The reason the LZ legend is so huge is precisely because they hung it up so long ago, while they were still good. If they had been beating the dead horse for the last few decades nobody would care any more. They were never a very good live act anyway, they had to have this huge mystique hype to cover up their sloppy playing and limited stage repertoire.
The reason the LZ legend is so huge is precisely because they hung it up so long ago, while they were still good. If they had been beating the dead horse for the last few decades nobody would care any more. They were never a very good live act anyway, they had to have this huge mystique hype to cover up their sloppy playing and limited stage repertoire.
That may be part of the mystic but the Stones have been beating that dead horse for a close to couple decades now and still seem to have that mojo working.
Also based on the large Led Zep bootleg collection I have I might dispute that they were not a very good live band especially up through the 1973 tours as the shows sound fantastic. After that tour you have a point as Jimmy's addictions started to effect his playing so the 1975 tour had some mediocre shows and the 77 tour until the Bonham's death had some really rough shows as Jimmy was really struggling at times.
You can't compare the Stones to LZ. The Stones, like the ABB, have always been a working live machine, developing their chops as a band, while LZ were more of a one-off event, not really a cohesive unit. Great studio producers, but their live stuff, while exciting for its time, wasn't something that could continue. I enjoy their live recordings, but it is clear that they were topping out.
You can't compare the Stones to LZ. The Stones, like the ABB, have always been a working live machine, developing their chops as a band, while LZ were more of a one-off event, not really a cohesive unit. Great studio producers, but their live stuff, while exciting for its time, wasn't something that could continue. I enjoy their live recordings, but it is clear that they were topping out.
Not sure how Zep was a one off event as their music evolved with each album up to ITTOD and some fans think the Stones peaked with the Some Girls album and every album after Exile was mediocre at best. And I am a huge fan of both bands so show no favoritism and in fact the Stones are my favorite band.
They were "topping out" because of Jimmy's addictions IMHO not because they were running out of ideas. He was so out of it their last real studio album, ITTOD, was basically written by Plant and Jones and it shows.
They were a tour de force in concert up to the 75 tour when Jimmy's addictions started to get the best of him and Robert having trouble with his voice but they still put on some excellent shows in 1975.
The 1977 tour was really the first time IMHO the bad shows exceeded the good and Jimmy really struggled with his playing to the point where he would get lost in the middle of songs. the 1980 tour he played better but the band was definitely in need of break.
It was a moot point when Bonham died as from what I had read Plant was thinking about going solo and based on his solo stuff Zep's music might have taken a drastic change if he had stayed and they continued.
[Edited on 11/18/2014 by Bill_Graham]
[Edited on 11/18/2014 by Bill_Graham]
I have no idea where they could have taken their music, or why they were "topping out".
What I hear in the live recordings is pretty much a completely different band than what they presented in the studio. I enjoy the live music, but they were unable to approach much of their defining sounds. Live, they were simply a kick-ass hard rock group, not much better than other rock outfits, but by "one-off event" I was saying that it sounded to me like they were not developing, were treading water after making their big splash. They would have tanked in short order if they had continued playing live.
Hate to say this, but the real problem with LZ was Page. Watching him perform, one gets the impression that he viewed the band as a pedestal from which he could show off his talent. There was never any future in that. Page would thrive in a Zeppelin cover band.
I have no idea where they could have taken their music, or why they were "topping out".
What I hear in the live recordings is pretty much a completely different band than what they presented in the studio. I enjoy the live music, but they were unable to approach much of their defining sounds. Live, they were simply a kick-ass hard rock group, not much better than other rock outfits, but by "one-off event" I was saying that it sounded to me like they were not developing, were treading water after making their big splash. They would have tanked in short order if they had continued playing live.Hate to say this, but the real problem with LZ was Page. Watching him perform, one gets the impression that he viewed the band as a pedestal from which he could show off his talent. There was never any future in that. Page would thrive in a Zeppelin cover band.
JMO, but they sounded differently live because Page loved to overdub in the studio and it was near impossible to recreate his guitar sound live as the sole guitar player. There live sound was definitely more stripped down compared to the studio versions but they were rawer and had more power IMHO.
Don't know that I agree they were not developing as I thought each one of their albums evolved to my ears not to mention they really took a risk with Zep III which was much different then the first two albums. I agree they had a signature sound but so did other bands including the Stones.
Besides take a look at a band like AC/DC. They have been making the same album for the past 40 years and they are still putting out #1 albums and selling out stadiums so "evolution" is overrated IMHO.
Tons of respect for mr. Plant. One of the last men standing in the Rock And Roll Pantheon who is not a sell out like almost everybody else. Led Zep with Steven Tyler would be an extreme travesty. Even with Ann Wilson, who happens to be one of my all time favorite lead vocalists, it would be a kaput zeppelin.
People like Brian May who keeps the feeding frenzy going on the carcass of Queen make me wanna puke. So kudos to mr. Plant.
[Edited on 11/10/2014 by ABBDutchFan]
I agree. Great post ABBDutchFan 
