Tag Archives: Led Zeppelin

The Best of 2022

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I almost didn’t write an annual “Best Of” post this year. Not because I didn’t buy and listen to a ton of music, but more because the blog has sort of drifted away from me over the last few years. The drop in posting frequency has been noticeable:

  • 194 posts in 2019
  • 127 posts in 2020
  • 8 posts in 2021
  • 6 posts in 2022 (not including this one)

I think its just a coincidence that this happened during COVID – if anything I’ve had more free time available over the last three years as I shifted to work-from-home and eliminated a daily 2.5 hour round trip commute from my life. Really it boils down to I just didn’t feel like I had much to say.

Some cool music-related things happened in 2022. Over the summer we got on an airplane for the first time since November, 2019 and took a trip to Chicago. I of course took the opportunity to hit up some local record shops and came home with some great stuff. I also finally attended some concerts (also for the first time since November 2019), catching Swedish House Mafia and Iron Maiden here in Seattle. Then in November we headed back to Reykjavik for our 11th Iceland Airwaves. I can’t say that I have any complaints whatsoever.

I also joined my friend Tristen on a musical odyssey of sorts, as we agreed to listen to the Top 100 albums on Rolling Stone‘s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Over the course of 11 months we worked our way down from #100 (The Band – Music From Big Pink) to #1 (Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On). A task such as this would have been near impossible in the past, but streaming, combined with working from home, helped make it a reality – though I did miss a Neil Young album when he pulled his stuff from Spotify.

But let’s get to the lists! Without further ado…

Top 5 New Releases in 2022

1. Sá Yðar Sem Syndlaus Er – Plagan (Iceland)
2. The Pearl – Sensational ft. Planteaterz (US)
3. Venezuela – Ohm & Octal Industries (Iceland)
4. Tröð – Dalalæða (Iceland)
5. Cosmic Dub Hop – DJ Kalish Youze (Iceland)

This is the first time I’ve ever done a year-end Top 5 list that doesn’t include at least one artist that could be classified as “rock”, which is a bit startling to me but does reflect how my listening habits have changed.

My favorite release was Sá Yðar Sem Syndlaus Er. While put out under the name Plagan, this is in fact the work of Þórir Georg. The music was part of Þórir’s art degree project. The piece as a whole was inspired by Mark Fisher’s concept of “boring dystopia”, which Þórir applied to the seven deadly sins by combining modern-sounding music with something considered kitsch, cross-stitching, which is, or at least was, quite common and prevalent in Icelandic households. Sonically dense and varied, it is an outstanding piece of work. You can find it on streaming services, though if you want a physical copy, good luck – only 10 copies were pressed on vinyl.

Top 5 “New to Me” Bands/Performers

1. Codec & Flexor
2. PPBB
3. Mt. Fujitive
4. Kitbuilders
5. Sameheads

I played Codec & Flexor’s “Time Has Changed” single so much this year that it sort of became a running joke in our house. I originally discovered these guys as part of The Sound of Warhammer 40.000 (see below) and immediately fell in love with this track. Kitbuilders also came to me from the same series. PPBB and Sameheads were both live discoveries at Iceland Airwaves, while Mt. Fujitive is an Icelandic artist who somehow managed to slip under my radar for years, a situation I rectified by picking up three of his vinyl releases while in Reykjavik for Airwaves. Fujitive’s sound has elements of hip hop and jazz, and his Bandcamp page uses the description “beats to lounge to”, which is actually pretty apt. Give him a listen when you’re looking to chill.

Top 5 Purchases/Acquisitions

1. The Sound of Warhammer 40.000 releases
2. Led Zeppelin live records
3. Novation Launchkey Mini Midi
4. Q1 – Q4U
5. First Six Dischord Records box set

My descent into the rabbit hole of The Sound of Warhammer 40.000 releases was a blast. I reached out to as many of the artists as I could track down, and a lot of them actually got back to me. The blog that came out of it was one of the best things I’ve done in a while. The only downside was the expense – I had to source most of these records and CDs out of Europe, and there were a few times that the shipping was actually more than the record. But no regrets on my end.

