Personal preference and taste are the choice of the individual - if your friend doesn't like Page or think's he's sloppy, he doesn't know Jimmy Page as well as he thinks he does (and also doesn't know Slash or EVH).
First...Slash and EVH were "sloppy" as well. To ignore the totality of Page's career (session man, in the studio with his own projects, and live over his entire career) and to say that he was a sloppy player is inaccurate. He, just like Slash and EVH, had sloppy/bad/off nights or was in less than top form due the impacts of substance abuse. To label Page as "sloppy" in absolute, and to ignore the times/years when Slash and EVH were horribly sloppy, is a skewed view of history that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
Anyone who know's the history of Slash's career and the history of EVH's career can give you a long list of examples, tours, years, eras, etc. where they were not at top form. Just like Page, they were/are largely excellent, but not in absolute.
I'd suggest that your friend bypass certain Zep shows in '75 and '77 (where the substances were really starting to show their effect on performance) and maybe take a listen to the countless shows posted on YouTube from the spring/summer of '69. Have a go at some of the U.S. tours from '70 and '71. Dive into Europe '71, Japan '71 and '72. How The West Was Won is sloppy? Have a watch of the Danish TV special footage - the solos and lightening-fast playing on Communication Breakdown, Dazed and Confused and How Many More Times was sloppy? Also, Listen To This Eddie was from the '77 tour and could stand as an unofficial live album from that era, along with others nights where the performances were "on".
Were the recordings that have sold tens of millions of albums and influenced generations of players sloppily engineered, sloppily produced, sloppily written and sloppily performed? Seems like those albums sound better and more dynamic, and with more energy, than a lot of what you hear from "guitar gods" today. And they were pretty well regarded 50+ years ago as well.
Bottom line...it's a silly statement from a silly person - I'd be looking for new friends.
There is "truth" to the guys' statement....if you want to cherry pick specific songs, shows, tours, years, eras, etc., but also keep this in mind....Zep played their songs differently each and every night. They were flying by the seat of their pants and often (especially in the early days) making it up as they went along. That, and the imperfections that come along with that approach to playing, is one of the things that made them great and still makes them great today.
First...Slash and EVH were "sloppy" as well. To ignore the totality of Page's career (session man, in the studio with his own projects, and live over his entire career) and to say that he was a sloppy player is inaccurate. He, just like Slash and EVH, had sloppy/bad/off nights or was in less than top form due the impacts of substance abuse. To label Page as "sloppy" in absolute, and to ignore the times/years when Slash and EVH were horribly sloppy, is a skewed view of history that doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
Anyone who know's the history of Slash's career and the history of EVH's career can give you a long list of examples, tours, years, eras, etc. where they were not at top form. Just like Page, they were/are largely excellent, but not in absolute.
I'd suggest that your friend bypass certain Zep shows in '75 and '77 (where the substances were really starting to show their effect on performance) and maybe take a listen to the countless shows posted on YouTube from the spring/summer of '69. Have a go at some of the U.S. tours from '70 and '71. Dive into Europe '71, Japan '71 and '72. How The West Was Won is sloppy? Have a watch of the Danish TV special footage - the solos and lightening-fast playing on Communication Breakdown, Dazed and Confused and How Many More Times was sloppy? Also, Listen To This Eddie was from the '77 tour and could stand as an unofficial live album from that era, along with others nights where the performances were "on".
Were the recordings that have sold tens of millions of albums and influenced generations of players sloppily engineered, sloppily produced, sloppily written and sloppily performed? Seems like those albums sound better and more dynamic, and with more energy, than a lot of what you hear from "guitar gods" today. And they were pretty well regarded 50+ years ago as well.
Bottom line...it's a silly statement from a silly person - I'd be looking for new friends.
There is "truth" to the guys' statement....if you want to cherry pick specific songs, shows, tours, years, eras, etc., but also keep this in mind....Zep played their songs differently each and every night. They were flying by the seat of their pants and often (especially in the early days) making it up as they went along. That, and the imperfections that come along with that approach to playing, is one of the things that made them great and still makes them great today.
