I have been listening to alot of the Crowes lately. Every time I go back to them I realize how great they were. Not many bands can come back after a lull and knock it out of the park with back to back albums in two consecutive years after 20 years together. Warpaint and Before the Frost are great albums and they include some of my favorite Crowes tracks. A great deal of the Crowes rebirth was due to the addition of the amazing Luther Dickinson. (side note - if you never heard the album "The Word" by Medeski, Wood and the North Mississippi All Stars it is a treat. Luther is on fire. Check out the long intro to "Without God" and the hidden track at the end "Joyful Sounds- Reprise" for starters. Luther is joined by Robert Randolph on pedal steel throughout the album. ) Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution - the ultimate distillation of everything that made the Crowes rock Movin on Down the Line - fantastic, spacey No Quarter type opening, and then a rock solid groove. This song blew me away when I saw them in a small club on the Warpaint tour - the opening was much extended and Luther did a slow burn along with the keys. Wounded Bird - a very Zeppelin type song - and in a good way - not the stuff like Whitesnake and Kingdom Come which never sounded anything like Zeppelin. Good Morning Captain - another classic Crowes romping rocker A Train Still Makes a Lonely Sound - perfection Of course my favorite Crowes album is Southern Harmony. When it was released I thought many of the tracks were in a Zeppelin vein, but not in the caricature nonsense way that bands like Whitesnake and Kingdom Come were "said" to "sound like Zeppelin" which they did not at all . To my ears the following tracks were very Zeppelin like in spirit, in lyrics, and in overall power and intensity. Sometimes Salvation - son of "For Your Life" but it is a Crowes original through and through. Heavy, great lyrics and that Robinson vocal especially at the end!! Wow. Lyrics are akin to both For Your Life and Hots on for Nowhere. Hotel Illness. Could be a cross between elements of LZ III and PG, but it is not an imitation. It is pure Crowes. No Speak No Slave - This is in the spirit of Presence. Those guitars. So much power and wall to wall intensity. My Morning Song - When the Levee Breaks meets In My Time of Dying meets In the Evening . Fantastic oblique Plant type lyrics. Great structure and arrangement. Blistering guitar in a rock/blues tradition . This may be the best Crowes track ever. This album was a breath of fresh air after the insipid hair metal of the 80s. I liked Pearl Jam back then in 1992, but this Crowes album was rooted in rock and the blues, it was a connection to a byegone era but with a new attitude and energy. One more great Zep like Crowes track from later - Horsehead. Again with For Your Life type lyrics and heavy guitar/bass/drums. When they played this with Page in 2000, it was a revelation. To hear Jimmy jamming on this track was amazing. My brother turned to me and said "What the hell is this?? It kicks ass !!". He was there for Page and knew very little about the Crowes outside rock radio.

For the 80s I should have mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble U2 - including 1990 Achtung Baby Big Country - at least their first two albums - both excellent

I am glad they did not. Their covers of old rock and roll tunes was best done live, in particular, C'mon Everybody- Something Else - Long Tall Sally at RAH January 1970, and in countless WLL Medleys. These types of covers benefit from the energy and looseness of a live show. Usually when bands cover "oldies" they get overproduced and stale, particularly if the band is already "established". One notable exception to this is the Beatles, because their best covers were done when they were still young and hungry. Their early covers of songs like Slow Down, Bad Boy, and especially Long Tall Sally are brimming with enthusiasm and energy.

I can't believe I forgot Tom Verlaine - those first two Television albums are incredible. Of course their other guitarist - Richard Lloyd - was also fantastic. So cool that someone on a LZ forum mentioned Tom Verlaine!

I have been thinking about the origins of "heavy" music. Many people think of Wagner but he is not my cup of tea. I think about these pieces as the origins of heavy music. 18th Century Bach Toccata and Fugue in d minor 19th Century Beethoven Moonlight Sonata, 3rd movement Chopin Etude 12 in c minor, the "Revolutionary", Polonaise op 53 in A flat - the "Heroic" Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain - original piano solo version and later orchestral versions Franz Liszt - Mazzepa - piano solo and orchestral versions, his piano solo version of Franz Schubert's song "Erlkonig", and Transcendental Etude No. 8 the "Wilde Jagt"

