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Mercurious

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  1. Led Zep I meets just about every definition of psychedelic, and let's not forget how much work Jones and Page did in the different psych genres 1966-69, from Sunshine Superman to "Glimpses" to Her Satanic Majesties Request. Of course, the Yardbirds put the rock in psychedelic rock, and half of Led Zep I is atomic Yardbirds material (Dazed, HMMT, BMS, plus You Shook Me = New York City Blues crystallized). Of the non-Yardbirds stuff, "Your Time is Gonna Come" and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" have a haunting psych vibe, and Babe had been covered by Quicksilver Messenger Service prior to Zep doing it, so that was becoming kind of a staple on the San Fran psych scene. There were psychedelic moments throughout, from "What is and What Should Never Be" to the breaks in In the Evening and Carouselambra, and then the outright masterpieces -- Dazed, Friends, Levee, No Quarter and Kashmir. Jones and Page discuss "The Pychedelic Legacy" of Led Zep in Jim Derogatis' book Turn On Your Mind: Four decades of great psychedelic rock (pp 388-390). "The goal was synaesthesia -- creating pictures with sound." -- Jimmy Page
  2. Great story!! And based on the recent comments on this thread, it appears that most of the animus on this forum about C/P back in 2008-10 is long gone. I keep going back to this record, even played it in a bar not too long ago, and the response was nothing but positive, as in "Hey, this is really good - what is it?" The go-to is "Don't Leave Me This Way", which toward the end soars with something of Kashmir or Achilles feel - classic Page, and great structural work, too. "Whisper a Prayer for the Dying" is also very strong structurally. The heavy droning dirge of "Take it Easy" typified the grunge era better than a lot of grunge did, imo. The album is a super strong, bluesy entry for the era, and has a diversity of content that most of the records of the time lacked. And yes, it was early enough to be "a grunge era" record, the beast still kicking in 1993 though not for long after. It's not perfect: there are the cringe-worthy lyrics of "Take Me" and a shameless pop offering on "Take a Look at Yourself". But what was Page to do, rewrite the lyrics when Dave wasn't looking? Dump a song his bandmates obviously wanted to sing and replace it with one of his droning slack tuning experiments? (hmm, that would have been good). This was a different, more easy-going Page than the Led Zeppelin producer. I know, he's often criticized for having been too easy-going in The Firm, but things were working quite well in C/P, obviously. I'm no Coverdale fan by any means but I like him on this record, like him a lot. He and Page brought out the best in each other in 1992-93, and the remarkable thing is that their partnership probably shouldn't have worked at all.... 25 years later and I can't be much more impressed than I'm finding myself to be about the results.
  3. "Ooops - We can't find what you're looking for", Rolling Stone says when you click that link from the first part of the thread. "Page not Found" says my browser, pun intended, summing up my feeling on those early pages of the topic. How could anybody dislike this album? much less despise it so much as to start a troll topic on the Led Zep forum of all places? Maybe it was Robert?
  4. Yes, I wish there was a way to move the more recent stuff, which is really good, especially the remembrances of 1993, and hearing "Pride and Joy" and "Shake my Tree" on the radio for the first time. I guess just leave it be, despite the trashing the album receives at the start of a thread, which, as unpleasantly hip and wrongheaded as the initial reviews were, they have historical value too.
  5. I remember the excitement generated by the Who farewell tour in 1982, and also how flat they sounded with Kenny Jones yet sold all these stadiums out anyway. It was proof positive that Zep had done the right thing in breaking up, I thought, and suggested to me that Townsend was a bit callous about replacing Moon. Nothing could have been further from the truth, of course, as Moonie was very dear to Pete and the Who had The Kids Are Alright and the Quadrophenia films in the works when Moon died. The show had to go on, if only to promote the art, and it was the right thing to do for Quadrophenia in particular. Through the years many of the reunion performances have happened within the context of the two rock operas, which require Townshend and Daltrey to play together, and why hire anybody else but the Ox to play bass? Moon's death did have its effects and Townshend and Daltrey spent more time on other projects. Townshend's Empty Glass (1980) was a fine album - some think it's a masterpiece. Daltrey did a film on his own. They made Face Dances and It's Hard, a couple of so-so efforts but for "Eminence Front", did the farewell tour in 1982 and then broke up. They didn't last very long without Moonie - 4 years, with much of that time spent on other projects. Zep didn't have quite the artistic obligations Townshend had with the Quadrophenia, and its all apples to oranges anyway. While the Who were doing their farewell tour, the Death Wish II soundtrack was out and I was ecstatic about it, happy to hear new stuff from Jimmy and know that he had succeeded expectations to both the film and the album. It's still a terribly underappreciated album. Pictures at Eleven came out later in the year, and, lo and behold, Robert made a fine album which received a lot of radio play and was a good listen and I played it quite a lot that summer while doing a horrible job fingering Robbie Blunt's guitar chords. (Yeah, I was all but convinced Robbie Blunt was Jimmy). Those were proud days to be a Zep head, knowing that they had done the right thing in calling it quits yet were still creating good and sometimes great music for us, though separately. But by 1990-91 the record stores have become cd stores and they're flooded with Led Zeppelin product. The people bought them, and they outsold everybody but Garth Brooks in the 1990s. How this translated into "we can't play with John Paul Jones" I will never understand, and most of what was said about now and than was and is bullshit, imo. I think from 1990 on the surviving members of the Who were more honest with themselves and their fans, let the critics howl and moan about the Tommy tour, which they did -- & who cares what the critics think anyway?
