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THE LED LEGACY
by John Meyer
Few bands have had as
great an influence on the
rock medium as Led Zeppelin.
Despite the fact that it
has been close to ten years
since their untimely demise
Led Zeppelin remains a hot
property: their albums,
especially the untitled
fourth album, are steady
sellers. T-shirts, posters
and buttons bearing the
Led Zeppelin name can be
found in most stores which
cater to the rock crowd,
and many groups have dis
covered that they can sell .
more albums if they even
sound remotely like the
mighty Zep. Led Zeppelin
is one of the few groups,
past or present, who can
boast such a rabid and ever
growing legion of fans,
many of whom were too
young to even know what
Rock music was when Led
Zeppelin was at its peak of
popularity during the
early 70's.
Perhaps the true testament
to Zep's popularity is its
influence on fellow music
ians. In a recent survey
where the magazine Guitar
asked several guitarists
what albumsthey felt were
essential in any guitarists
collection. Such players
as Steve Vai, Richie
Sambora of Bon Jovi, and
Slash of Guns & Roses
listed one or more Led
Zeppelin albums. If the
old saying about mimicry
being the highest com
pliment is true, then
Whitesnake, in their song
"Still of the Night," and
Kingdom Come, in their
whole act, are really
praising the mighty Zep.
Groups as diverse as
Heart, Kiss, and Crowded
House have played Led
Zeppelin songs in con
cert, and The Beastie Boys
IN mum No ENTERMIIIMENT
once at Live Aid, and most
recently as the closing act
at the Atlantic Records
40th Anniversary gala cele
bration. These renunions
are partially responsible
for the rumors which have
proliferated in recent years
of a renunion album and tour
the remaining Zeps emphatic
ally deny such rumors.
While there is little hope
of a reformed Led Zeppelin
tour and album, their music
lives on in a different
form in the solo albums of
the surviving members, in
the songs of the many music
ians they influenced, and
in the hearts and ears of
their many fans.
even incorporated the
main riff from " The
Ocean" in one of their
rap tunes.
One of the most common
gripes heard from the
surviving members of the
band is that people want
to hear Zeppelin songs,
and not what they have done
since the break-up of the
band. Through three solo
albums, former lead singer
Robert Plant has been
trying to escape from the
Zeppelin Shadow. In his
recent album, Now and Zen
he has begun to move back
toward the kind of blues
based rock he used to
turn out with the Zep.
He even includes samples
from several Zeppelin
songs at the end of "Tall
Cool One," and has Jimmy
Page playing the solos
on two of the songs. In a
was a double-bill, featur
recent Rolling Stone article
Plant explained his change
in attitude, " I've stopped
appolagizing to myself for
having this great period
of success and fanatical
acceptance. It's time to
get on and enjoy it now."
Twice in recent years,
the surviving members of
Led Zeppelin, Page, Plant,
and bassist/keyboardist
John Paul Jones, reunited,
Guns and Roses/Aerosmith
Teaching Old Dogs New
Tricks?
by Mark Piedmonte
To any concert-goer,
August 30, 1988 was like any
other sold-out show at Po-
cono Downs raceway.
grandstands were packed with
loud, long-haired, rowdy
fans dressed mainly in
black T-shirts which de-
picted their favorite bands.
Those more daring congre-
gated on to the race track
itself, standing anxiously
and impatiently for the ex-
travaganza to begin.
The event that evening
ing the legendary Aerosmith,
who, known for such class-
ics tunes as: "Sweet Emo-
tion","Same Old Song and
Pance","Walk This Way" (re-
cently re-done by Rap super-
stars, Run-DMC), and, of
course , "Dream On",
Aerosmith (consisting
of guitarists Joe Perry and
Brad Whitford, Bassist Tom
Hamilton, drummer Joey Krae-
mer and Jagger-lipped front-
man and lead-vocalist Steven
Tyler) have been together
since the early '7o's, pro-
ducing such famous albuts as
Hot Rocks and
Dream On
s in the Attic. Due to
various inclinations, main-
ly drug abuse, however,
Aerosmith underwent many
. 1 ":"*".
•
r•-••
years in the later part of
the 1970's and early 1980's,
remaining virtually silent.
They recorded records that
didn't sell very well,and
their music was unable to
match the genious sounds of
their earlier achievements.
But, every dog has his
day, and some are lucky e-
nough to have it twice. Aero
smith seems to have cleaned
up their act and are ready
to hit the high road again.
The release of 1987's
nent Vacation has
back on the charts, spawn-
ing such top hits as "Rag
"Angel" and "Dude
Doll"
Looks Like a Lady". The
music is fresh and vivrant;
proving only that these old
boys can still rock 'em like
they used to, and nothing
proves that better than see-
ing them live.
From the minute they
hit the stage, Steve Tyler
and co. strutted their stuff
through various arrangements
of both older and newer mat-
erial. Highlights included
"Hangman's Jury"
ing intense slide guitar ac-
tion by Perry,
ballad off the new album,
4T4/ the ever-welcome "Pream
All tunes were well-
received by the crowd (the a-
bove mentioned in particular)
and the band was sure to be
pleased with the reaction.
Perma-
ut. them
, featur-
"Angel►►