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Jiri

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Posts posted by Jiri

  1. What made Queen so popular in the 80ies was their clever use of the new medium video. Over here everybody (even kids) knows the videos to "Radio Gaga", "Bohemian Rhapsody" or their (pseudo-)live footage. They had several #1-hits in the 80ies and released X-Mas singles ;)

    LZ made themselves quite special by not appearing on TV too much or releasing extensive film footage.

    Pink Floyd made their way into the 80ies with their enormous success of "Another Brick In The Wall". After that it was their sheer bombast of their rare live performances, I think.

    I don´t know what would have happened if LZ had decided to move on...IMHO it was better for their legacy to split up. They didn´t turn into a lame sellout as many other once very good bands...

  2. Being more 'well known' is not the same argument as being bigger/more popular.

    Yes, yes, yes. IT IS! That was my point. You just didn´t get it. :(

    And, yes, I wasn´t aware of LZ havin a #1 in Germany. As much as I am not aware of who is the #1 right now. Get my drift... B)

  3. Yes, you are right. That´s not bad. B)

    But they didn´t get airplay. And have you also checked the Charts Positions of Smokie, Deep Purple and others?

    Plus 1972 was the first year of album charts in Austria. So, you can see how much albums meant back then. Yes, it changed throughout the 70ies. And - as I stated earlier - Led Zeppelin became bigger after 1993, which explains the sales in the 90ies.

    The facts remain the same:

    In the Continental Europe of the 70ies Led Zeppelin were ONE of the best known bands.

    They were not the No. 1 choice of radio DJs, journalists and teenagers.

    When it comes to rock: Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and Queen ruled the scene. Until punk and the new wave of British metal arrived.

    Since we don´t have AOR-radio they never got the airplay they deserved. Because radio has always defined what is essential and what people talk about and which SINGLES should be bought.

  4. Eurgh, I'm done now. I'll go back to watching the Germany/Austria game on telly.

    F.ck, we lost! :(

    @Mangini

    Maybe I didn´t make it clear enough that I meant CONTINENTAL Europe. I can´t speak for the UK.

    I work for a big media company and I did some research: LZ have been played by Austrian radio stations (market of 8 million people) FOUR (!) times in the year 2007.

    :( :( :( :( :(

    Proud Mary by CCR about 100 times per WEEK!!!!

    Double that for Smokie...

    I know they were more like pop bands but this is about general popularity, right?

    Easy Livin´, Lady In Black, Child In Time, Proud Mary, Highway Star, Children Of The Revolution - HARD TO BELIEVE BUT IT`S TRUE - songs by other bands were just more "popular" in Germany, France, Italy, etc.

    LZ just weren´t commercial enough to be played whether on Top40-radio or by cover bands.

    And it´s not about record sales alone. It´s also about how often they´ve been covered by magazines, TV coverage and - most important - AIRPLAY!

    Thank god this changed a bit since kids started to buy LZ records after the Grunge thing happened.

  5. I had the most funny conversation today with one of my coworkers. He told me that you were considered a bit nerdy when you were into LZ. Or arrogant and "different". Can you dig that? :D

    The Who or the Stones or 10 Years After were the "normal" bands.

    And what's also surprising for people from the US: everybody here knows and loves CCR (they get airplay every 10 minutes here) but nobody knows Grateful Dead. Nobody! Well, maybe the name but that's it. Same with Allmann Brothers.

    I also think the European prototype of a famous Classic Rock band everybody knows (and has at home) is Queen.

  6. TO ALL THE GUYS FROM THE US and UK..

    There were no actual pop/rock-stations in continental Europe until the mid 1960ies!!!

    You could hear classical music, easy listenin, domestic stuff and maybe a bit of Elvis on the very same station :blink:

    Europe was pretty much "post-war" until then. The only chance to listen to pop or blues or rock was on US Air Force networks or via the infamous Radio Luxemburg, who played rock'n'roll and had proper charts.

    The Beatlemania changed eveything and by 1967 there were pop/rock stations all over Europe. Thank god they were mostly public stations, so the enthusiastic young DJs didn't have to think about the ratings and could basically play what they wanted to. So there was some pretty cool shit on the air back then! Like Led Zeppelin!

    Regarding AOR:

    To run an AOR-station properly, you need a metropolitan area! Of course there are big cities in Europe but the metropolitan areas around them are less important and not as big as the American ones.

    So in continental Europe there are pretty much Top-40-stations, only very few stations dare to play a bit of Album-Rock. So until now almost NO LZ ON THE RADIO!

    Another thing:

    AOR listeners are mostly male. Advertisement industries focus on women. So no real money in AOR unless you got lots of males. Where do you find lots of (single) males?

    Right. Downtown... B)

  7. I know this sounds sort of provoking. Especially to American fans. But let me tell you that Led Zeppelin have had a much smaller fan base in continental Europe than in the US.

    Many of my American friends were surprised that Led Zeppelin is not a general memory of the 70ies but (has become) some sort of "music for specialists" in Europe. People here maybe know STH but "Dust in the Wind" or "Paranoid" or "Alright Now" are much more popular. On the other hand from what I´ve heard Deep Purple were nothing compared to the fame and glory of the Zep in the US.

    Of course everybody knew LZ in Europe the 70ies. Immigrant Song, WLL and of course STH were (sort of) hits, but bands like Deep Purple or even Uriah Heep were more popular because of their more simple and radio-friendly-approach.

    A friend of mine (b. 1957) told me that LZ were only for the people who were also into Yes or Zappa.

