The only thing those playlists do is drive home the point that compilation albums are completely superfluous these days - anyone can make their own and it'll be virtually indistinguishable from an 'official' version. Except that the compiler won't have left off any of your favourite songs...

Stuff like this always makes me glad I've never done merch!

'Real drummers', 'proper drummers, 'playing to impress' and 'mediocre technically' - four quotes from this thread which give you a clue about Gibson's priorities. Fuck the content, stand back in amazement at the technical ability. Yeah, that Shakespeare - couldn't spell his own name the same way twice, what a shit writer, eh...?

If Buddy Guy had Jimmy's money, would he still be out slogging around? Maybe, I dunno. You have to wonder, though...

Said this elsewhere, but it probably bears repeating in this thread: if Jimmy can't be bothered with it any more, do we really want to see him reluctantly turn up, toss it off and go through the motions? What value is there in that, really? Steve A. Jones once said something about Jimmy being an emotional player, rather than a technical one. I think that's exactly right. If Jimmy played with an emotional connection to the guitar that was basically 'I'd rather be at home', the result would be more travesty than triumph. If he doesn't want to do it, he's right not to. When all's said and done, he's Jimmy Page, FFS - hasn't he already given us more than enough?

If Jimmy can't be bothered with it any more, do we really want to see him reluctantly turn up, toss it off and go through the motions? What value is there in that, really? Steve A. Jones once said something about Jimmy being an emotional player, rather than a technical one. I think that's exactly right. If Jimmy played with an emotional connection to the guitar that was basically 'I'd rather be at home', the result would be more travesty than triumph. If he doesn't want to do it, he's right not to. He's Jimmy Page, FFS - hasn't he already given us more than enough?

I never listen to the radio - why sit there passively while some clown decides what music you're going to listen to? I don't get it.

I know some bands have made an effort (eg. the King Crimson stuff above), but I still have this residual view of 'anniversary' releases as a marketing dept. scam, so I never even got my hopes up, let alone actually expected anything from this. Given Jimmy's repeated failure to back up his claims about future activity, I long ago learned to just ignore what he says about stuff like this. Even if he means it when he says it, chances are he's not going to bother in the end. Saved myself a lot of disappointment, this way. What does baffle me is Jimmy's aim of a ten-year release programme - I can't even work out what he thinks he's doing with that one!

The idea that John Bonham wasn't a 'real drummer' because he didn't play as though he'd got eight arms and four legs is like these daft kids thinking that wapping out a million notes a minute makes you a good guitarist. Piffle. It's just empty decoration. It says absolutely nothing to me. Here's an example: I saw Jon Hiseman open for Billy Cobham in Sheffield in 1981. Out of those two, Cobham showed he could go diddlywiddly around a kit faster than Hiseman. Big deal. Neither of them played anything that made any kind of emotional impact on me, whatsoever. The emotional impact of Bonham's drumming? Still there after 42 years. Every damn time I hear it.

My thoughts, exactly.

Absolutely.

There's a vast difference between those who use their influences and those who just replicate them. Buckley and Greta are perfect examples, respectively.

And that's just on this site!

If Page and Plant were as skint as Fripp is after decades of disputes with record companies over royalties, they might be more amenable to something akin to the King Crimson releases!