When the World Was Young
Posted on May 9, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 13 Comments
I have absolutely nothing of interest to say at the moment, so here, have some music, namely, the best Led Zeppelin track of the last 20 years:
Yes, I know, not technically a Led Zeppelin track. But come on. There are some fictions that make sense, and some that don’t. This is a Led Zeppelin track, whether it says so on the label or not.
The guitar sounds the same but whoever they got to sing seems to be about an octave lower.
You know what was a pretty decent Zeppelin pseudo-revival? The Coverdale-Page project. Yes, it’s Zep’s guitarist with Whitesnake’s singer; it might sound cringe-inducing, but it was surprisingly good.
#2…Coverdale/Page was very good much much better than that dreck of a new Whitesnake Disc that just came out.
I actually have not checked out the Page/Plant (Yeah I know its been around for a bit) disc yet, other than hearing this song just now.
Fave Zep-related stuff of recent years:
Mutual Admiration Society (Nickel Creek + Glen Philips + John Paul Jones + Pete Thomas) — on tour, they’d regularly do “Going to California” w/JPJ on mandolin, Sean Watkins on Guitar — Acoustic Zep, who’d a thunk? During their inevitable long jam on “The Fox”, Sara Watkins would do the howl from “Immigrant Song” but it’s just a tease. “Gallows Pole” also made regular appearances in their encores.
Look for some of their performances on Archive.org — the one from the Bowery, 8/14/2004 was particularly nice, and a clean recording.
You should check out Dread Zeppelin sometime. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like, and it’s wonderful. I’ve heard Jimmy Page even quoted as saying their version of Stairway to Heaven is better than the original. Ya, mon.
From their website, “Led Zeppelin inna reggae style with an Elvis impersonator.” NOW how much would you pay?!
Tumbleweed:
I have three of their albums.
You’re mistaken, John. The best Led Zeppelin track of the last twenty years is of course “Broken Boy Soldier” on the Raconteurs disc of the same name.
I am totally down with that. I really dig that album. I love, love, love the title track.
I got to see them while sitting in the fifth row during the tour to support this album. About halfway through the show there was a guy near me yelling, “Jimmy!” It felt like I was sitting inside one of my bootleg tapes from 1977. One of the greatest days of my life.
By the way, that album is ten years old. Good god.
That album was pretty good, I should put it on now while the wife is still sleeping in. Page’s solo on the title track is five kinds of sick. “When the World is Young” does sound like something that would fit right in on Houses of the Holy. And Plant took one of the other great songs “Please Read the Letter” over to his project with Alison Krauss.
A coworker of mine went to the New Orleans Jazz Festival and saw Plant/Krauss bring down the house. Apparently they’re doing “Battle of Evermore” and Alison soars like an eagle on that high harmony part.
Steve Burnap @ 1: Don’t be daft…
(i.e., who do you think is singing in a Page/Plant collaboration?)
The Plant/Krauss Raising Sand is fantastic, btw, albeit something totally different. Also Plant’s work with the Strange Sensations is very interesting – his best in years. The Coverdale/Page is too much a pastiche for me. Dred Zeppelin funny when it came out, but I find I skip it whenever it pops up on shuffle play. The tribute CD, Enconium, is very good, and the best Plant/Page collaboration is No Quarter, and does anybody remember Zebra?
A coworker of mine went to the New Orleans Jazz Festival and saw Plant/Krauss bring down the house. Apparently they’re doing “Battle of Evermore” and Alison soars like an eagle on that high harmony part.
Wish I’d seen that.
I was in town about two weeks earlier for the French Quarter Festival. There, a group called Tin Men – a trio involving steel guitar, sousaphone, and washboard – covered “The Viking Song.”