‘Better late than never’... they say.
Having long since given up on new music, my theory is that.... 'everything that is going to be done has been done'... still holds.
Please prove me wrong but there are only so many chords, so many riffs, and so many harmonies. Is this why there are countless cover songs now because it's impossible to craft something genuinely new that doesn't sound completely shit, or at best mundane?
Lucky for all of us, we simply can't take in the deluge of music offered to us and there are still many gems we either left on the shelf or if not born, are there to be discovered.
Led Zeppelin, to be discovered? Not yet, and maybe not ever, for the most part, they simply do not float my boat but there are exceptions.
Far Corporation - Stairway to Heaven (Division One – 1985)
In 1985 this was released as a single and entered the UK top 10 and I loved it.
What can be wrong with harmonies, mixed with some heavy stuff, big ridiculous hair, and those trademark eighties drums, the type heard on 'In The Air Tonight'?
I can’t remember if I was aware this was a cover in 1985, as the original was an album track only and released in 1971 when I was strictly in short pants.
What’s wrong with it? Everything now, it’s as cringe as I can think of, especially this performance if you can actually see it.
I was interested on Jimmy Page’s verdict so asked good old ChatGpt to find something and here’s what it came back with (above).
‘Mixed feelings, lacks the emotional resonance of the original'.
Of course, he's never going to say it's better and he's right. It would have given him and Robert Plant another source of income for a while, there are always benefits.
Listen to it yourself, preferably blindfolded so you can’t see the garish blurry visuals and that ridiculous mullet.
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin IV – 1971)
...'Better late than never'...
I have been listening to this version a lot more recently and totally get it now. My previous opinion was that it took far too long to get going, but isn’t that point?
The studio version sounds more like a deep acoustic guitar before the end solo starts, very bassy, rich and encompassing.
There’s also a live performance from 1975 floating around on YouTube. I was struck with the look of Jimmy Page, shrouded in long hair covering his eyes.
Did Slash get some inspiration, with the addition of the top hat from Stevie Nicks along with the mandatory shades stuck to his eyelids?
Now with this song being my current irritating earworm, I find what's playing in my mind is a hybrid of the original and the cover version. Do you know how annoying that is?
Jimmy’s epic solo at the end comes in and then the 80's big drums join the party and completely wreck the experience. Is there a way to get a partial selective lobotomy anyone?
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (Physical Graffiti – 1975)
Kashmir is probably the only other song by this band which got my attention, though I still think it's quite repetitive. What it does boast is an original sound that I have not heard anywhere else.
'Ooooooo yeah'... goes Robert Plant, does that make it great?
The interlude section sounds more Middle Eastern and exotic to me, yet it was named 'Kashmir', the fought-over contested territory between India and Pakistan. What gives?
I suppose it takes all tastes, and this one appeals… just.
Robert Plant - Big Log (The Principle of Moments – 1982)
Two years before the cheesy 'Stairway to Heaven' was discovered by me, this song turned up in the charts and I instantly liked it. 'Robert Plant' – who was this?
I probably didn't know, and not hearing anything about Led Zeppelin at this point in my life was hardly helping.
What I saw was the ritually over-permed big hair probably on Top of the Pops, and figured this bloke did laid-back songs, drank milkshakes and was in bed by 9 pm every night.
...'By the 80's Robert Plant was starting to age, that's what drugs, alcohol and wrecking hotels does for a man'...
Was I right about that, well....?
I figured Jimmy Page might have collaborated and played the guitar in this song, but it was not to be. Robert had found another bloke.
Mellow and subtle; Big Log is a lovely soaring song you can close your eyes to. Let it take you away somewhere, probably... on the road.
Led Zeppelin are so popular, so cult and yet I am still not getting it. Well, there are plenty more gems in the old brewing pot, I just need to find them. Stairway to Heaven is a masterpiece though, that one has sunk in.
Guitar Image - Source
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