What Steve said is enormously valid. People who didn't actually experience the 60's and 70's as well have no idea how powerful rock was as an overall force back then , not now where rock is one minuscule thing among video games, the net, the huge expansion of cable , etc. And I think rock has run it's course, just like rap is being more integrated and on the downhill slope, although a decade or two may be needed before rap really morphs into some other dominant or emerging sound. As well the breakup of the music industry, very hard to predict artistry, touring, trends towards smaller or bigger venues ??? Looking back into history, no need to worry about some amazing music coming from somewhere, barring a nuclear apocalypse or something.

What a great but truly perplexing question. I personally think that within the power trio structure that emerged from the 60's(Zep "3"+Plant) there could arise a band which uses some of the technologies of today along with tremendous instrumental and emotional power to create something really amazing. Remember, Hendrix was a monster player, but he was certainly helped along by some of the effects pedals that were literally being created for him. However, I consider Bonham to be the best rock musician ever-- just look upon his tremendous impact on music of all stripes after he died. And the other band members' total inability to find anyone even remotely close in their solo projects, regardless if his "style" was being sought or not. New forms of music will always arise, and they may be astounding in their own way, but Zep also belongs to the class of actual playing musicians, not mimers and programmed synths. Their entire presentation, musically and visually, is of mythic archetypes. These things cannot be easily manufactured or push buttoned into existence. Overall it's very unlikely anything like Zep will arise again.

Besides all else, however Coverdale has acted/performed/sang, I think a lot of the time he isn't really taking himself seriously. I myself have mixed opinions of him, but I really have never heard him ever boasting whatsoever of his musical prowess. I think Page liked him as well because he was supposedly a pretty funny guy, a barrel of laughs.

Well what I recall was Page was totally GOLD standard in 79' and it is maybe not that known that there were practically no shabby boots from 77' to tarnish him, not even Destroyer really. I'm not even sure that fans who came into Zep years after Bonzo's death realize what a GOD Page was before all the revelations and boots with bad playing emerged. Anyway Clapton and Beck were great, but neither had the killer combo of great solos and GREAT songwriting for a decade straight. EVH was considered a revolutionary, but although they were (VH) blistering live, they never came up with songs as deep as Zep's, and in 79' obviously Eddie didn't yet have a long track record. The "Blast-Off Solo"-- was considered awesome, but back then if you tried that on any Strat, forget it--the rest of the song would be ruined, and it would take another 5 minutes to tune back up. Actually a good tech even back then could set up your Strat to "Blast--off", but you would still risk breaking a string, tuning nightmares, etc.,.

I agree with Steve but(not Albini) and particularly Flares. Jones and Lee were fine live however starkly not up to Page and Plant in the studio. The production and mix , although it's good to experiment, IMO just don't fit P/P. Imagine Richards and Jagger with some mainstays of Zep studio production--- long tailed reverb, sometimes cavernous, heavy delay, much ambient miking on the drums--- forget it. Not a bad album, some very good tracks, some interesting departures as mentioned. The departures to me though don't sound all that successful. "Heart" yes, but some sound like sketches, not complete.

Well, not sure if this is of interest, but my father built houses, was an architect, could wire a house(although was not certified). Actually codes vary tremendously even in the U.S., obviously though in richer areas and historic places usually there are stringent rules in place. For example, my cousin's former house in Weymouth, Mass. had series wiring in the house. That is very old and it means one outlet/fuse blows, the whole house goes out. They were never required to update to parallel wiring, which only knocks out a few outlets at a time. I hate to steer blame to Jimmy, as other owners could have updated the electric as well. But given Jimmy's wealth and supposed dedication to Crowley, here is an example of Jimmy's cheapness actually leading to a bad outcome. Not entirely his fault, but other rock stars I'm sure would have updated the electric pronto, as you could actually die from the situation.

Yeah, that's a damn good approximation. I as well salute Page for even when he was burning the candle at both ends and in the middle, his creativity on ITTOD had no limit and that "blast-off" in ITE had Jimmy outdoing the young and reckless EVH , for a few seconds, anyway. I was around when the song was first released and it never failed to make my hair stand on end. Jimmy Page, Sonic Sculptor !!!!

