Played the album again today, after about a year, and it's a truly crushing release. Apart from one turd tune (Feelin Hot), and a very sterile acoustic guitar tone, it's an amazing album. It was recorded in my town, and I am fortunate enough to have a few Page autographs and goodies from his time here. Also love the fact that Page played harmonica on this release and did a great job of it. And the guitar solo in Take Me For a Little While is arguably one of Jimmy's best ever. This disc, along with Walking Into Clarksdale, and The Pictures at Eleven, are my three favourite post Zep releases.

Jimmy sloppy? Don't you have to play to be sloppy?

Robert Plant's lyrics can seem nonsensical on an intuitive level, but in fact, they often have an autobiographical leaning to them. He uses a metaphorical style, which can be hard to relate to, but it would be a mistake to assume that Stairway's lyrics are just random prose. I think Sagitarius Rising's interpretation is not far from the mark, and the fact that Robert always said that Stairway was a "song of hope" should illustrate that it's lyrics had meaning, or else he would not have categorized them the way he did. To be a rock and not to roll.......indeed.

There are many bands as good as Zeppelin, but they did not have the secret recipe of hits, deep cuts, accessibility, mystique, and personality as Zeppelin did. That is not to suggest that they weren't great bands. They just weren't as prolific as Zeppelin.

They are both good, but the Mercury pressing is definitely better. I kept a copy of each sealed, and have a play copy of each.

I've got 4 copies on vinyl (2 U.S. Pressings on Atlantic, and 2 UK pressings on Mercury). I love this album to bits, but I agree that the vinyl sounds much better than the CD; especially the UK pressing.....wow. Sad that so few like this album, because I adore it for the fact that it is essentially an album of deep cuts, and it is so nice to see Page step into a different, more restrained approach, to his playing. Glad you like your vinyl copy; a great investment on vinyl as the prices have really climbed over the years.

Nah. I dislike Coverdale because he is a gross Neanderthal, and not because Plant hates him. It's not the voice that matters; it's the message, and that is where Coverdale fails in spades, much of the time. As for Plant, I only tolerate Robert, so nothing he says sways me.....ever.

Plonker indeed, but let's be honest, Plant's a pretty good plonker himself.

Thank-you so much. We hope it turns out as planned. The last time was soooo disappointing and expensive.

The wife and I are flying out to see the rescheduled Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver shows AGAIN. We did the same thing a month ago, and the dates were all cancelled on us. That was disappointing.

I agree with you here. I don't hate Coverdale, but I do find him to be a bit of an arrogant neanderthal. Having said that, I could see why anyone would dislike him, but Robert took it to a whole different level. You and I can banter back and forth, and critique Coverdale, in relative anonimity, but Robert took his celebrity and used it against David, in a very public way. That was wrong, and it was cheap. Mind you, I've never considered Robert to be a "nice guy", so I shouldn't be surprised. Nonetheless, Robert's public bashing of Coverdale was in poor taste.

Still my favorite post Zeppelin album, bar none. Just love it. Most High is epic.

That was very interesting thanks for posting.

Yes, very true. I don't agree with Plant on much of anything, but on the Coverdale thing, we are on the same Page.

Yes, that was interesting, indeed. Thanks for posting. And, if I had a dollar for every time that Coverdale said, "In essence", and "In no way shape or form", I'd be able to skip work tomorrow. His pomposity is unequalled.

Yup. Very true.

Whatchootalkinabout Willis?!

Yes, that is what I believe, and everybody should believe it. There has been absolutely nothing preventing Jimmy from being active for the past 17 years, except a lack of desire. Isn't the proof, as born out in his past decade and then some, enough to make it obvious, to even the most optimistic of fans? Anybody can believe what they want, but I'm certainly not going to waste any more energy on waiting for Jimmy "to be seen playing again". I am happy if he is happy. Everyone is entitled to retire, and I only wish he would be more honest with his fans.

Totally agree. I just wish he could be a little more dignified, and honest about his career.

You got one thing wrong: Jimmy has lost his passion for playing guitar, almost entirely. He still loves music, but he is more than content to live his life, collect records, dabble with Zeppelin releases, and be the steward of Zeppelin's legacy. All of this is perfectly okay, but as always, Jimmy feels it necessary to keep his options open, and be less than truthful about a future endeavour, which he knows will likely never get off the ground. It's a fool's errand to wait on Jimmy's next solo project.

Heavybluesfan, yes, I enjoyed the O2 vs '98 comparison, although it was disappointing to see the deficiencies spelled out in plain view. It's been a while since I watched TSRTS, but I did watch the DAC video you posted, and in that era Page was amazing, and as good as anyone. How do you think Page stacks up against Iommi, for instance? I have my thoughts on this, but am more interested to hear yours. And I want to be clear, despite Page's issues, he was hard to beat in the studio. If all we had were the studio albums, and especially Presence, it would be hard not to think that the man walked on water, with the odd exception.

I have that video, and I never counted Jimmy out. I too was awe struck when I met Jimmy, but not sure what that has to do with anything.

Yes. This is true. Jimmy is wonderful, but even as fans, we should be able to acknowledge that his playing suffered tremendously at times, for whatever reason, and although a great writer, arranger, producer, and technician, it has been many, many years since Jimmy kept company with the truly technically proficient players. He would have been better off not trying to be a show boat, and instead play within his comfort zone. David Gilmour is an example of a "three note player", but he sure makes those three notes count, and his tone and style are amazing. I will say that I think Jimmy played really well, all things considered, at the O2, and in 1998 he was actually quite remarkable. He has the capability, but Jimmy was never really about being a master of his instrument. He was more a rock and roller, lifestyle and all, with a broad skill set. Some might call him a jack of all trades. It's hard to be all things to all people, but Jimmy's body of work is amazing. Is he a virtuoso? Nope, never has been. He was good at times and bad at others, but he still wrote some of the greatest tunes of our times (or took credit for them). I will certainly give Jimmy credit for his studio playing where unlimited takes were at his disposal; he really excelled in that environment. I still love the guy, but despite my best efforts to brainwash myself, I can't deny the issues that Jimmy has had over the years, and which have quite rightly impacted on his reputation as a player.

Nicely said. As as an aside, I would love to see another compare / contrast, but this time between TSRTS Knebworth '79, and TSRTS O2 '07.

That was pretty cool.