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Celebration Day - Led Zeppelin
by cheffrey
In their heyday, Led Zeppelin were almost unassailable as a live outfit. The excellent 2003 release 'DVD' was testament to this, showing them taking the Royal Albert Hall by storm early on in their career, and turning out incendiary performances over the course of a decade. Although the, ahem, "unofficial" live recordings do ... show that they were occasionally too monged out on drugs or booze to perform properly, by and large they had the back catalogue and the vital chemistry required to put on a stonking live show.
And then it all ended for them in 1980 when the lost John Bonham, one of the greatest drummers ever to sit in the stool. They disbanded, saying that they couldn't continue without him. Over the next few decades, reunions under the name Led Zeppelin were scant, and frankly, rubbish. Their appearance at Live Aid was terrible, all out of tune and sloppy with singer Robert Plant forgetting the lyrics and unable to hit the high notes. The Page and Plant projects in the 90s were an interesting take on some LZ songs, but everyone in the world, except for Robert Plant it would seem, wanted to see them back together again. Most thought it would never happen, myself included.
In 2007 though, president of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun passed away, and a tribute concert was organised to take place in December at the O2. The shock news arrived that Led Zeppelin would be reforming for this one off gig, with Bonham's son Jason on drums. Demand for tickets was unprecedented, with millions applying worldwide for the sparse 20,000 that were available. If everyone has just one 'wish-upon-a-star' moment in their lives, mine came in the form of a phone call one December evening from my dad, who had miraculously been allocated a pair of tickets. I'd seen countless bands live, but if there was one that I could have chosen to go back in time and see above all others, it would be Led Zeppelin.
That show was nothing less than surreal, powerful and astonishing. I was really, really worried that it was going to be an embarrassment, with them unable to conjure up the excitement and energy heard on their live albums. My fears were soon laid to rest, and now some 5 years later they got round to releasing the show on CD and DVD, it is nice to remember that evening with more clarity.
While the other acts were enjoyable, like Paul Rodgers and members of Yes getting together, everyone was waiting for Led Zeppelin. At half time, the lights went out, and out of the pitch black came the one-two salvo of opening track from their first album, 'Good Time, Bad Times', punctuated with a blinding flash of halogen lights. It was a really weird moment, seeing this legendary band that split up two years before I was born, right in front of me.
While they played a set littered with classics, it was noticeable that they were a little bit shaky at the start. A lot was riding on this performance, and reputedly Jason Bonham had a panic attack and was physically sick just moments before going out on stage. The flurry-of-notes riff and time-bending signature of the notoriously difficuly 'Black Dog' had them falling apart at the seams a little, but they soon settled into a groove and kick seven shades out of their interpretation of blues-gospel classic 'In My Time of Dying', with Jimmy Page showing his guitar who is in charge that evening.
The level of energy and intensity in this performance is remarkable as well, considering the three remaining members were all well into their sixties. Robert Plant doesn't quite roar with the same vigour that he once could, but as he growls through 'For Your Life', a slow-burning blues-rock song from 'Presence' that they had never tackeld live before, it's clear that there is still a lot of life in the old lion yet. the funk-driven 'Trampled Underfoot' thumps along like a groove-metal answer to Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition', and they hit a peak with 'Nobody's Fault But Mine'. It's like they never went away.
The big epic pieces are on show here as well, with the ethereal 'No Quarter' showcasing John Paul Jones' skills, and it's a better live version than on any of their other concert recordings. 'Dazed and Confused' morphs out of the plagiarised Jake Holmes song into an unrecognisable beast, with Jimmy Page coaxing all sorts of other-worldly sounds from his guitar via his violin bow. And most surprisingly, they did play 'Stairway to Heaven', the LZ song everyone is surely sick of hearing. Plant is visibly unsure at the start, but come the end of it, he wrily looks up and says 'Well Ahmet, we did it'. I suppose they had to, really.
For a concert that seemed to go past in a flash, this DVD/CD package does hold a special importance for me, allowing me to relive the night and re-convince myself it wasn't actually just a dream. The two encores are thunderous versions of 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Rock and Roll', and the curtain seemingly comes down on Led Zeppelin's career, as it is unlikely that they will perform together again. With 'Celebration Day' not only have they made amends for the shoddy reunions of the 80s, but have added a very worthy live album that stands up with the best of their prime performances.
The only gripe I have with this is the sheer number of formats on which it was released. There's the CD version, the CD+DVD, the Blu-Ray, the digital download, the deluxe, the vinyl... and probably more. Check the Amazon listings, but seriously take care if you're going to order this.
