El_Mink, thank you so much for that video! It was eye/ear-opening and very entertaining at the same time. I’m not a musician, but have always been fascinated and amazed by what Page was doing when he dropped in his flourishes, and believe me I spent an unreal amount of time under my headphones with those records (yes I’m old), and of course the volume was often turned up to 11! You nicely defined the cool stuff he was doing on Levee and you did so in an informative and entertaining way. Of course he was awesome live, both with his playing as well as visually, but it was really the records where his artistry was at its peak in my opinion. Thanks again and I hope you’ll make some more of these types of videos. All the best

929 is in my opinion the greatest show they ever played...brilliant from beginning to end

Montreux 3/7/70...savage, unhinged

Outstanding, thank you so much for sharing those

Apollo 11 is brilliant, no doubt about it. Absolutely great film. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take 50 years for Zeppelin to get their Apollo documentary off the ground... 😉

I would of course buy it right away were it ever officially released, but we do at least have this concert available in very nice quality, along with the ample footage released on DVD. I would be much more grateful for an archive release of something we’ve never heard before...

Thanks Steve and tmtomh, very interesting and informative! That Osaka 71 stereo sample sounds really great, and I can’t wait to hear more... the fact that it’s my favorite show of all time has nothing to do with it 😉 Sincere thanks once again.

June 22 is my favorite 1977 show, the energy is insane and Jimmy had a wardrobe malfunction that he solved with a ladies belt (according to R. Plant on the night). Dying Time and Over The Hills in the same gig, and OTH was a late set impulse of Page it seems. And to me it’s the all-time versions for both pieces. The solo Page unleashes on OTH is one of the most spectacular things he ever played. June 10 has a similar feel to me. Maybe it’s the less than perfect audience recordings, but the energy of those gigs is awe-inspiring. Certainly Eddie on June 21 is the greatest audience recording it can’t be said enough. Of course the band was in less than perfect health in 1977, but the tour was spectacular, and there was a lot of thought and planning that went into it. They were the biggest and the best, and they knew it. It was all down to the execution from gig to gig.

Speaking of impact, US retailers at the time were crediting the business generated by ITTOD with saving the moribund music retail industry. People were coming back into record stores just to buy that, and of course some of those customers would also grab another LP or two while they were there.

The worst part was MTV spelling out “Jimmy Paige”...he wasn’t in Duran Duran so they didn’t know or care...and then at one point when they list out the lineup of musicians, their wonder boy Collins’ name appears BEFORE the Zeps! Insipid, but here we are all these years later still talking about the mighty Zep while MTV has died a death. Too bad.

Hard to top the version on TSRTS...also pretty fond of LA 6-21-77

Allow me to third the suggestion of going straight to Dave. He’s now in his sixth decade of chronicling the activities of the band and the various solo projects. He works hard to get it right and imo has well earned the support he receives from the Zep fan community. The magazine has gone from something he literally cut and pasted together with his own hands, to the nicely produced and well realized magazine that it is today. In my opinion TBL is well worth it to any and all Zepheads.

I couldn’t finish reading it. The same sort of over-written pseudo-intellectual drivel that has plagued many reviewers down thru the years, most of them more astute than this preening twit. Perhaps his really smart friends enjoyed it...

May I please have the link also? Kind thanks

Definitely prefer 928’s Stairway, Page is really letting it rip on the solo. I’ll go with 928 on What Is although I’m not sure if it’s just the beautiful, full sound of the new board that does it for me on that one. This LZ rarities version of the board is so nice. Bonzo’s martial incursion on Moby Dick from 929 is one of my all time favorite moments from the master. Page’s thrilling, off the cuff Hendrix trip during 929 WLL is right up there near the top of my all time favorite moments of anything!

imo Now And Zen and Tall Cool One mark the absolute nadir of Plant’s solo career. He managed things better on Manic Nirvana, which turned out to be a fine rock album without resorting to the cheap and cynical salesmanship on offer in Now And Zen. That said, Now And Zen got his solo career off life-support and I love Manic Nirvana and Fate of Nations. So perhaps the end justified the means...

Jones and Grohl made a very nice rhythm section indeed. I was at the foot of the stage directly in front of Jones at their DC show at the 9:30 Club. I’ve been going to concerts for 45 years. TCV is one of the very best shows I’ve ever seen. Would love to see them again.

Charlotte 6/9/72 is a good one that has always kind of flown under the radar imo.

I’d like to second that.

I’ve always loved Winterland 4/26/69. One of the great gigs ever imo

Those Copenhagen 79 pics are really cool...on their way to their best post-73 gig...a very nice find!

Always loved Four Sticks, and completely agree with the nods to the Page Plant versions. The Egyptian orchestra was a revelation on that, along of course with the late great Michael Lee. And iirc there’s a nice moment in the “No Quarter” material where Robert mentions the guy who originally wielded the four sticks...

What a great thread!! Thanks Chris and Steve!

I suspect that if it were just up to Jimmy, a lot of things that haven’t happened would indeed have happened over the years. iirc I’ve read that any potential Zep releases have to be signed off on by all 4 of the respective camps, including of course the R. Plant camp. The RAH show, with of course a couple of glaring omissions, is at least out there in bootleg/download land in excellent sound quality. And that might be all we ever get.

RIP-IT-UP nailed it way back in the beginning of this thread. The Live In Peace solo from the Firm show at Hammersmith way back in 1984 is one of the most exciting solos he ever played. He certainly didn’t splice that together. Whatever he did in the studio with Zep worked in spades to say the least. Personally I don’t worry about how he did it on whichever track. Those records are spectacular and have stood the test of time beyond all belief. Sometimes it’s better not to think too much about how the sausage gets made.