This article might only interesting to the knowledgeable readers/posters here due to the claim that, "The band plans new material...". I wasn't aware of THAT little detail...that's news to me...and could make this 'reunion' far more interesting than previously thought. Is there any veracity to this claim?

Led Zeppelin's Return Is More Than 1970s Nostalgia
2007-11-28 04:43 (New York)

Commentary by Mark Beech
Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Led Zeppelin's singer Robert Plant has
joked that the group's comeback means their trademark song
``Stairway to Heaven'' should be renamed ``Stairlift to Heaven.''
Fans of the U.K. rock band, who have been hoping for a
reunion for three decades, are indeed in ecstasy. For Plant, 59,
and his band mates, who have already sold more than 300 million
albums, it could also signify a golden pension plan.
Led Zeppelin fell apart after the death of drummer John
Bonham in 1980. Thanks to bone-crunching songs such as ``Whole
Lotta Love,'' the group's influence was once viewed as equal to
that of Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
The group has new CDs, a DVD and a Web site. It put its back
catalog online and joined a charity concert, featuring pals Jimmy
Page on guitar and singer Robert Plant, with Bonham's son Jason on
drums and the estranged bassist, John Paul Jones.
More than a million fans entered an Internet ballot for the
Dec. 10 gig at London's 20,000-capacity O2. Tickets have been
offered on EBay for as much as $10,000 each for ``buy it now''
sales. The demand may tempt Led Zeppelin to tour in 2008.
The group is ``concentrating on the concert,'' said its U.K.
spokesman Chris Goodman of public-relations company the Outside
Organisation. Still, the reunion is stirring speculation among
Internet bloggers that the band is lining up venues for a tour.

Lucrative Returns

In the past year, the Who, the Stooges, the Spice Girls and
the Sex Pistols have staged comebacks. Billboard reported that the
Police grossed more than $171 million total and estimates that Led
Zeppelin could take $3.2 million a night. Plant and Page toured in
the 1990s, reporting $31.4 million revenue for 63 shows.
For those who say ``Led Who?'' the new CD compilation
``Mothership'' offers a great way to catch up. It has 24 songs --
nearly every one that matters, as well as one that doesn't (the
cod-reggae ``D'Yer Mak'er.'')
``Mothership'' improves on the similar ``Remasters'' double
CD of 1992 by adding Bonham's tour de force ``When the Levee
Breaks.'' The remastering makes ``Communication Breakdown'' sound
even louder, if that were possible. The demolition of the blues
was revolutionary in 1969. It must have scared hippies senseless.
While the Beatles and the Stones dominated the charts, Led
Zeppelin didn't release singles. The group's influence was
subversive and ubiquitous. I've heard it everywhere, from a
battery-powered radio blaring ``Kashmir'' in remote Peru last year
to the thud of ``Rock and Roll'' from a party shattering the peace
of a Tuscan seminary in the 1980s.

Plant Partnership

Is the comeback simply a nostalgia trip for aging heavy-metal
pioneers? It's more than that: The band plans new material and
Plant has made an exceptional CD, ``Raising Sand,'' with U.S.
country singer Alison Krauss. Their partnership does much to atone
for Plant's more questionable, sometimes misogynistic 1970s lyrics.
Led Zeppelin's image has become unfairly skewed to focus just
on the three-chord-riff bombast. Zep was loud and proud, pompous
and imperious. It also had players with impeccable skills, and
songs with sensitive passages such as ``Over the Hills and Far
Away.'' Anyone wanting to sample that complexity should check out
the 1976 live album ``The Song Remains the Same,'' featuring New
York shows from 1973, released this month in an expanded form.
The DVD version intercuts the songs with fantasy videos,
millionaire country estates, groupies, private jets and limos.
This all fueled the anger and envy of the punk revolt of 1976.
As a time capsule, it's priceless. Still, it's not the best
Zeppelin live album: The rival ``How the West Was Won'' has
peerless performances and ``BBC Sessions'' is immaculate.
Like the ominous opening seconds of ``Black Dog'' (Page
described it as ``waking up the army of guitars''), the Led
Zeppelin money machine is gearing up for world domination again.
Welcome back, guys.

I don't know anything about new material. I did read that they were going to play some old material (live) for the first time. Thanks for sharing turd.

``The Song Remains the Same,'' featuring New York shows from 1973, released this month in an expanded form. The DVD version intercuts the songs with fantasy videos,
millionaire country estates, groupies, private jets and limos. This all fueled the anger and envy of the punk revolt of 1976."