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Now What ?! - Deep Purple
by cheffrey
Deep Purple are often lumbered with the musical albatross that is 'they're famous for, err, Smoke on the Water' a guitar riff revered and loathed in equal measure. But as is often the case with such simplistic tags leads to the majority of a band's most interesting work being overlooked, and casting an eye over their extensive back ... catalogue, it's safe to say that there's more to Deep Purple than that one song, or even the album that it's on. 'Now What?!' is the nineteenth album from the band, which has seen them have nearly as many lineup changes since their formation than Chelsea FC has managers in the last two years.
As is often the case when listening to a new album from a well-established band, I approach it with a sense of trepidation rather than excitement as it is a fairly safe bet that despite all the press releases and bias reviews claiming it to be 'their best album since (insert name of last good album here)', it'll be at best a bit OK, and at worst an embarrassment. Thankfully, and surprisingly, this offering from Deep Purple is surprisingly strong.
Opening with the atmospheric, haunting and emotive chords of 'Simple Song', it's clear that the band have might just be onto something. It then lurches into full on Deep Purple mode, all powerful melodic lines from singer Ian Gillan, who is in unbelievably fine voice given that he's not too far off reaching his 70th birthday. And while it is a strong song, there are the first hints that there is something slightly amiss. Since the death of keyboard wizard Jon Lord, and the dim-memory of neo-classical guitar prodigy Ritchie Blackmore, the band lost two key components in their distinctive sound. Between them, they stamped an authority and sound on their records that lifted them from the slightly naff late 60s psychedlic pop group that they started out as, and into a grand and somewhat bombastic marriage of heavy metal and classical forms and themes. Now, with their replacements Don Airey and Steve Morse as long-established members, it is hard not to conclude that their brief is to fill those shoes as closely as possible. With legendary Pink Floyd producer Bob Ezrin at the helm, Deep Purple have recaptured their 'classic' sound that dominated their best albums of the 70s, but have they recaptured their form?
On second track 'Weirdistan', the trademark hammond organ sound of Jon Lord is clearly audible, and Steve Morse tries his best to inject a classical trademark, but I can't help but feel that it's all a bit calculated. 'Out of Hand' also sounds like Deep Purple of old, with chunky riffs in interesting modes, with Ian Gillan sounding genuinely irate and again is the star of the show. 'Hell to Pay' is embarrassing though, with an unashamed 80s cock-rock chorus that should have left on the cutting room floor, along with the rest of the track. As with most new releases, it is a victim of the CD age and could do with being shaved down from its 60+ minutes to a more compact length with more punch. 'Machine Head' was less than 40 minutes long and all the better for it.
'Bodyline' and 'Above and Beyond' aren't much better either, and could quite easily have been ditched without detriment, with the latter sounding just a bit too much like the quiet bits of AC/DC's 'For Those About to Rock'. Things pick up though - 'Blood from a Stone' is a slow burning piece that takes its time to flare up and die away, and smoulder again. 'Uncommon Man' is an instrumental dedicated to former member Jon Lord, and it does border on Queen-flavoured cheese, its classical runs and haunting quality that build up into a Yes-like meltdown would no doubt have earned his approval. 'Apres Vous' could easily fit onto 'In Rock' in terms of both sound and fiery performance.
Given that the members of this band are grizzled old birds than spring chickens, it's a remarkably strong album. It does seem that they are paying homage to their own legacy at times, but with song building this solid, it's not really much of a complaint. It's definitely better than their last offering 'Rapture of the Deep', which apart from the title track really was underwhelming. Shame that this album has a naff title and sleeve though.
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Reign In Blood - Slayer
by MartinJS
The recent death of guitarist Jeff Hannemann makes for a good time to analyse the magnum opus of Slayer - they may be the least commercially successful of the Big Four of thrash, but only Metallica can reasonably claim to be as big an influence on metal and beyond. No major label had ever released anything as unrelenting as this. Aside ... from the slower-tempoed closer Raining Blood, the album is all about blastbeat drumming, fierce vocals and intense guitar work - there's a great touch in the liner notes featuring not only full lyrics, but also identifying whether Hannemann or Kerry King played each solo. Death metal and other extreme styles ultimately owe their existence to this 30-minute bullet. King's anger at organised religion and his mockery of the idea of God is central to most of the lyrics, but it's Angel of Death's neutral discussion of Nazi brutality which stands out today, and led to inevitable allegations of sympathies in that direction, something I'm not convinced holds true. However, when compared to later works in the same genre (including this band's Seasons of the Abyss and Christ Illusion), it all seems a bit one-note, lacking in variety and with a few tracks which sound like inferior copies of others. Piece By Piece is the highlight, with Criminally Insane and the previously mentioned tracks also up there, but there's stuff on here you'll listen to half a dozen times without it sticking.
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