The "Dynamic Rock" of Led Zeppelin

Thanks to an interview I just read of John Paul Jones, I think another piece has fallen into place for me as to why I love Led Zeppelin so very much. Jones was essentially fielding questions about Jimmy Page, and had this to say about Page's vision for the band at its inception: "He had this whole thing about 'a dynamic rock band... a whole light-and-shade thing.' Which was pivotal, and it informed every musical decision that he made."

I think that the term "dynamic" encapsulates a great deal of what Led Zeppelin was: they were a medium between the "progressive" and the static, between the theoretical meanderings of bands like King Crimson and the repetitious sort of music being played by the Rolling Stones and the like. They incorporated the soft and plaintive side of folk as well as the hyperactivity of unadulterated rock'n'roll into what was essentially a blues band. They relied on riffs and grooves, but they were improvisational within that basic construct and played variants on all of their patterns. As a result, they had both permanence and novelty. The drums locked onto a solid, powerful beat and deviated from it to add drama and musicality with gorgeous tom fills, the bass and guitar generally played the same riff, with the bass occasionally answering the drums and the guitar periodically peeling off the underlying bass for soloing and improvisational leads and grace notes.

Zeppelin's genre-mixing also underscores the theme of dynamism: acoustic folk, hard rock, and a wide range of flavors of the blues blend and yet remain distinct in their albums, which, in my opinion, makes it nonsense to apply a single label to the band (especially the almost wholly erroneous charge of being a metal band). Led Zeppelin had a great variety of colors and textures at their disposal, and they used them all admirably.

Lastly, the term "dynamic" can be used to describe the musical attitude of the band. They opted neither for the sort of supremely technical, virtuosic approach favored by prog bands such as Dream Theater and Rush, nor for the simplistic, do-it-yourself approach typical of punk and pop-rock bands (with The Clash and The Beatles being the exceptions to the rule in those categories, respectively). I do not doubt that Zeppelin had the talent to adopt the former approach, nor that they had the songwriting skills to attempt the latter. Instead, they set out to construct genuinely enjoyable (and sometimes even joyful) music that celebrated the blues and rock music that they loved while also demonstrating that rock musicians could be capable of the sort of high-level musicianship that was largely lacking from it at the time. Some of Zeppelin's material borders on a classical level of complexity (notably in "Achilles Last Stand," among others) while remaining groovy and accessible.

In essence, Jimmy Page set out to, and succeeded in, creating a group of tremendous talent, variety, and musical intelligence. And that is why Zeppelin reigns supreme in my mind.

Things I Think While Watching the Steelers

1. Please, please, please tell me Troy Polamalu is going to be alright. Even if we win tonight, if he goes down for an extended period, it's a loss.

2. One thing I respect about Ben Roethlisberger: although he often makes dumb, risky throws (as in the end of half play tonight), he at least does it in a team-oriented way. He knew that he had the arm strength to reach the endzone and that it was unlikely the Titans could return an interception for a touchdown. It was essentially a no-loss proposition in terms of points, and he was willing to take that chance at the possible expense of worse numbers for himself.

3. I am watching (through SlingBox) the New England broadcast of this game. There was a national ad for health care reform. This is a massive waste of time for New England viewers. I can't imagine a more egregious case of preaching to the choir. There ought to be a better way of fine-tuning ad campaigns.

4. As observed by the broadcast team, James Harrison is indeed an animal. He hit Bo Scaife so hard that he actually dropped the football out of pain and not just due to impact. He also has been blowing up the tight ends on a regular basis.

5. It's time for the Steelers management to stop pretending this offensive line is going to work out.

The Followup

Time for overrated musicians! Oh boy, I'm excited.