That album and movie were the meaningless and bloated apotheosis and coda of the 70's Metal Rock Aristocracy...by ´77 Zep was almost irrelevant. They were still listened to...but that album and film betrayed such an impenetrable chasm between what were basically semi-educated Blues musicians and their adoring throngs of fans that the chasm between Louis XIV and his peasantry was tiny in comparison...and thus they helped kill the goose.

Punk railed (rightly) against such humorless, risible, self-important pomp...and the Age of Zep was over...by '78 The Stones were once again the coolest band on the Planet and Zep was a million-selling artifact...

I think TSRTS is brilliant, always was, w/ overdubs and all, and the movie, while cheesy and pompous, shows a truly great band at its best on stage. They really were great musicians, especially Bonham.

I like it too Tate....I didn't feel distanced by it as Turd would have you believe. Irrelevant? not hardly. They still had decent new material coming out and record breaking tours. Artifact? goose killing? oh puhleaze!!!

Turd On The Run Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ``The Song Remains the Same,'' featuring New York
> shows from 1973, released this month in an
> expanded form. The DVD version intercuts the songs
> with fantasy videos,
> millionaire country estates, groupies, private
> jets and limos. This all fueled the anger and
> envy of the punk revolt of 1976."
>
> That album and movie were the meaningless and
> bloated apotheosis and coda of the 70's Metal Rock
> Aristocracy...by ´77 Zep was almost irrelevant.
> They were still listened to...but that album and
> film betrayed such an impenetrable chasm between
> what were basically semi-educated Blues musicians
> and their adoring throngs of fans that the chasm
> between Louis XIV and his peasantry was tiny in
> comparison...and thus they helped kill the goose.
>
> Punk railed (rightly) against such humorless,
> risible, self-important pomp...and the Age of Zep
> was over...by '78 The Stones were once again the
> coolest band on the Planet and Zep was a
> million-selling artifact...

I've never bought that line of thinking. I like Zep and I like a lot of punk bands; you don't have to like just one or the other.

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've never bought that line of thinking. I like
> Zep and I like a lot of punk bands; you don't have
> to like just one or the other.

I totally agree with you, ohnonotyouagain, but I'm referring specifically to the TSRTS film and post-'Graffiti' material. Back in 1976 most of my friends and I (most of of whom really liked Zep) felt the film was such a schlocky bit of self-mythologizing...so pompous and ridiculously self-important...that it debased the mystique of Zep rather than added to it (and what was that film other than a stab at a Grand Statement of Self-Mythologizing?). I distinctly remember the thud the film caused when it hit the cinemas. Die-Hard Zep fans were even bored by it. It was so excessive and humorless and full of itself. It was the last dying gasp of a dinosaur.

And in my opinion by 1977 Zep was quite paseé. The musical climate had moved on radically. They still sold millions, but their best days were behind them. I saw them in concert and Plant's voice was extremely diminished, and Page was vitiated. 'Presence' and 'In Through The Out Door' showed a ponderous, slowing, and bloated Zep, though they have their moments. 'Graffiti' was their last, glorious statement of purpose.

.....and that is Turd's opinion. I saw that movie in the theater when it came out and loved it. So did my Zep fan friends. Of course Zep still sold millions, they were freekin' great rock and roll. I love "Presence." I agree that "In Through The Out Door" was not up to the high water mark established by their earlier albums but it had some good tunes on it. The marketing for that album was clever, I thought. I never thought of that album as showing a "ponderous and bloated Zep." I saw Led Zeppelin in 1977 and it was one of the best rock concerts I have ever seen, and I've seen plenty. Perhaps I would think differently if I had seen Zeppelin earlier in their career, as a point of reference, but I didn't......and even if I had I can't imagine that would have changed my opinion of the 1977 show.
Were their best days behind them? Yes, probably so, but that doesn't mean that they were irrelevant and bloated. In fact, Zep was wise to quit while they were ahead, to nurture their mystique, unlike some other rock bands I know.....

There's nothing in this article of any import.

Nothing has been stated by the band except that they are rehearsing for a one-off show. That's all anyone knows at this point.

Anything else is pure conjecture and wishful thinking.

And by the way, Zepp released several singles. How old is this dude, 20 ?

Led Zeppelin-Dortmund 1980


Soundboard recording of Train Kept A Rollin' & Nobody's Fault But Mine..
Thanks to JaggerMorrison at the tube.. (audio with pics)

Thanks baboon bro.....excellent songs!!!.....my computer is on fire!!

