Re: Less "c," more "x," and a big "z"

["Brad M. Lauchnor" <blauchno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>> Thor Iverson <tiverson@xxxxxxx> 03/15 11:34 PM >>>
I spent the whole weekend stripping. Lather, rinse, repeat.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I love misquoting people :)

Well, Brett, Geoff, I've decided.  This is a _great_ album, despite the
fact that Robert still sounds like a marmot is nibbling on his colon.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I thought all those wild days of the 70's were over.....


I'm still not totally convinced that the song order is a good one.  Nor am
I thrilled with the front-loaded ballads.  Nevertheless, this is an album
that picks up steam until it crushes you.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
YES! I loved being crushed. I recoiled the first time I heard Most High. I've
forced myself to listen to it about 10 times now: it's a real toe-tapper. I
really love it.


Thoughtful listeners will catch musical quotes from "Over The Hills," "Tea
For One," "The Rover," "Slow Dancer," "Helen Of Troy," and the entire _Pulp
Fiction_ soundtrack.  That's a pretty eclectic mix, yet somehow it all
hangs together.  And I'm convinced that the biggest reason it does is
because Jimmy Page is a genius.  He's already given us head-pounding riffs,
delicate fingerpicking.  Here, we find the sneaky Page, building a spare
almost-riff here, recalling a pattern there.  Nothing to grab onto as the
tape rolls or the CD spins.  Yet when it's all over (for the 5th time in an
hour) you find yourself unable to get it out of your head.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Jimmy Page is a genius, sometimes the rest of us just don't clue in to it.
Myself included.


Aside from the very few solos (one of which will have you groaning, "no,
not that phrase _again_, Jimmy") there's a tightness to Page's playing that
nevertheless appears rambling and incoherent.  This is accentuated by the
song structure, which seems a _lot_ longer and more unfocused than it
actually is (the sections are just _really_ long).  What you don't notice
is the ebb and flow, the build and diminish, the...dare I say it?...light
and shade of the progressions.  And you don't notice it because, as I noted
before, the mood is the trance-setting of _Presence_, where the power comes
not from the integrity of a single idea ("Whole Lotta Love") but from the
repetition of that idea ("Achilles Last Stand").  Yet there's a certain
movement from delicacy to power even in the ballads, and the uptempos
bringing up the rear of the album take on a rolling inevitability as they
grind any semblance of a hook into their angry, noisy gears.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
angry, noisy gears, grind me baby. I guess I'll have to turn out the lights,
close the door and hit the repeat button. Then I'll come out as one of the few
people in the world who "get" this album. At least that's what I hope happens...


Yup.  This is a great album.  Most people are going to hate it (not here,
where people understand the diversity of Zeppelin and will split 60/40 in
favor, but in the Real World), and thus is won't sell well.  Critics, who
_should_ like it, won't, because they _can't_ like a "geezer" album no
matter what it sounds like (perceptive critics like J.D. Considine will
rave, however).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I'm always willing to give it a chance. I may give it several chances. 
I just think of all the poor reviews that III received and I keep the faith.

My greatest fear is that hostile crowd reaction will keep them from playing
the new stuff on tour.  If I get spittle in my hair from some drooling 70s
relic weedhead screaming "Heartbreaker" on this tour, there's going to be
blood in the arena.  
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Don't make me kick your ass, Thor.  ;)

Nevertheless, this album is a template on which they
could build a really outstanding, adventurous set of catalog material (like
"The Rover") that would set off the mood wonderfully.  Let's hope they have
the guts and the energy to pull it off.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I have to agree. Though I will go no matter what they play (maybe Page farting
into a mike will keep me from buying front row from a scalper, and there's the
drool factor.)

This remains the most difficult music they've attempted in 20 years.  I'm
in awe that, after all this time, they'd care _this_ much to try so hard,
and succeed.  I _knew_ there was a reason I liked this band...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Is this REALLY Thor? Why just last week he was saying.....hmmm what was he
saying?
(Oh, and I mentioned your name because I have another car that needs the lube
job)

Brad L.