Originally Posted by
Kristy
Are you on dope? The two are not comparable but for sake of argument, I will anyway.
For one, Jimmy Page does have talent. He has to to be able to pull of the blatant thievery such as he did. His "chops" as a guitar player were marginal at best and thus hardly worth "respect." Page came from a sheltered white English suburban background (as did all of the members of Zep) who, like most white players who appreciated black/blues music never completely understood it; he managed to keep his audience just as ignorant and maintained it by flying Zeppelin (pun intended) under the plagiarist radar for years. If I am to ever give that limey rat bastard any credit it would be in the way Page handled Zeppelin as a businessman more than musician. Of course, a lot of Zep's success did lie with Peter Grant who shred business tactics gave Zeppelin that lewd reputation they were so know for off stage. Page definitively knew how to run Zep like a corporation. He thumbed his nose at the top brass of Atlantic Records never allowing any one of them in a session or give any criticism or input. In fact, Page went to great lengths to draw out contracts to keep record execs out of his doings as long as they sold records. Page also shut out "hangers on", groupies, even family members and allowed for little democratic process when it came to the rest of band's ideas to present themselves. Plant said it himself that Zep was "purely Jimmy's band and that the rest of us were just the missing pieces he needed to fill in his attitude." It's no surprise Plant has no interest in a Zeppelin reunion.
Page was/is an asshole and by rights had to be to keep Zeppelin as popular as he did. Problem with him (as with the rest of the Zeppelin) is that Page let his own success fuck him up: drugs, alcohol, lawsuits for his plagiarism, and a dwindling lack of ideas from 'Physical Graffiti' onwards. To me, all but the first Zep record were recorded poorly with bad mixes and horrible overdubs. Their last album is by far the most ear fatigue listening bag of shit I've ever heard, garbled nonsense made by a junkie fuckwit still disillusioned by the notion that he had something left in him to say. He did not and has not ever since.
Eddie, on the other hand, also came from a white suburban sheltered lifestyle, but unlike Page, came out with a sound that was unheard of before. Eddie never really revolutionized guitar playing but he did in the way of electric guitar tone. Eddie built his own axe from the ground up, he took the instrument to a new level in a way that shocked many people in that the guitar didn't have to play the same role as it always did (especially in a power trio setup). Eddie was/is a thief, too but unlike Page was vociferous abut who he stole from and instead of recycling his influences, he took what he liked, revamped it and tossed out the rest. Unlike Page, Eddie was not a good businessman with VH instead opting for focusing his interest in the playing rather than the money. Eddie made some horrible decisions: the hiring of Hagar, refusing payment for playing on Michel Jackson's record, and then the abomination that was VH III comes to mind. In fact it was Hager alone that literally destroyed anything that was pure about VH, turning the band into another bunch of overpaid rockstar scum and VH went to fun to just another shitty corporate-influenced machine selling their souls to the likes of Pepsi for fuck's sake. That was really the end of VH as far I am concerned.
Like Page, Eddie was a fuck up. Again, drugs, drink, cancer and even a failed marriage took the best out of him (he never really played the same since). Unilke Page, Eddie alienated his hard core fan base remaining reclusive and a wee bit angry as a result. The VH 2004 Tour was a god damn joke, a last hurrah for the Sammy's bank account and VH's credibility. Even with this new album (which leaves me unsettled), finds Eddie attempting to redeem himself and he seems to have the right attitude to make it through. And finally, every VH album (yes, including the Sammy years) were well recorded, produced and mixed as to any shitty, hissy ear fatigue crap that was Zeppelin. At least VH put some god damn thought process into the making of a record!
So you see they are not "gods" but rather fuck up alcoholics and junkies who are not immune to criticisms for their mistakes in life. Eddie is a musical genius but is also an asshole. Jimmy Page is just an asshole.
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