The Goods
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*’ 102 Bill Bryson, Roddy Doyle
Comics
1 04 Black Hole
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5 I1.
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107 Def Jam Vendetta
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108 lvansxtc, lchi the Killer
TV
109 Shakespeare, Sarah Ferguson
Buy it this fortnight
LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin Lima ‘1 ’14:“, {Ni} Vi ‘8 "32m. .00.
How the West was Won A: mix: (:I) 00000
ove closer boy. I can‘t hear you anymore. Now shout, shout deep in my
lughole so it shakes my brittle bones and churns my stomach. I‘ve been waiting at this bus stop for a long time - I‘ve been waiting to be touched by the scruffula riffs of heavy rock music the way I was once. I’ve been waiting here a long time and, such is the way of these things, two rides have turned up at the same time.
Yes the Zep are back, though they never really left us. A million smoke-stained bedsits and a million scratched platters of vinyl will testify to that, but Zeppelin live were always a
different matter. Their bootlegs were difficult and
costly to come by. On stage their filthy blues- roots were exposed to an audience sweaty with expectation for the over-production of their studio albums. Watching and listening to these new releases, which detail the band at the top of their form between 1970 and 1979. it is difficult to avoid the truth of just how good they were. In Plant‘s power vox, Page‘s climactic guitar solos, John Paul Jones‘ dirty bass and John Bonham’s crackerjack drum work they were the group the nihilistic undergraduates of the early 705 were praying for: a folk band who had taken to waiting at those crossroads with Robert Johnson.
These welcome releases are a glance back to a time when British bands really could break the US tour circuit by the power of their songs alone.lf you love the Zep, these babies are worth every penny.
The eponymous DVD kicks off in 1970 with footage from their Royal Albert Hall gig in the January of that year. The opener is a scorcher: ‘We‘re Gonna Groove' shakes and shimmers with almost inhuman funk. A year after the release of their debut album they are already kicking out supreme versions of “What is and What should Never Be‘ and ‘Moby Dick‘. Before you know it, you have reached the end of the first disc. Bar a few dull extras, this is the biz.
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They were the group the nihilistic undergraduates of the 70s were waiting for
Disc two features two great gigs and one mediocre one: Madison Square Garden (1973), Earl‘s Court (1975) and Knebworth (1979). By 1975 the beautiful lithe young poodles from the first disc had descended into smack and groupie heaven. Beneath the layers of glitter and glam, it was beginning to show: a light had been turned out on this most brilliant of bands.
By 1979 the band looked and sounded like they may disappear in an enchanted forest of their own pretensions. A year later their drummer was dead and the party was over. The extras on this third disc are again a bit of disappointment.
Better though is the three-CD set that was
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Food
1 1 0 Ice-cream
Travel
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released on the same day as the DVD. How the West was Won is the result of what Jimmy Page found in the archives when he was researching the Led Zeppelin DVD. He re-discovered these 1972 performances from 25 June at the LA Forum and 27 June at the Long Beach Arena. Boy, do these performances rock. It is no wonder the Yanks pulled them so close to their bosom. It is all here: ‘lmmigrant Song', ‘Dazed and Confused‘ . . . even ‘Stairway to Heaven’ sounds great. A mucky, lonely pleasure, this is guaranteed to drive your disco-loving friends into the coldest of nights. (Paul Dale)
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THE LIST 101