In a way, I guess I always dismissed Led Zeppelin as just another blues rock band. I know it sounds anathema when said like that, but it took me ten years since I first heard a Zeppelin album to "get it". On the surface, one of the things that displeased me was Plant's voice, I can't quite figure out why now. I think a deeper reason, looking back, is that I was going through my whole discovery of blues over these years and it was easy and hip to see Led Zeppelin as a derivative band.
A couple of weeks back I purchased their new compilation boxed set Mothership and I've been listening to the two CDs collecting ten years of carreer quite a bit since then. Obviously, it's the very definition of a good compilation that it tends to focus on the most interesting stuff (bad compilations focus on the most popular stuff, but in this case, I'm not sure there's a difference). Page's sound on Communication Breakdown, the heavy, somber bass line at the front of Dazed and Confused, the stunning guitar on Since I've Been Lovin' You, the powerfully mean drum backbeat on When the Levee Breaks, Plant's alternately delicate and forceful vocals on Nobody's Fault but Mine... None of this is derivative!
How could I have missed that for so long ?
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