Becoming Led Zeppelin

Thanks for another well thought out and written review, Dave.

Guessing that I may be the only one on this board who has never heard/seen Led Zep except for radio play.

Looking forward to meeting the band. Heard that they're pretty good  :->

I certainly never saw them, you're not alone!

I have to admit that I can't remember if I saw them. I think I focused primarily on Jeff Beck and the Who in the early British bands, but I saw others and may have seen more than I remember. It's really quite possible.

I was all in from the very first time I heard LZ1.. Saw them at kezar in 73. But after Houses Of The Holy I lost interest.

They had it all.   Perfect blend of raw power and musical talent, shrouded in mystery and dripping in swagger and unrestrained hedonism.  So many bands have tried to emulate them, but none  of those crude facsimiles have come close to capturing that unique balance of light and shade and to this day, nothing has gone down heavier than Led Zeppelin.

Sadly,  I never got to see them, but soak up their live recordings and am a big Zepp freek and look forward to seeing this film.  Seen Plant about six times and dude always brings it and never lost that "x" factor.  Really magical.

>>>>>Guessing that I may be the only one on this board who has never heard/seen Led Zep except for radio play.

Never seen 'em. I liked the first record but nothing after that.

I'm a huge fan of Led Zeppelin ever since i was probably 12 (1982) Obviously never saw them live but would be way up high on the list of 'Wish I could have seen'

Really stoked for this Doc!

Lastly, every time i hear the second riff in 'Black Dog' it ALWAYS sounds like it's on the verge of falling apart timewise with Jimmy Page's riff and Bonham's drumming.

anyone else hear this or even know what the F I'm referring to?

happy friday!

My older brother and sister got to see them in the early 70's. Showed up hours late and wasted. They were not impressed. 

Got into Zeppelin from the start - January 69 when the first album roared up the charts.  I missed them at Fillmore West on the first two tours but made it  to Winterland in November that year.

They blew us away at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in 1970- and at Berzerkely BCT a year later.  The last time was the infamous Kezar Stadium show in 1973 - the week after the Dead played there.

Fell out of the Zep scene after that as my tastes were changing but I still listen to a lot of the CD's from time to time,

Looking forward to this film.

Never saw the mighty Zep either but did see The Firm in the 80s at the Nassau Coliseum and years later Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes at Jones Beach.  That Black Crowes show ranks as one of the best ever seen in my lifetime.  Looking forward to the film!  

Thank You,

Bonham died, tour canceled, I never got to see them. Caught these after...

Ken, the reason all those wanna be bands(almost all "heavy metal") failed is that they ignored the blues. LZ was a bluesband that played heavy.

I would say that Led Zeppelin was "more than a heavy metal band" because, while they basically invented the genre, they could come and go into the gutters of heavy metal as they pleased.  Seriously.  Songs like Communication Breakdown and Whole Lotta Love laid down the musical blueprint for all hard rock and heavy metal bands to follow, way much more so than Black Sabbath's plodding and blues based first album (which came well after Zeppelin I and II).  They also brought the whole style, look, and sword and sorcery imagery that have come to define what most people would call heavy metal.  Moreover, while most heavy metal band's "occult" stuff was all for show, Jimmy Page was a serious student of the dark arts which is reflected in just how fucking good and unreal they were. 

I will give Sabbath credit for being the first Doom Metal or Sludge Metal band, but they owe a lot to Zeppelin which they tried to emulate.  In fact, Ozzy discusses in his book how his band (then called Earth) took a trip to London where they heard Zepp I at a party and the guys were going off on how heavy it was all the way back to Birmingham.   According to Ozzy, Tony who was driving the van, looked over and said with a wink "We'll be heavier."  

>>>Robert Plant has always claimed that Led Zeppelin's first two albums aren't Heavy Metal because half the songs were acoustic. 

For me,  LZ III was their "acoustic" album.

When I was in high school in the mid-70s, my favorite radio station was WPLR in New Haven, and every night right about 11:52 PM they'd cue up Stairway to Heaven, which would end at midnight, followed by a fade into I Remember Jeep from George Harrison's All Things Must Pass album. My nightly ritual for a while there was to lie in bed and let these rock & roll airwaves carry me away, but all that repetition eventually turned me off to Zeppelin, and to music made in a studio more generally.

That said, the trailer for Becoming Led Zeppelin looks interesting, and especially the live stuff. Maybe I'll take a ride up to Bakersfield tomorrow to see it on the IMAX.

Saw it yesterday and it's overall pretty good, but a few nitpicks are - they use a lot of the same footage as on the 2003 DVD (that said, there are some cool unseen clips as well); too many cheesy montages recycling already used songs and footage; ends abruptly with no real conclusion. Still, the interviews are decent and some neat unseen photos.

I also got a free poster.

It'll be coming around to our local indi theatre in a week, looking forward to seeing it!