shakes my head.

In summary: Was the band comprised of flawed human beings? Possibly. Was the mighty Zep the greatest rock band ever, and for of all time? In my opinion, hell yes!