  6. Yep. My ears exactly. The LP sounds perfect - many have mentioned the lack of a bottom end, but it's there in a big way on the original album (vinyl on turntable) to the point where I thought page had perhaps mixed himself down overmuch. As I was reading the comments, kept hearing the opening jump of HOFN and the stumble down of NFBM wondering what album everybody's listening to. Of course, it's the remastered CD, which is "a bit a brittle" and the guitar is edgier. Tea for One, which has a certain warmth on the record, sounds chillingly cold on the CD. Listening to Royal Orleans on the laptop right now, and even in this less than ideal playback environment, it sounds fantastic. Page's attention to detail in arranging the guitar army is mesmerizing in either mix. Presence is not the best Zep album, but it was my favorite of the original eight studio albums for many years (I tend to lean toward Houses these days).
  7. "time is the HEALER" ??? What's that supposed to mean - this band had interpersonal issues that left wounds requiring healing? What is it with these (ex) Deep Purple guys and their assorted band dysfunctions?! I didn't think BCC was together long enough to have dysfunctions. Anyway any news on new BCC?
  8. It's from Indianopolis, IND, Market Square Arena, 25 January 1975. Ever been to Indiana? You'd be slugging Jack too if you had to spend much time in Indy. Apologies in advance if you're from Indiana
  9. Plant in the 1980s. Page in the 1990s-2000 with Coverdale, Plant, Puff-Daddy (Platinum single) and the Black Crowes, plus all the work on the remasters. Jones in the 'aughts thru 2010 and beyond. Interesting how this has played out.
  10. Ozone baby and Living Loving Maid would be good songs for bands not Led Zeppelin. Darlene would be my 3rd, not on the list. Hot Dog also deserves every vote it got. Very surprised that Hats Off and Carouselambra were even on this list, much less getting the most votes. Recount!
  11. Coverdale/Page went Platinum in the U.S. without a supporting tour, something neither Manic Nirvana or Fate of Nations achieved with tours. Coverdale/Page is a great rock record criminally underrated on this board yet oddly enough, was quite a bit more popular in its time than any album released by a solo Led Zeppelin member since Now and Zen in 1988 to present. The steady sales happened despite all of the negatives that surrounded its release -- the utter contempt Page fans had for the idea of our hero working with Coverdale; Plant being first and foremost among us, slagging C/P at every opportunity; no U.S. tour; Coverdale's really so bad so sad feeling stronger/can't wait any longer lyrics; and totally disdainful reviews by an increasingly hip American press suddenly filled with latent punk pretensions out to bury anything that sounded remotely metal. The Coverdale-Page record should have flopped in the grunge era. But it didn't. People who heard the radio release tracks, those who still listened to AOR radio (apparently, they were out there somewhere, and both "Pride and Joy" and "Shake My Tree" were top 5 hot rock hits), dug 'em and went out and bought the record. Apparently, they played it for others who hadn't bought it initially and, by mid-1995, the album was certified Platinum. How and why did C-P become the best selling post-Zep solo effort of the last 25+ years? That's easy. From Page's opening reel on "Shake My Tree", Coverdale-Page is filled with killer rock riffs that put the bands of the day -- Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, G n R (Use Your Illusion era), the Black Crowes, et al. to shame. Tracks like "Over Now" could easily be centerpiece tracks on any Soundgarden album and might be considered classics if they had been. No it's not as hip as Transient Random Noise Bursts (stereolab, 1993) or the great Porno for Pyros record or Independent Worm Saloon, the Butthole Surfers record JPJ produced that year, but hardly anybody bought that stuff and "Feeling Hot" rips like Reverend Horton Heat. If you can ignore the lame-o metal ballad banalities of Coverdale on "Take Me For a Little While" -- track 3 - skip it!!! -- by track six you begin to get the idea that you're listening to one of the best albums of 1993. Track 7 -- "Easy Does It" is classic psychedelic Page w/ noise guitar and another riff that shames the grunge era, and it seals the deal. Musicians are quite probably the reason this album got around. Skip track 8 -- is that Night Ranger or that song from St Elmo's Fire you want to forget? The next track, "Don't Leave Me This Way" is fantastic, a soaring progressive blues tour de force -- I wish the Firm had been this good, and I wish this had been track 3 instead of the metal ballad. Alright, I'm sold. Holy crap - "Absolution Blues" -- Jimmy is on FIRE. No wonder Plant picked up the phone. (EDIT - And they save the best for last: "Whisper A Prayer for the Dying" will haunt you for days and may feature an idea or two from the XYZ sessions swirling around in its mix - another brilliant statement on an album that didn't get its due yet found an audience anyway, on its own merits.) There really should be a new thread, a dedicated re-evaluation of the Coverdale-Page album on its own terms now that Jimmy is effectively retired (age 73) and we can try to look back on it with a clearer, depoliticized lens. This thread is old and nobody seems to have wanted to deal with the OP in years.
