Led Zep was dead to me...

[unleasHell]

Actually they still are...

Back in in the early 70's as a very young kid I got into Led Zep, I had 1, 2 3, & 4 and I was one of the millions who thought that Stairway to Heaven was the best rock song ever! I waited and waited for them to release a new record and finally some two years later in 1973 they released Houses of the Holy (more on that later).

First for the younger crowd, it might help to revisit the rock-climate of 1973, Thin Lizzy released Vagabonds of the Western World, Wishbone Ash released "Four" and Live Dates, Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon, Bowie released Aladdin Sane, Status Quo released Hello & Piledriver, Hawkwind released Space Ritual, Black Sabbath released Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Robin Trower released Twice Removed from Yesterday, Johnny Winter released Still Alive & Well, ZZ Top released Tres Hombres, Allman Brothers released Brothers & Sisters, BOC released Tyranny and Mutation, Marshall Tucker Band released their first album, Deep Purple released Who Do We Think We Are, ELP released Brain Salad Surgery, Yes released Yessongs, Budgie released: Never Turn your back on a Friend, etc, etc..

My point is that it was pretty much an awesome year for rock music and an awesome year for guitar solos and guitar heroes, such as; Thin Lizzy: The Rocker, ZZ Top: La Grange, Budgie: Breadfan, Robin Trower, Rory Gallagher, Richie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, they were all out there wailing away..

But on the sheer strength of the spine-tingling guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven, Jimmy Page was looked upon as being above them all!

Now here I am some 14/15 year old kid on his stingray, pedaling 5 miles to the closest record shop and seeing this Houses of the Holy, by the most awesome band ever, (I should also mention I had and still have a LP copy of the Yardbirds Live w/Jimmy Page). I look at the cover and see a naked girl (15 year -olds love that kind of stuff), I buy it for $4.29 (Bastards jacked it up from their regular price of $3.98, cause they knew people would pay it). And pedal off for home, with the bag (containing the LP) wrapped around my handle grip, every car or big truck that drove by caused some air-turbulence which would force me to grip my "prize" tighter.

Once home, I sneak it in past my parents, can't let them see me an LP with naked chicks on it, close my door, put it on my Pioneer PL-12D Turntable and crank up my Sansui 350 Receiver and no-name speakers.. And then I heard it...

The first song, sucked, the next song sucked, song after song SUCKED, I was pretty sure that was Plant's vocals, but where o' where is the killer guitar???? Then I got to a song and heard this: Oh oh oh oh oh oh, You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh, You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh, You don't Have to go.

WTF? The Album is going to have to GO!

Where are the smashing guitars solos? where are the heavy blues songs? Where is the real Jimmy Page? Maybe I had the wrong album, I looked at the label and the cover, wait a minute; those are not naked chicks, it's a freakin' naked guy, with a wig, and I was staring at his (never mind)..

I probably gave it one more listen before I dumped that LP, and I never, NEVER bought another Led Zeppelin LP or CD the rest of my life.... I can't stand Plants' vocals either (sorry Robert)...

As I said at the beginning..they are dead to me...

Is there a band that you really liked, that let you down and it changed the way you looked at them???

[Rae]

I still prefer Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti to any other era of Led Zeppelin.

~Rae

[Swish]

...they could ripoff. :-p

I did like them back in the day, but not all that much and wouldn't really care if I never heard them again.

[Mr Peabody]

I'm still a big Zepplin fan. I like a lot of Plant's solo stuff, not the one with Alison, mostly his first couple of albums, not Now & Zen. Zepplin 1 & 2 are probably my favorites in their entirety. Houses of the Holy have a couple of very good songs, especially No Quarter. I can't remember the name but there's a long track on Presence I like to crank to 10. I remember foolish people trying to say Zeppling went Disco with Presence. In Through The Out Door has some very good tracks as well.

Off the top of my head I can't remember being let down to the extent that you have. I saw Tool in concert last year and although I seem to be in the minority, that was a let down and I don't hold them in high esteem any more. In a younger day that 4th Van Halen album was a pretty bad offering, was that Diver Down? I mean Pretty Woman & Dancing in the Street from the Atomic Punks and the guitar hero every one wanted to copy, give me a break.

Sorry for the trama, try to seek therapy. :)

[bobsticks]

Is there a band that you really liked, that let you down and it changed the way you looked at them???

Yup yup...Metallica after Master of Puppets...I mean, I suppose some of the covers they've done have been acceptable but as far as "original" output I could care less and will usually remove myself from any situation involving their later stuff.

Same with Chili Peppers after One Hot Minute. I liked both the original party-fied-funkadelic style and the darker, brooding Navarro songs. A "return to original form" obviously won them fans and acclaim from the press but I'd already moved on.

[jrhymeammo]

The Offsprings!!!

Maybe around '93 or '94, I heard the album Iginition for the first time. I thought I had found my youth. Then some weeks later he pulled out the album SMASH. That was the 2nd CD I've ever bought. Though it no longer plays completely, I still have it stashed away. It remains one of my favorite albums of all time.

The way I see it, Offsprings betrayed my youth with the album Ixnay to the Hombre. The absolute worst.

[Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid]

For me the biggest let-down was Genesis' Abacab and their musical direction from there. Still unforgivable , what a waste of talent.

[3LB]

Jim Croce became dead to me after his last album. I liked the last Stevie Ray Vaughn album, after he died.

Ok, I'll be serious.

Houses of The Holy is by far my fave LZ album - it a desert island disc for me.

Back in my day, many of my friends were befuddled and bemused by the appearance of drum machines on a Judas Priest album (Turbo). They became irrelevant to me after that.

David Bowie died the day I saw his Blue Jean video.

Queen became dead to me right after their Radio Caca song.

Devo became an embarrisment in the '80s.

Sheryl Crowe became dead to me after she killed Kevin Gilbert. Ok, I wasn't being serious there...

(yes I was)