"We the people" (was "Anatomy of a Turd"..., etc.) a little long

["Williams, Chris (RSCH)" <Chris_Williams@xxxxxx>]

To all:

Like almost everyone here, I've been lucky enough to get a copy of WIC.
I've been listening to it for about a week. I think it's a great, great
album. True, it took me a couple of listens to reach that opinion. As, I
think, Thor had written, it's a complex work, and can take repeated
listenings before you "get it". As a point of contrast, I think an album
like C/P delivers itself immediately. I had listened to one of the E.
European shows before I heard WIC, so I had already grooved to WIC,
Burning Up and Most High. 

My first listen to the album was while commuting to and from a park and
ride. Unfortunately, my car stereo blows and my commute is about 20 min,
so it took a couple of days for me to listen to all the tracks--not the
best circumstances. Initially, I had profound doubts. There were even
points where I thought, "what if I really don't like this?" I then
listened to it in one sitting on a good stereo. I was hooked! 

As Hugh said, the album is a bold move. I love the Stones, they would
never release something so far removed from their signature styles? They
once experimented with a poppier sound on, Black and Blue, which I hated
at the time, but now love. It's one of their poorest sellers. WIC shows
that both Page and Plant have balls. Keep this in mind when the
inevitable "Jimmy's been castrated by Plant" complaint rears it's dull
head (I know, it's already begun). Despite all it's bluster, rock is an
inherently conservative genre. Unlike classical music, where composers
were rewarded for challenging generic constraints, rock musicians rarely
stray from the sounds they made on their first album. It's their
trademark. Ted Koppel's hairstyle functions in a similar way. Without
it, he wouldn't be that credible news anchor we all know and respect.
Still, it's not a complete break with their past. As John Q. and others
have noted, there are musical and lyrical quotes from their Zep and solo
days.

I do think that P/P have a rocky road ahead of them. While their sound
is fresh, critics and fans have expectations of what their music should
sound like. A few rock critics have argued that analyzing a band's
relationship to its audience is one of the most telling indicators of a
band's vitality is how often or even whether they challenge their
audience. With Zeppelin, their was an alchemy that allowed them to
"evolve" without alienating their audience. Today, circumstances have
changed. How? Let's look:

J.R. wrote:

	I'll bet every new Zeppelin fan that got into Zep because of
'BBC 
	Sessions' will run out and buy 'WIC', hoping to hear some really

	rocking tunes being belted out by their new favorite singer.
Only to 
	come home, put the disc in the machine, cue it up, sit down,
listen 
	for about 5 minutes, get up, walk outside, puke their *guts*
out, and 
	sit back down and have a good cry. 

It's nice to see someone looking out for the average "Joe". I think
J.R.'s probably right, but so what? If P/P were to try to recreate their
'69 and '71 sound, they would be little more than a cover band.
Similarly, Jimmy and Robert are both intelligent enough to not wear
dragon suits or bell bottoms. 

However, it appears that J.R.'s not only writing for the average Joe,
but recording his own feelings. As he writes:

	'Most High'
	Ok, I can see how they want this to be the first so-called
"single" 
	from the record. Jimmy's still playing with those drum-loops
that he 
	got from that dude in France. Guitars are too thin though. Where
are 
	the damned DRUMS!!!!????? The lyrics are too weird for me on
this. 
	This one sounds so much like Plant solo stuff it isn't even
funny. 
	Too many layers here for the average "Joe" to be 
	able to like this for more than a few listens.

It appears that J.R. is an average Joe. He implicitly uses the early
Zepp as a measure of WIC. The outcome is pre-determined. BTW, if you had
listened to Unledded, you wouldn't have been taken by surprise. IMHO,
Most High is a monster track, (Jimmy was right, some will call it epic)
and sounds more like their MTV stuff than anything from Plant's solo
days.

"So-called 'single'"? JR not only doubts the validity of their musical
efforts, but also the validity of their use of the term "single"? Is it
true that today's singles aren't what they used to be?


Thor, anticipating the reaction of the average Joes, wrote:

	It is going to sell poorly.  This is a complement.

	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.  Let's hope they have the guts and the
energy to pull it off.

Hey, nice image. However, JR's comments suggest that younger fans may
have just as much or even greater nostalgia for Zepp than us old
"weedheads". I also tend to think it will sell poorly, but you never
know. In NY, K-Rock, an "alternative" station has begun to seed it's
playlist with an occasional Zepp tune. They've also played new Van
Halen, so anything's possible. 

Band's make their money touring. Even before I heard WIC, I wanted to
hear as much new stuff live as they could play. Live, P/P will balance
the new with the old. I do agree that the audience's response to the new
stuff could make them add or delete a couple of new tracks from their
set list. Rather than heading to the bathroom during "Lullaby", it's
quite possible that the aisles will become full during Most High. A
pity.

The vibes are real...

Chris Williams
chris_williams@xxxxxx