    Another reason might be that continental Europe (to this day) never had important (Classic-) Rock stations or AOR stations like in the US. So LZ have been "gone" for quite a while. It was the music of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam who got younger people into Zep.

    What do you think?

    What was/is your perception?

    How was/is the situation in the UK?

    And how big are LZ in Eastern Europe (always special)?

  8. Well, I just watched a DVD showing the EC-show of the 24th...Jimmy tries to avoid to use his ring finger whenever he can while soloing. You can see where he wanted to go playingwise but sometimes was limited by this strange technique.

    It looks so odd and painful - I have problems watching because I know how much effort this must be. Especially the bendings must have been a pain in the ass.

    This also explains why some songs and riffs sound so superb and others just suck within one show!! It´s worth mentioning that the STH-solo is a pain to watch but it sounds brilliant most of the time. The 25th-solo (official release) is just far beyond evil. :(:blink::o

    So I think it´s not only the use of certain substances that made Jimmy´s playing so "different" after ´75.

  9. Interesting. Now, you mention it... :)

    I´ve always noticed the hoarse undertone in Custard Pie, IMTOD and especially Sick Again. Or the laidback singing in Ten Years Gone. It´s very different to the bright shouting of Houses Of The Holy (song) from ´72 or Night Flight from ´70. Maybe another reason to also release older material on Physical Graffiti. B)

    It would be interesting to know exactly which approach Jimmy went for to solve the "different-voice-issue" on this album. IMHO first of all the instrument tracks appear quite loud compared to the lead vox. This way The Rover and Sick Again sound like they´ve been recorded on the very same day even though The Rover is 2 years older. Brilliant!!! B)

  10. Thx Otto for posting your pictures! :D

    The last one (Jimmy with doubleneck) sort of proves my point!!! I think he´s playing STH (or something in A)

    It´s his left hand position!

    Jimmy´s avoiding to use his ring finger. Every run is played by index and middle finger with a little help from the little finger. Every guitar player knows that this is very uncommon and not comfortable (at this position of the fretboard).

    In TSRTS (movie) Jimmy never plays in this odd way. You can see it in the Earls Court shows (Trampled, STH) and in every ´77 show I´ve seen so far. By ´79 his fingers seemed so sticky it´s a pain to watch (Knebworth). I was surprised that there are some really fast, non-sloppy solos from 1980.

    Again, this is no JP bashing (I love this guy)!!! I just wonder what happened to his hand and playing between ´73 and ´75.

    @Steve:

    By "scale" in Achilles Last Stand JPJ is referring to the key of the transition part (and the notes Jimmy is playing), not a certain fretboard system that is used for flashy improvising. (BTW - JPJ is right - this part is clever! :D )

  11. Yeah, Andrew´s right...

    Same with Clapton! He´s always been a purist. And he doesn´t even use his little finger... :rolleyes:

    As far as Jimmy´s work is concerned one might think he´s been using the same old licks since day #1 in LZ. To some extend it´s true but his phrasing and how he combines his licks - it´s very special. Even after hearing guys like Vai or Petrucci) I´m still blown away by Jimmy´s amazing live work in SIBLY or some of his empty-string-runs in D&C (although I know it´s not that difficult to play).

    His licks might sound simple but Jimmy´s concept of guitar playing is a very complex one. If you think you are a flashy guitar player who "has seen it all" analyze the simple-sounding solo of Black Dog. The notes he´s using, the unusual fretboard positions, the phrasing - it´s sheer genius!

    Same with "Ocean".

  12. I think what Jimmy meant by that is, that he never used to practice the D-dorian (not talking about Scrubs here B) ) scale or the A-mixolydian for hours :) He´s a "lick player" using the pentatonic scheme or related scales but IMHO he never sat down to do some "scale work".

    And of course he knows how to play chords but he rarely played "strumming guitar" (ok, there´s Thank You).

  13. The bios don´t say how long it took Jimmy to recover. And as I know that there are some real hardcore-Zeppers out there who know details about every single gig...

    BTW

    Just listened to the MSG-Stairway of 1975. I don´t know which day it was, I don´t know if it´s that legendary SB-bootleg but i do know that the solo is pure crap! Sorry...

    That photo above is a photo of Jimmy playing what seems like a C-(power)chord. Nothing´s wrong with that. Lots of people - especially with knee-slung guitar - do it this way.

  14. Hey guys!

    As I was watching the Earls Court gig I realized how Jimmy´s playing approach had changed since ´73.

    He rarely uses his left ring finger and if he does so it´s used in a very strange way. Through the entire gig he´s not able to stretch the fingers of his left hand to full extend (which makes fast runs easier to play).

    Referring to this observation...

    I don´t know why so many people are so enthusiastic about his guitar work during the EC-shows (on the official DVD, that is). It´s hardly average compared to ´73 and the beloved Stairway-solo just sucks! Jimmy´s struggling in trying to play all the fluid, fast runs from 1973. Trampled Underfoot´s not much better.

    His playing in IMTOD is superb, BUT he uses a bottleneck on his left ring finger!!!

    Now, I know that Jimmy hurt his finger(s) several times in the 70ies.

    My questions:

    When did Jimmy actually injure his finger in the 70ies?

    Which performances were done 3-finger-style hence below par?

    MOST IMPORTANT:

    Which performances were actually as great or better as the ones in ´73?

    Have those accidents in the 70ies affected his playing/dexterity ever since?

    Did Jimmy actually develop a form of (chronical) arthritis which is common under such circumstances?

    Erm, just to let you know: this is not JP bashing. He´s one of the most gifted and interesting guitar players out there! :D

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