JimmyPage123 Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Obviously the music is foremost and forefront. What can you say? It's flawless and incredible. I think most of us come here for the music. But I think the mysterious/mystical/occult aspect of the band also drew a ton of people in and is in a way just as important as the music. You had the 70's, no twitter or instagram, no instant updates, all the crazy tour stories had a mythical aspect to them, friends told you they did this or that on tour, or Jimmy or Robert said what???? And it was endless questions with no answer available: Whether it be the Crowley references on the actual record of LZ3, or who the hell is that guy on the cover of Zoso and what does it mean? Why is there that bearded guy with a lantern? Why is Stairway the only song with lyrics printed and who's that guy reading a book in the liner notes? Why did Jimmy have references to astrology on his pants on tour? Did they really backmask the music? These types of questions and the answers to them are almost irrevalant, part of what made Zeppelin, well, ZEPPELIN was their larger than life characters, the odd Norse mythology lyrics of Robert, the references to Tolkien thrown in, and the occult all played a part. I dont think Zeppelin would be who they are without this aspect of the band. Back in the day you didnt have google to figure out any of it, you'd just lay on your back with headphones listening to LZIV and burn a candle ala Almost Famous pouring over the album art for hours. The music is the music. Its why they matter. But the mystical aspects of the operation they ran were actually genius. Did that part of LZ draw you in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigante Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 It's not what drew me in. But it's an interesting extra layer, no? Kids' tv in the UK in the '70s was so full of this stuff, we're now known 'The Haunted Generation'! Ace of Wands, Children of the Stones, The Feathered Serpent, Unsolved Mysteries, Shadows, Raven, The Owl Service - even a kids' series about Boudica had druid magic in it, including blood sacrifices in the groves! All this when you were having your tea after school - we were well primed for this stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_the_evening Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Nope. Did nothing for me. It was music that was just "wow...another incredible song".... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reids Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 No. Just the music. R😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobDobbs Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 12 hours ago, Brigante said: It's not what drew me in. But it's an interesting extra layer, no? Kids' tv in the UK in the '70s was so full of this stuff, we're now known 'The Haunted Generation'! Ace of Wands, Children of the Stones, The Feathered Serpent, Unsolved Mysteries, Shadows, Raven, The Owl Service - even a kids' series about Boudica had druid magic in it, including blood sacrifices in the groves! All this when you were having your tea after school - we were well primed for this stuff. All good stuff plus the countess occult themed horror and drama movies. We had Bewitched, we had I Dream of Genie (she was a goddamned jinn people!!! Her goal was to eat Tony's SOUL), and we had the the greatest occult movie of all time, The Exorcist, still making people shit themselves in 2021. Its fun because traditionally it has been considered forbidden, evil, of satan's loins. Kinda like weed, once they legalized it and all the old heads started smoking like that guy from the X-Files, it was no longer fun and now we have the lowest rate of childhood and young adult weed use since they started recording statistics. Jimmy was no practicing occultist, he was a collector who really connected with the philosophy of Thelema. He was not practicing spellcraft, summoning Lovecraftian Elder Gods, or even attending the local wiccan bake sale. If you asked Jimmy to recite you a binding spell from the Lesser Key of Solomon he would likely call a cop. But if you engage him in a serious discussion of the philosophy of Thelema and its application in daily life, he might just allow you to buy him a beer and bend his ear. Think about it, what's more fun, more dangerous? The Eagles or Led Zeppelin? The Byrds or the Doors? Cream or Black Sabbath? and of course one of my favorites, Poison or King Diamond? The KING baby! What did they all have in common, the mystical, the forbidden, the occult. Sure, the Eagles, Byrds, and Cream were awesome bands, but they were not dangerous bands. Well, Ginger Baker would beat the holy crap out of his mother if the mood hit, but on a whole, nothing really forbidden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef free Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 It's all about the music for me! I found all the mystical stuff to be a bunch of BS... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyekhan Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 It's part of the ephemera of the band, IMO. Their visual representation of light and dark on stage was intentional. Just as it was in their music. It's part and parcel of the ethos. The stuff fascinated me as a kid, because there was an interesting back story, rumor mill or not. Not a lot of other bands had that, and it made me want to dig in deeper with Zeppelin. It's part of the reason I've become a poor man's collector of some of the occult and magick items of that era and before. I've always said that Black Sabbath's entire catalog of riffs could be found within any live rendition of Dazed & Confused. Sabbath made scary music for the time, but Page and the boys were actually summoning something much more profound, dark and otherworldly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey g Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Not really. My younger sister was/is deep into all of that mystic stuff. I used to get detailed explanations of everything Jimmy from her; what all the symbols on the Dragon Suit meant, the rotating triangle during the bow section of Dazed & tons of other stuff I've forgotten about. I mean, it all was very interesting at the time, but I didn't know shit about LZ when LZ 1 came out other than Jimmy Page was in the Yardbirds. Being a Cream fan, it was the heaviness of the music & originality of Plants voice that drew me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianzepper Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Definitely just the music for me. Maybe there is a bit of curiousity about what inspired Page, but really it's his interest not mine. When reading books my reaction to Pages interest in Crowley was more of "oh, that's different". I've never been into Lord of the Rings or anything that influenced Robert, so lyrically, I take from it in context on my own existence and experiences. I'm far more interested in how they forged a particular sound or what motivated them to write a particular song on an album than someones theology or world views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeC Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I think the occult rep is inextricable from LZ's appeal - and I say that as someone who's closely analyzed the mechanics of their live and recorded music, and who likes to play their songs on my guitars. Maybe today someone new to the band wouldn't know or care much about all the theories, speculation, and enigma that circled around them in their prime years and after, but for fans who got into LZ in the 1970s and 80s, it would have been almost impossible not to know about Crowley, back masking, soul-selling, etc. I know I've plugged these here before, but I go into some detail about this question in two of my books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NCR1TS6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016MVX5ES/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobDobbs Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 How much does a soul go for these days anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeC Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 4 hours ago, BobDobbs said: How much does a soul go for these days anyway? Definitely a good trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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