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Jimmy Page? Meh!
- Thread starter stratovani
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They came together in the right place at the right time with a sound that made musical history. EL&P is another good example of that. If LZI was released today it would still top the charts.
Outstanding!
I've seen cover bands with adults who have been playing their instruments for decades that couldn't master the timing on this song as well as these youngsters with mallets! Kudos to that teacher!
"Technical proficiency" is not something I worry about when I listen to Zep. That said, I haven't seen much concert footage of Zep that is good quality. They are, and always will be, one of my very favorite bands., and I'll take Jimmy's playing over most "technically proficient" players any day.
IMHO, the best live Zeppelin is the early stuff before they exploded on the arena circuit. They were a tight-ass British blues rock band live.
Bonham and JPJ? Even if Plant and Page are flailing around, that's still a treat.
- Sep 4, 2010
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- Endorsing: Martin Keith Guitars
For me, Zep is an example of how what's basically is a jamming band with solid musicians can be turned into a huge commercial success. I like people playing spontaneously and freely, and if anything, I believe this idea that good music is defined by playing every note robotically right, autotuned, quantizied and compressed into synthetic dead nothingness alongside a metronome, is horrifying and deeply unmusical. From that perspective for example I hugely enjoyed Page's solo in the Immigrant's Song on How The West Was Won - he just goes for it, without any predetermination, which is something very few people then or now have the balls to do. SO the sloppiness-in my book, I want more of it. That said the band starts to ring a bit hollow after a while to me - the production smarts and musicianship do not quite enough to fully cover up the lack of imagination in the writing.
The title you chose for this thread is very trollish, so don't get bent out of shape when people think you're a troll. Next time pick a title that doesn't immediately put people on the defensive.
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As far as the topic is concerned, I like a few of their records, notably the first two and maybe a handful of songs later than that. I have great respect for Page, JPJ and Bonzo, but I've never been a great fan of the music. I grew up at a time when LZ was at the height of their popularity, when it was pretty much assumed that everyone liked them. I paid some lip service to that since I was in HS at the time
, but I've always been a much bigger fan of Blackmore and Deep Purple. I do wonder if perhaps people who are into music and grew up in the 70's have a better appreciation of LZ/Page's talents and influence.
Reading comprehension is your friend. "You could have stated your opinion without the denigrating comment, but you chose the inflammatory route." It's not the fact that you don't like Jimmy Page, which is opinion, it's the snarky, disrespectful way that you expressed your opinion.
I saw Led Zeppelin on their first US tour as headliners in March 1969 at the Winterland in SF. Brian Auger and the Trinity opened up. Long before the sequined suits and drunken antics, Page was wearing a white t shirt and jeans and sandals and was still playing his Telecaster through a Rickenbacker amp with a triangular shaped speaker bottom. They blew the doors off of that place. The crowd didn't know what hit them! I've seen a lot of good bands in my day, I'm 62, but that was one of the top 2 or 3 ever. I've recently read the were worried about playing there, knowing that they had to make a good impression and boy did they ever. A bootleg tape showed up somewhere in New York many years later and diehard fans say it might have been one of there best live performances recorded. But yeah, over the years they sorted lost that fire, as many do. Jim
Last night on VH1 Classic they had Led Zep's Song Remains The Same, and it must be an age related thing, but when I was young Page to me was one of the Guitar Gods. Nowadays, though, he's the King of the Wankers to me. I hear his type ever Saturday afternoon over at Guitar Center, kids just playing a million notes over and over again ad nauseum. Actually, Led Zep sounds like three guys in different corners of GC wankering away on their instruments. What sounded cool back in the day doesn't sound so cool to me today. Sucks growing old!
You should totally quit working at Guitar Center and show Jimmy Page and JPJ how to play! Then maybe they'll have a chance of making it.
The relevance of this thread? meh.... I would say that some criticisms of the band might be valid. In the final analysis, it all comes down to the quality of the compositions. Me? I say the compositions stand the test of time. The relevance of my opinion? meh.
Wow, I had no idea I worked at Guitar Center! You're right, maybe I should quit and show them how to play. Care to help me out, dude?
I'm so sorry, your highness, if the title I chose offended your sensibilities. Perhaps "I love Jimmy Page, but I have this teeny weeny problem with one or two of the songs he plays". Would that have been better?
Sigh. There's no reason for this kind of nastiness. But I guess that's what I get for being polite.
What sounded cool back in the day doesn't sound so cool to me today. Sucks growing old!
Back in the day I wasn't into Led Zepplin, I listened to John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, Gram Parsons, The Eagles, etc. - but now I listen to Led Zepplin a lot - they are now one of my favorite groups - and I think Page's playing fits in with the group regardless of any individual opinions of his talent - so my experience is exactly the opposite of the OP - and I still enjoy John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, Gram Parsons, The Eagles, etc.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
*sigh*
It's music. Some things some people like aren't the same as other things that other people like. It's impossible to quantify, no matter how many forum pixels are spilt in the attempt. Yes, yes, I get that's what forums are about, but people who hate a band arguing with people who love a band is particularly unproductive. There is absolutely nothing empirical that can be included. Even the love/hate Fender debates around here have more to work with...
Zeppelin seems to polarize more than most bands, which is the only interesting part of this conversation to me. Any remotely music related forum will inevitably have endless posts about Page being sloppy, Plant being shrill, plagiarism, and the band being overrated. And those posts will inevitably have offended replys about how they're the greatest rock band of all time and far superior to anything before or since.
What mystifies me the most, though, are those who talk about how they hate the band being surprised that fans are vehement in their defence. It's a very different thing to discuss hatred or even dislike over passion or appreciation. You are attacking someone's taste, intentionally or not, and to expect the attacked parties to be rational in the face of your irrationality is ridiculous.
I'm not a huge fan of the Sex Pistols, Jaco, or Wooten. Whatever. I have never felt the need to tell those who love any of the above how I feel unbidden. Why does my opinion matter more than theirs? And if you don't 'get' a band after listening to them, it's highly unlikely that a post will tell you something you can't hear.
I haven't read all the posts in this thread, so apologies if others have said this better than I...
It's music. Some things some people like aren't the same as other things that other people like. It's impossible to quantify, no matter how many forum pixels are spilt in the attempt. Yes, yes, I get that's what forums are about, but people who hate a band arguing with people who love a band is particularly unproductive. There is absolutely nothing empirical that can be included. Even the love/hate Fender debates around here have more to work with...
Zeppelin seems to polarize more than most bands, which is the only interesting part of this conversation to me. Any remotely music related forum will inevitably have endless posts about Page being sloppy, Plant being shrill, plagiarism, and the band being overrated. And those posts will inevitably have offended replys about how they're the greatest rock band of all time and far superior to anything before or since.
What mystifies me the most, though, are those who talk about how they hate the band being surprised that fans are vehement in their defence. It's a very different thing to discuss hatred or even dislike over passion or appreciation. You are attacking someone's taste, intentionally or not, and to expect the attacked parties to be rational in the face of your irrationality is ridiculous.
I'm not a huge fan of the Sex Pistols, Jaco, or Wooten. Whatever. I have never felt the need to tell those who love any of the above how I feel unbidden. Why does my opinion matter more than theirs? And if you don't 'get' a band after listening to them, it's highly unlikely that a post will tell you something you can't hear.
I haven't read all the posts in this thread, so apologies if others have said this better than I...
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