I find it interesting that I don't think any of the band members themselves ever referred to the Denmark gigs as anything special, yet Page sometimes called the Knebworth shows "magical". Page was touched by the fans' response at Knebworth, but for me those shows were rather uneven. Still an amazing mystery how Page played so amazingly on 7/24.

One of my faves is 10-26 or 10-27 95' at MSG, the last show with Cure guitarist on board. Another is NO 98' with an unbelievable version of HMMT. Page's solo is just blazing, even matching early versions and the bow solo is almost more unworldly than Lucifer Rising. Sometimes even with Zep Page ended up disjointed or ineffectual with the bow. Here and in other 98' shows the bow solos are spectacular and malevolent.

Yeah I find some of the microscopic criticism of Page in 07' on this thread overbearing. Page wasn't spectacular, but 75% of his playing was good or very good and yes some of the rest was uneven or shaky. But some forget that even some of Zep's greatest shows have patches where Page is staggering a bit. IMO some of Page's playing on some of the 71' BBC stuff is a bit lazy (is this considered a great show, even ??) and a noticeable amount of solos seem to be very Claptonesque, lacking Page's usual sting. And even the 77' Forum shows, many solos may peak at some point, but there are noticeable potholes. Just listen to as many 98' shows as possible, you shall also discover how consistent Jimmy was on this tour, even early Zep Jimmy was prone IMO to more ups and downs than his contemporaries.

Hopefully I am wrong but there does seem to be something strange here. Some of the commenting on the 98' shows sounds like some are possibly commenting on shows/songs that they have never heard. NO 98' has to be one of Page's most blazing HMMT ever. The technique is thru the roof( What slowdown, .05 % !?!?) and a bow solo that without all the bells and whistles comes close to sounding as monstrous as Lucifer Rising. As far as inactivity, Page does/has suffered from major anxiety from stage fright, and insecurity about his playing. As well he may know that he may have to jump back into alcohol/drug use to get thru things. For other people, if this is the case, nobody understands this. But none of this should matter much as far as practicing at home, or practicing with other musicians in private situations.

Many people don't realize that unless an aging guitarist directly gets arthritis or some related unfortunate malady, continued practice will reduce almost all "ability" loss to insignificant. Carlos Santana is 68, I can't hear any decline. Pat Martino is a guitarist well known in jazz circles, he is 68 and uses strings almost twice as thick as Jimmy's, he'll blow your head off. Allan Holdsworth is a totally innovative fusion guitarist whose playing requires monster technique, he can still do it at I believe 68. All at 68. Of course, everyone of these players have played daily for decades. There actually are certain instruments that become much harder to play as you age, but guitar is not one of them.

I understand what everyone's saying but it is very apparent that some of the posters have only heard one or two 98' shows. Page had significantly slowed down at this point !?!? I have many of these shows, and in fact overall Page is more technically together FOR SURE than 77' on, and even matched or played more consistently than 75'. 95' sure, is more uneven. The hybrid picking , absolutely, is declined, period. And TSRTS from 07', yup, a bit of a shambles. But many 77' TSRTS versions had awful leads or hybrid leads as well.

Yeah I agree with a lot of that. All the players WD mentioned are/were excellent, but few of them played as unpredictably live as Page(actually Blackmore sort of), most solos were an adventure, good or bad. And the first 5-6 years live there were plenty of good/great guitar antics overall during the majority of shows. Strangely enough EVH actually compared his live soloing approach to Page, being an acrobat on guitar. Which Page certainly especially was when his technique was up there.

I too find it incredible when Zep fans call Knebworth some last hurrah. Actually the rest of the band tends to hold its' own. I also want to know, in what article or interview did Page say his alcohol/drug use tanked many 73' shows ?? He never quite admits the drug destruction really at any point. Anyway there is plenty of excellent playing after 73', even in 79' the 2nd Copenhagen show is by any standards a great show, even for Jimmy.

Very good version and Page does indeed "blast-off", although still noticeably different than the studio version. But it doesn't matter much, it's somewhere in the ballpark and it has the intended effect. Interesting, the shows I have Jimmy doesn't even try that part.

