This is the Rock Album release of 2003 by a country
mile. This collection of songs stands head and shoulders above anything
else during the last twelve months. The only disappointment being that it
was not released thirty-one years ago, at the time of its recording.
Over the last thirty years the Led Zeppelin live
selection available to the public has been extremely slim pickings. The
best of them was some recordings from the dear old B.B.C., which, while
not exactly bad, did not contain the excitement of a real in your face
concert. The only official release during the band’s ‘oh too brief’
lifespan was ‘The Song Remains The Same’. This was, if you like, a
recording of the best band in the world playing one of the worst concerts
they ever played. Other than that you had to rely upon bootlegs and
sorting the good from the bad was not always easy. But with this release
all has been put to rights.
This is a compilation of two concerts from June 1972,
put together in the correct running order to show off an entire show of
Led Zeppelin at the height of their powers playing in front of their rabid
fans. Led Zeppelin was the finest rock band to ever tread the boards, and
‘How the West Was Won’ catches them at their peak. Not only is this
the rock release of 2003, but it also makes it the best live rock album
ever. Full stop here - no arguments.
Each member of the band is brim full of confidence,
skill, and comfort in their own abilities and those of their partners.
Hard to believe they had only been together for just over three years, but
had released five classic albums from which there is a selection from each
here. These concerts were recorded on the ‘Houses of the Holy’ tour.
(The songbook list was already overloaded with cannon, and they still had
to release ‘Physical Graffiti’ and ‘Presence’. Listening you
wonder what they are going to drop to put in ‘Kashmir’, etc.)
Robert Plant shows off, confirming why he was the
ultimate front man. With his unique voice with its yelps, yells and none
too subtle innuendo, he was often copied, but never bettered.
Jimmy Page is not only the finest and most versatile
guitarist, but leaves you in no mind who the leader was of this crew.
John Paul Jones often does not get the credit he
deserves, but as well as being such a jolly useful chap with his
multi-instrumental talent, he also helped co-write many of Zeppelin’s
classic tracks.
John Bonham is awesome. His drumming throughout is
superb and his stamina breathtaking. His almost twenty minute drum solo in
‘Moby Dick’ leaves all other drum solos in the dirt. (Not forgetting
that the opening guitar lick of ‘Moby Dick’ most bands would make a
career out of.)
What you get, spread over three discs: ten songs on
disc one, four on disc two, and four on disc three. That may sound a bit
unfair, but then on disc two you get ‘Dazed and Confused’ clocking in
at over twenty-five minutes and ‘Moby Dick’ at just under twenty
minutes. Led Zeppelin go through the full range of their material from the
acoustic songs that come at the end of disc one, the cosmic blues of
‘Since I’ve been Loving You’. The majestic ‘Stairway to Heaven’
(I know you’ve heard it a thousand times, but only these four guys can
get it right) to the let your hair down let’s all go mad of ‘Rock and
Roll’.
Highlights over the three discs are far too many to
mention, but for this dog the complete twenty-three minutes of the
‘Whole Lotta Love’ medley, and directly after the storming opener of
‘Immigrant Song’, when Jimmy Page goes directly into the guitar riff
of ‘Heartbreaker’, ‘DANG DANG DANG DANG DA-DA-DANG, DA-DA-DA-DA-DA
DANG DANG DA-DA-DANG’ are the absolute pinnacle of Rock and Roll bliss.
(Skip back and read the DANG DANG bit again and you know I’m right.)
During happy hour at Tahitian Queen, when ‘Heartbreaker’ slams its way
out of the speakers, look around and you can see everybody is reaching for
their air guitars as their heads rock back. One listen to this collection
and you can hear ‘How The West Was Won’ by Led Zeppelin in the early
seventies. If this is not enough for you, don’t forget there is an
accompanying DVD simply titled Led Zeppelin with over five hours of
different unreleased material, which is spread over Led Zeppelins entire
career. Happy Daze indeed.
This
week’s review is a break from the usual ‘who dunnits’ we have been
reading recently, and is a serious piece of writing by a very well
accredited group of academics, Ruethai Chaichongrak, Somchai Nil-athi,
Ornsiri Panin and Saowalak Posayanonda. The Thai House, History and
Evolution (ISBN 974-8225-05-4, Asia Books) was published last year and
also features the photography of world renowned photographer Michael
Freeman.
Mott’s CD review:Led Zeppelin -
How The West Was Won
5
Stars *****