Travis Barker- I couldn't wait to get this one off my chest. He's overly flashy, attention-seeking, and incredibly annoying. How he manages to garner so very many votes for "Best Current Rock Drummer" over people like Pat Carney is beyond me. The man is also seriously addicted to crash cymbals. It's annoying. Play the drums themselves, please.
Neil Peart Rush- People like to talk about how Rush took the epic, long-lasting aesthetic of '70s hard and prog rock and added more technical skill and more abstract lyrics. First of all, I'm not sure that Rush is actually better at playing music than Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, Cream, or any of the other elite bands from that time. Secondly, while they did add "philosophical" (read, "weird") lyrics to that kind of music, they also subtracted what made that music so good in the first place: the blues, passion, and groove. Not to mention the fact that Geddy Lee's voice is irritating beyond belief.
Eric Clapton- Don't get me wrong, Clapton is a very good guitarist. But he does not deserve mention among the best ever. Hendrix, Page, Duane Allman, John Frusciante, J Mascis- all better than him. I feel like he gets something of a related-to-the-Beatles boost because of his friendship with George Harrison.
Jim Morrison- A good singer, but definitely a beneficiary of the dead=genius algorithm. He had a very interesting voice, almost big band-esque, but limited range and a frankly overrated set of lyrics.
Kurt Cobain- essentially the same as Morrison, although his problem was less "limited range" than "limited as a singer." He wrote better songs than Morrison did, to be honest, and also played guitar (though not that well), but he was not as good a singer. And he also benefited tremendously from Dave Grohl's drumming and Krist Novoselic's bass work, which is underrated.
Ozzy Osbourne- More significant for the fact that he launched heavy metal than for any other reason. Sabbath continued without him, and he was always dependent on great guitarists like Tony Iommi and Randy Rhoads (and in my opinion, the former far outshines the latter). That is not to say that he was a bad singer, just a one-trick pony. Take away his metal howls and he's got nothing. Of course, this is true of most metal vocalists, but almost none of them have the same notoriety as Osbourne.

Well, I'm sure I could come up with more, but I don't feel like it.

Underappreciated Musicians

Just because I'm bored and thinking about it, a quick list of artists that people either don't know or don't care enough about. Also, since this is about underappreciation, not complete anonymity, I'm avoiding indie types.

Junior Kimbrough- Blues guitarist extraordinaire and inspirer of much of The Black Keys' catalog.
Robert Johnson- The granddaddy of all rock, and possibly the best acoustic bluesman ever.
John Paul Jones- About 1/1000th as well-known as the other Led Zeppelin guys.
John Frusciante- Honestly, how is it that people don't love this guy? Guitar magazines know about him, but pretty much no one else.
John Densmore- The only really talented musician from The Doors, the one with the most artistic integrity, and a virtual unknown outside of drumming circles.
Topper Headon- Had he not had a massive drug problem, The Clash might have lasted a lot longer, which would have been pretty great. Also probably the best drummer in punk history.
Mick Jones- Speaking of The Clash (I definitely don't mean the guy from Foreigner), Mick was a more polished and accomplished guitarist than Joe Strummer and had just as much vocal skill, though he sang less. Ah well, to the frontman goes the glory.
Ginger Baker- All things considered, much cooler than Eric Clapton and one of the best rock drummers ever.
Dave Grohl- Not in his Foo Fighters incarnation, but with Nirvana. All anybody ever says about Nirvana is "Kurt Cobain, blah, blah, Kurt Cobain." I'm tired of it. Nirvana would have been a lot worse without the heavy, heavy drumming on Nevermind.
Brian May- Similar to above, completely overshadowed by Freddie Mercury in the public consciousness. May was one of the best guitarists of the last few decades. Not taking anything away from Freddie, but give the man some credit.
Art Garfunkel- Paul Simon wrote the songs, yes, and had an actual solo career, but Art Garfunkel was a better singer. By a fair margin.
Phife Dawg- By show of hands, how many out there knew that he was the other guy in A Tribe Called Quest?



Coming Soon: Over-Appreciated! (Although I'll probably just call it "Overrated").