I don't like any guitarists more than I like Page. Other players I enjoy alot, in no particular order: Django Reinhardt Steve Howe David Gilmour Martin Barre Ritchie Blackmore Stevie Ray Vaughan Duane Allman Dickie Betts Buck Dharma (Donald Roeser) Adrian Legg Leo Kottke Jorma Kaukonen George Harrison (in the Beatles - solo work not as much) Joe Perry Brad Whitford Tony Rice Doc Watson Norman Blake Dan Crary John Fogerty Jerry Garcia Michael Monarch (Steppenwolf) Gary Rossington, Alan Collins, Ed King, and Steve Gaines Duke Robillard Ronnie Earl Carlos Santana

To me Outrider was a let down due to the vocals and lyrics. The only truly great track on Outrider is The Only One. Plant is so great on that track. His phrasing and delivery are unique. And those typical Plant oblique lyrics. Yes Jimmy is a powerhouse on the album and the tour was great, but frankly John Miles was horrible and Chris Farlowe was almost worse. So generic and so boring. When I listen to Outrider today I am thinking The Only One is what Zeppelin could have been in the 80s. It is fresh, different and not just 70s Zeppelin. I also think Crackback from Scream for Help is another example of what Zeppelin could have been in the 80s. It has the magic and spark. Now if Jones had been involved in Outrider it could have been special, at least instrumental tracks.

1. How Many More Times - Danish TV The first time I saw it I thought this is the best guitar solo ever. I still think that. 2. No Quarter - TSRTS 3. Stairway to Heaven - TSRTS 4. Immigrant Song BBC and HTWWW 5. Celebration Day Osaka 71, Toronto 71, and TSRTS As amazing as all the medley and blues solos are I like these the most because they are so creative and unlike anything else.

90s - Number 1 - The Black Crowes by a wide margin Second - Pearl Jam 60s - I think Credence is Top 10 70s - It is difficult to not include the Allman Brothers even though their peak was brief 1969-1973. I also think Skynyrd should be given consideration. I would not put Queen in my top 10. But most certainly Aerosmith belongs in any top ten 70s list. Their albums up through Rocks are all absolute gems and Draw The Line is pretty good - and it has one of the great album title tracks of all time.

One of my favorite Deep Purple releases is the reissue of Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Great music and fantastic recording. The band is spot on. You can really hear Glover and Blackmore's sound is clean and crisp. Much less heavy and muddy than Made in Japan. The bonus disc with Hush, Wring that Neck, and Child in Time is amazing. The recording is so good. Blackmore's guitar solo on Child in Time is to my ears much better and more creative than the one on Made in Japan. The highlights though are the Blackmore jams in Movement One and Movement Three of the Concerto. Inspired genius. For a few moments he is casting about for ideas but when he hits his stride watch out. The playing is so clean. Amazing stuff. Does anyone here have the Gemini Suite? Is it as good as the original Concerto?

Last few days Deep Purple Concerto for Group and Orchestra - including the bonus disc with just the band Yes - Progeny - The Best of '72

Two of my favorite covers are both of JJ Cale songs Call Me the Breeze by Skynyrd They made this song their own. Incredible piano break by Billy Powell, great horns, and that blistering solo by Gary Rossington. Everything is perfect, including all the coolo countrified electric guitar fills. Bringing it Back by Kansas. A wonderful story song, played powerfully. The fiddle really makes this track but everyone plays very well. Honorable mention goes to Tulsa Time at the ARMS show. I love it when Page blows Beck and Clapton off the stage with his over the top distorted solo. Jimmy is so into it. I love the look that Clapton gives to Beck after Jimmy's visceral assault. Clapton and Beck were trying to play like respectable grown ups and Page played like a young kid with something to prove. It is an incredible moment.

I should also have mentioned Four Way Street - especially Carry On - one of the coolest four guitar jams ever recorded Renaissance - Live at Carnegie Hall and British Tour '76. So much great material, such amazing vocals, and Jon Camp on the bass. Fantastic

Not counting HTWWW and TSRTS remastered with the additional songs: I cannot really put these in an order Pink Floyd - Umma Gumma - the live disc from Mothers in Birmingham June 1969. Astronomy Dominae and the end of Saucerful of Secrets alone are worth the price of admission. Yes - Progeny - Highlights from 72. So much better than the original Yessongs Deep Purple - the bonus live disc that comes with the remastered live Concerto for Group and Orchestra. It has only Hush, Wring that Neck, and Child in Time, but the performance and sound are incredible. The sound mix is much, much better than Made in Japan. What the heck - the whole Concerto for Group and Orchestra is amazing as well so I will include the entire 2 disc CD here. It is so well recorded. Both the entire orchestra and the band come through very well. Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii. Just this version of Echoes alone would make my top five live albums. I much prefer it to the studio version. Yesshows - it has live Gates of Delirium, Going for the One, and Parallels