Turd On The Run Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I've never bought that line of thinking. I like
> > Zep and I like a lot of punk bands; you don't
> have
> > to like just one or the other.
>
> I totally agree with you, ohnonotyouagain, but I'm
> referring specifically to the TSRTS film and
> post-'Graffiti' material. Back in 1976 most of my
> friends and I (most of of whom really liked Zep)
> felt the film was such a schlocky bit of
> self-mythologizing...so pompous and ridiculously
> self-important...that it debased the mystique of
> Zep rather than added to it (and what was that
> film other than a stab at a Grand Statement of
> Self-Mythologizing?). I distinctly remember the
> thud the film caused when it hit the cinemas.
> Die-Hard Zep fans were even bored by it. It was
> so excessive and humorless and full of itself. It
> was the last dying gasp of a dinosaur.
>
> And in my opinion by 1977 Zep was quite paseé.
> The musical climate had moved on radically. They
> still sold millions, but their best days were
> behind them. I saw them in concert and Plant's
> voice was extremely diminished, and Page was
> vitiated. 'Presence' and 'In Through The Out
> Door' showed a ponderous, slowing, and bloated
> Zep, though they have their moments. 'Graffiti'
> was their last, glorious statement of purpose.

this was also my experience. i saw the band first tour over, (and one can see some of that early beeb stuff) was a huge fan...they were received immediately and gratefully right from the start; hysterically huge; the rolling stone magazine pan meant NOTHING to the buying public; they often get it wrong, and/or late...
Zep didn't "scare the hippies" or confuse anyone; that was the audience that accepted them and made them viable in the states...they were huge in the states from zep 1)

i personally like the band (big page fan since the yardbirds records) so i bought 'presnece' in '76 and stayed with 'em for quite awhile...i really think that TSRTS, five years into their touring, had them in the cultural, and relative performance shape, that was described by TOTR above.

not in anyway to diss their importance and power but i found them more than relatively shabby in TSRTS, and I think the band knew it at the time...there were 3 nights filmed and two nights of it were ruined, etc...but even so, the wild young band of '68 - '70 on their first two or three years of constant touring, were the apex imo...

This in no way is disdainful of their reunion now; i think it's fantastic and am very interested.

****and hats off to the jeff beck group, also featuring an ex-yardbird, as well as Ron Wood, who would be in 3 of the best and most important rock bands ever....
cause i think 'truth' and 'beck-ola' paved the way; jeff beck sort of invented 'metal' right there...and then others were inspired and gassed and went on from there, imo...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-11-29 02:24 by Beelyboy.

My high school friends and I loved the movie when it came out.
We were actually in awe at seeing them on the big screen -
none of us had the chance yet to see them live at the time,
so to see this film was the next best thing.

And then when Punk hit, we dove headfirst into the the rebelliosness - cut our hair, and wore combat boots.
But we didn't burn or throw away our Zep albums...on the contrary...we played them even louder.
Our musical tastes were broadening. It's like learning about new cuisine. When you learn to enjoy caviar or escargot,
that doesn't mean you have to stop eating hamburgers and sausages. You gotta love it all!

(By the way, I hate caviar and escargot...but had to come up with an example for the analogy. lol)

"When you learn to enjoy caviar or escargot,
that doesn't mean you have to stop eating hamburgers and sausages. "

Maybe that should be

"When you learn to enjoy hamburgers and sausages ,
that doesn't mean you have to stop eating caviar or escargot. " ;^)


I have to confess to feeling a little trepidation at the prospect of the Zep "reunion". Will it all be a little disappointing ?
Hopefully not.
We've seen the Stones evolve over the years. Some of us are very happy with what they've evolved into and others not so.
What can we expect from Zep when, as an entity, they're instantly transported 25 years into the future ?
I suppose the Cream reunion was the closest parallel.
That could have been very disappointing but it worked for me.
It was still obvious that you were witnessing a "perfect band".
The performances stood up in their own right and delivered a sufficient confirmation of the band's greatness for most folks [Except for the Gibson guitar fanatics maybe ;^) ].
So fingers crossed...Zep will be at least as successful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-11-29 10:15 by Spud.

Beelyboy Wrote:

>
> ****and hats off to the jeff beck group, also
> featuring an ex-yardbird, as well as Ron Wood, who
> would be in 3 of the best and most important rock
> bands ever....
> cause i think 'truth' and 'beck-ola' paved the
> way; jeff beck sort of invented 'metal' right
> there...and then others were inspired and gassed
> and went on from there, imo...