On the Zeppelin front, a Seattle-area record store has a section of OG live recordings from the 1960s through the 1980s – I have to assume these were part of a collection. Tons of stuff from the Stones, Yes, Dylan, The Who, and of course the mighty Zeppelin. I unexpectedly found myself with a few dollars in my pocket around this time and went a bit hog wild, buying 16 (16!) of the Led Zeppelin records. As the year progressed I added a few more from other sources, with special emphasis on Seattle shows. The recording quality on these is all over the board, but I’m glad I picked them up.

The third item on this list isn’t media, but instead midi, as in a midi keyboard. I started making my own music in 2022 and will have a cassette release coming out in January, 2023. More to follow! Finding a used copy of the original release of Q1 was a nice score in Reykjavik, and I’m glad I jumped on that Dischord box set when it was announced, since the pressing was limited to pre-orders only. I have to admit I haven’t opened this one yet, but definitely will next year.

Top 5 Live Shows

1. Janus Rasmussen – Gaukurinn, Reykjavik
2. Revenge of Calculon – Lucky Records, Reykjavik
3. PPBB – Iceland Airwaves Center, Reykjavik
4. Swedish House Mafia – Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
5. Iron Maiden – Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle

I read mixed reviews on Janus Rasmussen’s show at Guakurinn. All I know is for me it was transcendent, a reminder of the importance of live music and what we lost during the COVID shutdowns. Revenge of Calculon was an absolute blast as the guys entrusted me with a GoPro and told me to run wild in the crowd, which I did. PPBB forced me to get outside of my comfort zone, and for that I am grateful. As for Swedish House Mafia and Iron Maiden, these music veterans still have it and know how to put on a live show.

Top 5 Artists On Spotify

1. Bolt Thrower
2. Led Zeppelin
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Kitbuilders
5. A Tribe Called Quest

I’m not entirely sure what drives these Spotify results. My guess is that these are the artists I searched for most frequently, because I’m not convinced they are the ones I played the most. Bolt Thrower isn’t a surprise – Realm of Chaos is an afternoon go-to that I often play after my last work calls are done for the day but while I’m still tying up loose ends. Zeppelin and the Stones are great and all, but with the Stones in particular, I didn’t play them much outside the Rolling Stone Top 100 list experiment, so maybe that’s why they showed up.

Top 5 Places To Buy Records

1. Lucky Records – Reykjavik
2. Selector Records – Seattle
3. 606 Records – Chicago
4. Reykjavik Record Shop – Reykjavik
5. Space Odyssey – Reykjavik

Finally being able to travel in 2022 was amazing, and it got us back to my favorite record shopping city, Reykjavik. Lucky Records of course holds down the top spot – not only did I buy a bunch of stuff there during Airwaves, but they also serve as a venue and I ordered a bunch from them over the course of the year, which allowed me to keep up with Icelandic releases. Reykjavik Record Shop is also a must-visit while in the city, and Reynir runs a very cool label at the same time. Space Odyssey is the newest addition to the music retail scene in Reykjavik, with a focus on electronic and experimental music and an associated label. So much great stuff happening in that city.

Closer to home, Chicago’s 606 Records and Seattle’s own Selector Records offered up lots of great new electronic music for my ears. My buying this year leaned very heavily in the electronica direction, and specialty shops like these helped make that possible.