  12. He really rips away during Bron-yr-aur Stomp in '77 doesn't he? I can basically agree with most, if not all, of this ^^^^. He is a sculptor of sounds, and his setup w/ Showco for "Guitar Solo" is probably the thing he's most interested in on that tour. To me he's Erich Zann (HP Lovecraft story) at that point, which suggests he's out on a limb and in a different place entirely than he was shredding away in 1973. It's fascinating what he's trying to do there, and we can certainly say his interests r.e. guitar sound have changed a lot by then. Had he been feeling better physically, we may now look on it more logically as "the next step" from the changes in style he made in 1974-75. ..... note on WS/BMS -- it's kind of a personal statement for him, a place where he may feel grounded; and we can probably say he gets lazy at times relaxing in good old DADGAD, a very meditative place to be. As for 1980, I'm not familiar with The Damned (page liked them, later played with their drummer) so much but I do know that some of those licks he plays on the WLL jam in West Berlin can be found on Bauhaus records, and - fast forward 7 years - NY noise bands like Live Skull, Sonic Youth and Band of Susans. In 1980 that is new, new, new stuff to everyone's ears, a kind of No Wave of sorts, and it underscores heavily that Jimmy Page is no ordinary guitar palayer or person. I wish he had gone further down that path, and maybe that's what he and Bonham were playing on the next record, who knows? Anyway, sure sounds like Page knows what he's up to on those pieces (TUF as well). We've hijacked this topic, I'm sorry about that, all, it was done out of good will, certainly ...
  13. I was going for the Trampled Under Foot effect, and also thinking of that other thread where the topic was "Was Jimmy's peak 1973?". If one says he's at his best in 1969 is that an endorsement of the blues, the telecaster, the effects he's using in April 1969, his mental state or that only Hendrix can touch Zep live at that point in rock history? If one says it is 1972-3 is that an endorsement of his chops, the "Houses of the Holy" material, the advanced state of "dazed and confused" (and high fret speed), the good pick feel he had in New York, or Showco's advancements? How does the Led Zeppelin fan come to terms with the dissonance and jazz playing added to his repertoire in 1975? Is "Sick Again" supposed to sound sick or is he just using that mess to warm up? Jimmy Page gives even the greatest of Led Zeppelin fans a lot to think about. He himself has always said that technique doesn't enter into it - that the guitar is merely an instrument for expressing ideas and emotions. Right there, he's got us. To get too much into technique is to miss the point, and isn't being a Zep-head on this forum a nod to the idea that one "gets" Jimmy Page's point? A discussion of Page's guitar technique may not be appropriate for this forum, and I would suggest that it's probably not (not my call, thankfully). This is not the place for Blackmore fans to take shots at Jimmy Page, which is what the question of technique invites and the ditch where the discussion invariably heads, every time. (Hey, I like Highway Star, too, but it's just irrelevant to Jimmy Page's musical approach in 1974-75 - isn't Page quite deliberately heading in a different direction?) Bullseye! I would add that any discussion of pick technique such as the one that happened in the first 1/3 of this thread is largely irrelevant to Jimmy Page, who has always said he struggles with pick technique, and has always said that mistakes are often the most interesting and vital things that happen when playing live. To paraphrase Page again - Technique does not enter into it.
  14. Could be something Yardbirds related. Clearing out the vaults. Finally issuing "Knowing that I'm losing You" (the original "Tangerine")? Maybe he found a way to clean up the Anderson Theater recording. Or the devastatingly good LA Shrine shows. What's better than the Jimmy Page Yardbirds in their final days blasting through "Waiting for the Man"? (Oh, right - Led Zeppelin blasting through "As Long As I have You" medley). Could be about the Joe Cocker single too - "With a Little Help From My Friends" was a 1968 event.
  15. I think this thread would have been more interesting if we ran it through a wah wah pedal and a tone bender w/ mild distortion and everyone agreed to at least attempt to write backwards while simply agreeing to disagree about what the chords are supposed to be.
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