Thursday, September 29, 2005


The Late, Great Led Zeppelin

It occured to me that I've been writing here for a couple of weeks now, talking about movies, and alot of music, and I've not yet mentioned one of my other all-time favorite bands: Led Zeppelin.

I came to know of Led Zeppelin because of my former teacher, Mark Jackobs. He himself has a bit of rock star pulsing through his veins, and when riding in his car one day I noticed he had a Led Zeppelin CD floating around his back seat.
As a young undergraduate student eager to impress and relate, I decided to become familiar with some of their music, so I could converse with my teacher on the works and artistry of Led Zeppelin.

My first purchase was a "best of" album of most of their later albums. My companion on this particular shopping excursion bought their Remasters two disc set which was a far better sampling of their entire work. So soon later I bought my own copy of Remasters and devoured it, and really truly began to fall in love with their music.

The first full album I bought was IV of course. I'm afraid I wasn't that creative, but since it had some of their most famous songs, it seemed a safe place to start. (Upon further reflection, I must confess I'm not that big of a fan of "Stairway to Heaven" anyway. Try other songs from the album like "Black Dog" or "When the Levee Breaks." Much more indicitive of the band's real power and strength.

From that point on it's been a slow slide into an unhealthy obsession. A collection of their first six albums, both on CD and on vinyl (I don't even own a turntable!) the live DVD set, a window decal and a couple of t-shirts to declare my loyalty.

Am I a junkie? Perhaps. Just hook me up with a fix of "In My Time of Dying" and I'll be fine.

T.

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