Besides Plant, for male vocalists I would have to say Paul McCartney. After that, Steve Walsh of Kansas. Female vocalists: Sandy Denny, Annie Haslam, Ann Wilson

No one rivals them for hard rock, but in terms of overall diversity, creativity, power and excellence I would say the following are close. In no particular order because it all depends on what types of music you like: Beatles Pink Floyd Yes - up through Tormato Jethro Tull - a few clunker albums in there (War Child, Too Old to Rock and Roll) but up through Songs From the Wood superb output. I think Minstrel in the Gallery is their best.

The others compose and play modern music, what some call "modern classical", which is a misnomer since classical music covers from about 1770 - 1820. It is very edgy stuff, quite interesting and it is not surprising to me that the man who wrote and orchestrated the end of "Snake Eyes" would be into it. Look them up on YouTube. Some amazing stuff. Lindberg even wrote a piece called "Graffitti". Imagine that.

Earlier I listed Annie Haslam of Renaissance. Lately I have been listening to alot of Sandy Denny with Fairport Convention and I would say she should be in the discussion as well. So many amazing performances, in particular "Who Knows Where the Time Goes", but really all of the first album, Unhalfbricking, and Lief and Liege. And Battle of Evermore. I do have to agree that Ann Wilson is excellent, and I guess if we are focusing on "rock" I would have to agree that she is at the top of that list. I just do not like any of their material after 1978. Those early Heart albums are a tour de force. Annie Haslam cannot really be considered "rock", but what a voice.

While not perhaps a vocal performance peak, Mighty Rearranger is by far my favorite Plant album, and clearly one of his best. There is a great variety of interesting material, light and heavy, some great lyrics, some edgy moments. I think it shows Plant accepting his Zeppelin roots. In many ways it is his most Zeppelin album. That is why it is my favorite. It is not a Zeppelin ripoff but it has the adventurous spirit of Zeppelin with all of Plant's best qualities.

Page had so many peaks in 1969-73. It is hard to say which is the peak. The Danish TV HMMT solo is a marvel of raw biting tone and unbelievable dexterity, fluidity and emotion. It to me is one of his finest moments ever. But he also continued to grow stylistically beyond his blues roots. He really got creative and threw out the rule book in songs like Immigrant Song and Celebration Day in 1971. He was really stretching the boundries there. In some ways 1973 was the final consolidation, where he added even more creativity in solos like No Quarter, and he reached the peak of rock/rockabilly/blues/swing playing in WLL. I know they are doctored up a bit but it does not get much better than TSRTS WLL, unless of course we look at TSRTS Dazed, which has so many approaches and styles it is difficult to keep up. Special mention must be given to TSRTS Stairway solo, a monument to creativity and skill if there ever was one. From 1975 on he was better suited to the newer material like Kashmir, IMTOD, Trampled, etc. His rhythm playing and riffs were still unmatched but his lead playing suffered a great deal, except on perhaps IMTOD and Trampled. On some nights the Kashmir ended crazed chromatic jams were also special. The great thing about Jimmy is that there is so much variety to keep exploring and discovering.

I agree with this. His voice was really good on the Honeydrippers. I was also glad to see some folks mentioning ITTOD. In my view, Fool in the Rain is some of his finest singing ever, along with All My Love. I just wish his vocals had been as strong on the whole album. He is not mixed well on In the Evening or maybe he is tentative in his delivery, as he was in so maddening a fashion on his first solo album. Hot Dog has very strong vocals as well - even though he lost his early Live voice after 1971, he could still bring it in the studio. If only he had sung South Bound Saurez and In the Evening with the projection and power he had on Fool in the Rain and Hot Dog. As an aside, one of my very favorite Plant vocal moments is the gritty, raspy second half of Night Flight. That is just an amazing performance.

10 Ribs and All

O2 is great but the best version ever is June 21, 1977

Minstrel in the Gallery is a fantastic album. The title track alone is worth the price of admission. Add in Cold Wind to Valhalla and the amazing Black Satin Dancer and there you have it !

I wish Badfinger had done more all out rockers like "Rock of all Ages". Killer guitar in that song.