Artist: Led Zeppelin

CD Review

Label: Atlantic

by Orren Merton

Thousands of words have been written about Led Zeppelin's hallowed place in the history of rock music. To sum up: they stand as one of the most influential, artistic, and successful groups of all time, and anyone who disagrees is either uninformed or brainless. Even though Led Zeppelin wrote and recorded some of the most recognizable staples of FM Radio, those who were aware of them in their prime understood that while their studio recordings were great, they really were a live band.

Previously, the only people who experienced this on record were those who hounded record conventions and swap meets for live bootleg recordings. This May, Jimmy Page sought to set things right by releasing a 3CD live set called "How The West Was Won." This set captures a moment in time, a complete set taken from two Los Angeles area shows in 1972, at the height of their power. At this time, they were already riding high on "Stairway to Heaven" and excitedly unveiling songs from their forthcoming "Houses of the Holy" album. They were a young, lean, mean, rocking machine, not yet ravaged by drugs and alcohol (although working at it feverishly), and still excited about each and every show. And this set shows it.

We hear a swaggering, excited, yet accessible Robert Plant, trying to get the crowd as excited by the music as he is. We hear a sloppy, inspired, emotional Jimmy Page putting everything he can into every note from his guitar. We hear a ferocious, powerful John Bonham filling pounding rhythms with a swing and groove nobody else could touch. And we hear John Paul Jones, the unsung hero of the band, holding it all together, often playing two instruments at once, the true bedrock the rest of the band could launch itself from.

The CDs range from blistering hard rock anthems, to their soft folk explorations, to electric blues, always using their songs as launching points for that night's unique explorations and improvisations. Improvisation is often risky, because while sometimes the result will be nearly otherworldly, other times it will fall flat. And to be fair, Zeppelin does both, and often in the same song!

That's what happens when the 6-minute "Dazed And Confused" is stretched out to 25 minutes. Some moments are sublime, others forgettable. For parts of it, Jimmy's dazzling effects-and-violin-bow interlude offer a slice of Stygian horror that puts Marilyn Manson to shame, while other moments come off as self-indulgent guitar noodling best left at the store when he's trying out new instruments. And while portions of Bonham's 20-minute drum solo will undoubtedly provide fuel for sampling musicians for decades to come, other moments will not.

John Paul Jones, however, is always tasteful, whether playing a bluesy electric piano in "Since I've Been Loving You" or a subsonic, powerful crushing rock bass in "Heartbreaker" that could teach the Nu Metal kids a thing or two about low end. And some songs--"Immigrant Song," "Bron_Y-Aur Stomp," "What is and What Should Never Be," "Rock And Roll," and "The Ocean" in particular--take on an energy, groove, and intensity that carries thesongs the away, despite the odd misplaced note.

In the end, this isn't a perfect album, but then, they were never perfectlive. And that's what this album does--it stands as a snapshot of what a live band can do, when they have the chops and fearlessness to risk falling flat every night in order to possibly reach a higher place. Most of us never got to experience Led Zeppelin live--I was in diapers for these shows--but this CD gives the rest of us a taste of what they put out on that stage, a level of energy, skill, style, and uniqueness that has never been matched, and most likely never will be.