Led Zeppelin

First Idol Gets the Led Out

2009-05-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last night on the hit T.V. show American Idol, Adam Lambert sang the first Zeppelin song in the shows history. The performance was a big hit and Lambert impressed the judges with an impressive series of Zeppelin like screams.

That's the song Adam Lambert chose to sing on "American Idol" rock night Tuesday (May 5), and, needless to say, it was a challenge that the eyeliner-loving Los Angeles stage veteran was more than up for, hitting a series of high notes and rock screams that would have made Plant proud. It was a risky maneuver that paid off for Lambert, who chose a tune that came in at #75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.

The performance was impressive, but a bit too "metal" and maybe even "feminine" for a true Zeppelin cover. Nice try though.

Zeppelin and the Fab Four

2009-04-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

This may seem off topic, but I wanted to talk about the Beatles. Don't worry, I can easily tie Zeppelin into this.

The games Guitar Hero and Rock Band have become popular ways to make a party more exciting. They include songs from most of the biggest names in Rock n' Roll and Rock Band has even started making entire games based on single rock groups (Aerosmith, Metallica, etc.). Now it appears that the Fab Four have sold their souls to the video game industry. The Beatles: Rock Band game is scheduled to release on September 9th 2009 and I am expecting this game to be a big success.

"The Beatles are the world's most famous rock quartet, and perhaps the
biggest music license in the industry. So, last year, when rumors began to
circulate that EA, MTV, and Harmonix were able to secure a license from Apple
Corps., the hype train began rolling. Following on the trails of Guitar Hero:
Aerosmith and the very hot trails of Guitar Hero: Metallica, The Beatles: Rock
Band will launch September 9th, and it looks fantastic."

Now I love The Beatles, and I'm glad that they like to plant their songs in movies, and commercials galore. However I don't think they should create an entire game based on their timeless songs.

Here's where I tie Led Zeppelin into the mix. The members of Led Zeppelin have refused to sell their songs to such games. People can barely even get their songs into movies. Although I disagree with their choice of motion picture discression, I am ecstatic that they did not fall into the Rock Band vortex. I have often compared The Fab Four with Zeppelin and am glad to have this topic to include in my comparisons. Here is an interesting video of Led Zeppelin's explosion to #1.

Why Robert Should Tour

2009-04-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Any Led Zeppelin fan would wet his/her pants to see a Zeppelin concert in the 21st century after the monumental concert in London last winter. A Zep tour would truly go down in history as one of Rock n' Roll's greatest moments. Well, luckily there is talk of an American tour to happen in 2009. Excellent, what we've all been waiting for! But wait, there's a catch... singer Robert Plant has refused to tour with Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass) and Jason Bonham (drums) son of the late John Bonham.

Yet the band wants to tour and even record an album with a new singer. Who will the singer be? Only rumors have been put out on who the singer will, but here's my take on it. I tend to be the kind of guy that likes a good reunion. Although the band members may be in different places right now, I believe they need to do it for the fans. If you don't have a following then you don't have a reason to tour.

Recently Robert, along with his new parter Allison Kraus won the grammy for best album with their bluegrass album Raising Sand http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26794838/. "The album raised eyebrows for pairing Krauss’ bluegrass with Plant’s hard rock." This is great and I am happy for Robert's acomplishment. But now it is time to return to his roots. In my opinion he is not the greatest bluegrass singer. He needs to sing rock and that is why Robert should tour.