Spot on, Beelyboy! Jimi Page was the cool & considerate one, but Beck was more of a risk taker, playing hit or miss all the time. By the way: Even if i don't dig all of his moves into fusion and session work, he never "settled" like Zep did, constantly moving on and on. Still does...

hey spud i was at the first night cream reunion show at the garden and oh my god how cream blew the roof off the dump (and buy the way slowhand black strat was the BOM.i was told buy someone in the upper level behind the stage that he saw claptons guitar rack with the cherry red gibson ES 335 on it and people behind us on the floor were screaming at clapton to play his f#$%^&* gibson and how much joy that would bring to us all but after all is said and done(get it ha ha )this is the great ERIC CLAPTON .no comparison between CREAM and who the hell knows what this 02 mess is gonna be like beware that these type of charity shows could be zeppelin coming in to do four songs and good night london if it happens at all .my opinion this delay from 11/26 to december is that in rehearsel they sound like crap and they dont want to go out and make fools of themselves.so what i am saying is you cant go off the radar grid and then come back like its 1969 . remember clapton has been out plying his trade all along as opposed to page at home in his castle .

I saw Zep in 1977 at MSG in NYC --- all six shows. To date those show remain the best concerts that I've attended, and I've attended many shows.

My and my collge friends saw TSRTS opening night in NYC. I agree that the fantasy sequences were way over the top and really not necessary ( I hated the Jimmy Page wizard nonsense ). But we did walk out of the movie satistifed and wanting more.

I'm a bit worried about a tour from Zep. Younger Zep fans who never saw them live in the 70's will expect to see the same intensity that you see on TSRTS and they're not gonna get that.

I saw them in 1973 - Fantastic

I saw them at MSG (NYC) in 1977 and they SUCKED. Four of their songs alone lasted over an hour with all their solo nonsense. Talk about a beer break!

aslecs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I saw them in 1973 - Fantastic
>
> I saw them at MSG (NYC) in 1977 and they SUCKED.
> Four of their songs alone lasted over an hour with
> all their solo nonsense. Talk about a beer break!

I guess I enjoyed the 1977 shows because I was within the first 20 rows for all shows. location location location

Well I was in the loge. Even better than the floor.

As I mentioned in another Led Zep thread, Dazed and Confused is time to take a beer break and Moby Dick is time to take a toilet break....but I think in '77 they didn't perform D&C much.

Having seen LZ from 1970 to 1977 18 times with shows ranging from 2 hrs 15 minutes to 4 hrs. 20 minutes, I have never left my seat or area except occasionally to try and walk closer to the stage.

Like I said, '73 rocked. 77 had everyone snoozing

OF COURSE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE 1975 TOUR/SET LIST. That's the one with, I believe, Moby Dick, No Quarter, Dazed, etc that was excruciating

aslecs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OF COURSE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE 1975 TOUR/SET
> LIST. That's the one with, I believe, Moby Dick,
> No Quarter, Dazed, etc that was excruciating


As I mentioned in another thread, the final show of the US tour in 1975, D & C was about 55 minutes, No Quarter was well over a half an hour and Moby Dick was 20 to 25 minutes.

It's a myth that punk killed of the 'dinosuars', many of those bands kept on going and/or started up newer and even bigger bands, Asia for example, or launched hugely successful solo careers.

right

I think they're going to be a train wreck! I loved Zeppelin BUT Plant cannot SING rock songs anymore! His voice is shot, unless he cheats and uses overdubs and computer feeds. Page can be brilliant or he can SUCK! I saw the Plant/Page tour about 7 years ago and they were not great. I think expectations are so high that they are being set up to fail and disappoint.

They are on the cover of the new Rolling Stone. They're all looking good, especially 63-year-old Jimmy -- the uncolored hair suits him. He's obviously very happy, and confident -- so's JPJ. As for Plant -- "wait until you get a load of US"! LOL. Great photo.

As for Jason: check out this quoted article [forums.ledzeppelin.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-11-30 01:05 by bassplayer617.

His Majesty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's a myth that punk killed of the 'dinosuars',
> many of those bands kept on going and/or started
> up newer and even bigger bands, Asia for example,
> or launched hugely successful solo careers.


you had me until "Asia"

Lukester Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> His Majesty Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's a myth that punk killed of the
> 'dinosuars',
> > many of those bands kept on going and/or
> started
> > up newer and even bigger bands, Asia for
> example,
> > or launched hugely successful solo careers.
>
>
> you had me until "Asia"

heh heh
lol haaawww (sorry majesty; it tickled me funnybone)