That is some interesting story about the wiring situation. Hate to say this, but I do feel another owner not as thrifty as Page would have automatically updated the wiring. It's not as if Page bought some half collapsed, roof leaking derelict mansion somewhere with the electric not even functioning, and he would be sinking $100,000 just to get the power on. I am sorry my comments about the U.K. attitude towards the supernatural were misinterpreted. I suppose it must have come out like I believe all Brits and Scots don't leave their house without consulting a horoscope,, and that every odd sound in a house, castle,etc., must be coming from mysterious paranormal sources. And of course not everybody screams psycho if somebody says ghosts were seen, but don't tell a cop that. Just know that on a person to person basis wherever a person comes from, I have no set attitude about their supernatural beliefs, among MANY other more important things.

There are certainly many places in the U.S. where the supernatural or "paranormal" activity is more accepted than in other places or regions. You can even call the "Bible Belt" in the Southern U.S. such a place. As I stated, I have never been to the U.K.. Apparently the books I have read and the shows I have watched about English hauntings were propaganda and somehow were intended to make English or Scottish people look unscientific or unsophisticated. Where I live it is not practical or wise to mention things like that(paranormal,etc.), but I think overall every person feels differently about such things. Anyway it's pointless to argue about such things, or what came before the Big Bang.

Mildly interesting, but really only because Page and Crowley had lived in the house. And both have been wildly accused of things mired only in speculation. Never been to England, but supposedly because of the ancient age of many structures and history, more people in the U.K. accept supernatural events as a matter of course, not a symptom of psychosis as here. Oh well.

One of the problems today is that there is such amazing technology about that a prankster could very well sample the "blast off", add a bit of dirt and diff EQ to create a mild difference, and there you go. This of course has been going on forever on bootlegs, and in the last 10-15 yrs in particular many "average" boots have been quite skillfully(some made worse, too) made considerably better thru various audio and computer means.

It's surely possible that Page tried something like it, it would be really cool if someone could upload or post that version. Again I really don't think just one guitar could do it; if you started throwing in loopers and live multi trackers you could get closer, but getting exactly the springs and moving metal on the guitar precisely, very difficult. I have about 15 95'-96' shows and Page never attempts that awesome "blast-off" tremelo crashing, he just pauses very slightly and plays a conventional solo, although if I remember right he may have been using an octave pedal or whammy pedal on parts of it.

Well one thing that most "critics" at least agree on is that bands like Lynrd Skynrd, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers, King Crimson, Eric Clapton, etc., etc., have generally provided far more varied and interesting alternate material than the Zep stuff. Not that the Zep companions were trashed, just mostly underwhelming. The one thing never mentioned is Jones and Plant apparently just telling Jimmy he can do what he wants. This is understandable given the tensions involved, but also unfortunate. I am weird in that I thought Jimmy might go wild and throw some real curveballs, which I believe do exist, instead he plays it real conservative. When I followed Zep as a kid, they were expected to blow your head off, not make you think that maybe you liked a track, maybe not.

Well he certainly has the parts exactly after the "blast off", but Page couldn't even recreate that live, just like he couldn't recreate the WLL studio solo live. Not positive, but I think Page in some interview talked about the ITE solo , that it was a collage of sound from the strings being perhaps an octave(?) lower and the springs moving. The WLL solo, by the way, has wah wah, reverse echo and various other treatments that would sound very fake if attempted stomp box style.

Possibly but the studio "blast off"almost sounds like a few things mixed together. I mean it almost sounds like the Strat springs themselves are being miked or have their own pickup. Also as amazing as EVH is, Iv'e never heard him sound anything like that live or in the studio. Page could simulate part of it live with a Rose , but again my ears hear not just hitting the strings depressed and then pulling up, etc., but various "ambient" sounds coming from the guitar , possibly miked. Actually, if you can play it, I'd love to hear it posted.

Well there are great live versions of this song, IMO more so 95' and further ??? Anyway I have never heard a live version with the studio "blast-off", that is as someone posted a overdub and even if Jimmy tried something like that live the Strat would likely go way out of tune and wreck the rest of the song. If there is a version with that amazing blast off live, surely post it here.