Artist bio
See also: Robert Plant
This band is essentially required listening for anyone with a cock and budding hair under the arms.
Guitarist Jimmy Page formed Zep in the late '60s as a means of fulfilling the engagements of the recently defunct Yardbirds. Originally dubbed the "New Yardbirds," the band consisted of Page, bassist John Paul Jones, singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham. The group changed names and cut its first record Led Zeppelin I in the fall of 1968 and immediately started giving birth to heavy metal rock.
At first lambasted by critics for being blues god rip offs, Led Zeppelin quickly formed a fanatical following with its incessant touring and relentless stream of classic rock albums. The band hit its zenith in 1971 with the release of Led Zeppelin IV, which pretty much defines the term "classic rock" in every way. Songs such as "Rock And Roll," "Stairway To Heaven," "When The Levee Breaks," and "Black Dog" perfectly define Zep's blues-based, distortion-drenched sound.
As the '70s progressed the band toured less, though still released a couple more great records, including 1973's Houses Of The Holy and 1975's Physical Graffiti. Led Zeppelin's last few releases were not equally strong and in 1980 the group disbanded after the death of Bonham. Page and Plant have reunited on a number of occassions -- including 1998's Walking Into Clarksdale -- but poor John Paul Jones seems to never get in on the action.
If you didn't know any of what's written here, immediately go grab yourself a copy of Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin IV, or Houses Of The Holy, and rock out, before we find out who you are and make fun of you.
Albums by this artist
BBC Sessions (1997)
Led Zeppelin
BBC Sessions
» PATRICK KASTNER | STAFF WRITER
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Led Zeppelin
BBC Sessions
Atlantic, 1997
RiYL: Jimi Hendrix' BBC Sessions, Lenny Kravitz, The Beatles' BBC Sessions |
Think Led Zeppelin was an overrated '70s band that gets played too much on the radio? Then listen to
BBC Sessions, the band's first-ever officially released live album (discounting the painful soundtrack to "The Song Remains The Same").
Culled from various radio performances from the late '60s and early '70s, BBC Sessions shows the band in all of its intense, hard-rocking glory and establishes Led Zeppelin as one of the greatest live bands of all time.
The two-disc set is mostly comprised of material from Zeppelin's first four albums. There are two new songs on the album: a cover of Sharon Sheeley and Bob Cochran's "Somethin' Else" and a bluesy number called "The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair." Neither are all that spectacular.
What makes this album so special is seeing the band rip apart their well-known songs, turning them into extended jams. Most people forget just how good of an improvisational band Zeppelin was. But "Whole Lotta Love" and multiple versions of "You Shook Me" and "Dazed and Confused" will remind otherwise. The band either revs up to a breakneck pace or slows down to a painful crawl, making songs living, breathing entities.
Either way, the entire album is one pleasure after another. This is the live album Zeppelin fans have been waiting for.
PATRICK KASTNER | Affectionately known as Cousin Patty (yes, it's a "Throw Momma From The Train" reference), Patrick Kastner is a designer for the Columbus Post-Dispatch.