Top 5 Music Books Read

1. My Life in the Sunshine: Searching for My Father and Discovering My Family by Nabil Ayers (2022)
2. Led Zeppelin: The Biography by Bob Spitz (2021)
3. Stay Fanatic!!! Vol. 3: Frantic Rants for the Turntable Able by Henry Rollins (2022)
4. Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records by Jim Ruland (2022)
5. The Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman (2022)

I think I finished nine music books so far this year, and should have a tenth done before it finally wraps up (I’m currently enjoying the first book in the 33 1/3 Genre Series entitled Death Metal). My top choice was about more than just music. Nabil Ayers gives us a very personal look at his life as the son of a famous musician whose father was basically not in his life. It’s funny, moving, and thought-provoking. For record nerds (like me) Henry Rollins serves up another dose of label-gazing, variant chasing, and general musings in the latest volume of his music listening and collecting diaries. Klosterman’s book was probably my overall favorite of the group, but given that it wasn’t music-centric I put it in the #5 spot for purposes of this list. It does have some great stuff about 90s music, though, as well as that very 90s-esque obsession with the concept of “selling out”.

Led Zeppelin – “214”

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It’s been quiet, to say the least, on the Life in the Vinyl Lane front in 2022. There are a few reasons for that, and maybe at some point I’ll write about them. But for now let’s just say that, well, I haven’t felt like I had much to say. I’ve listened to a ton of new music, and caught up on even more older albums that previously eluded me, but nothing has compelled me to sit down at the keyboard.

Until this morning.

By way of some quick backstory, earlier this year I came into a large collection of live Led Zeppelin vinyl. Until that point I had successfully avoided going down any Led Zeppelin rabbit holes, something that required considerable effort considering how long I have loved the band. I have a few of the recent special edition re-releases, including the 2XLP version of Led Zeppelin III and the Led Zeppelin IV box set, but those came to me as gifts (for which I was grateful!), and generally speaking I’d resisted the urge to buy Zep vinyl primarily because I already had the entire catalogue on CD. But this group of live recordings was too hard to pass up.

Truth be told, the recording quality was pretty lackluster across most of the 16 live records. They’re more curiosities than things I’ll likely play repeatedly. Songs split across two sides… songs that sometimes simply cut off… bad balance… too heavy on the bass… sometimes all of the above brought together into one aural mudball. Still, I had fun working my way through them.

The real problem, however, wasn’t the recording quality. It was that I’d now opened Pandora’s Box. And when I looked inside that box I saw a rabbit hole. A Led Zeppelin rabbit hole that tugged on me like the gravity of a singularity, bending the space-time continuum around my credit card and Paypal account. Before I knew it I was buying. The 2XLP re-release of Led Zeppelin I with the second live record? Yes please. Other live pressings? Clearly I need these! Icelandic pressings? I’m an Icelandophile, so of course! All kinds of stuff. Which is how I came to pull the trigger on a copy of 214 on eBay.

I already had two live performances from my hometown of Seattle – the 5XLP/3XCD boxset Seattle Graffiti from the March 17, 1975 show and the 2XLP V 1/2 Performed Live In Seattle from July 17, 1973. Graffiti is pretty decent, while V 1/2 is a bit meh. Still, it’s cool to have stuff from local concerts. There are, of course, others, including different versions from these same dates – one thing about the world of unofficial live recordings is that they’ve been pressed and re-pressed, with unauthorized second generation copies being made from the original unauthorized version, etc. If you want to be a completist, you better have deep pockets.

For years and years, though, I’ve had my eye on 214, a 2XLP from the March 21, 1975 Seattle show. I’m not going to lie – this was partially because I thought the cover looked cool. But now that I had a burgeoning collection of live Zep records it only took a few Jack Daniels to convince me that I probably needed this show as well, and last week a copy arrived in the mail. I went into it with low expectations, but this morning was pleasantly surprised, nay almost shocked, when I dropped the needle (inadvertently starting on side C, since both records are labeled as A/B) – this sounds good. Really good. Really, really good. And what is this, Robert Plant pivoting in the midst of a rambling “Dazed and Confused” guitar solo and singing the Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth”? Fantastic!

This record also came with an unexpected bonus. Hidden inside was a small square snapshot, the flash lighting up the closest people and leaving those further back in the shadows, the colors slightly faded, but… is that John Bonham behind the drum kit??? It sure looks like the kit show on the album’s back jacket, and that hair and mustache… Flipping over the pic, hand-written on the back is “Led Zeppelin”. Was this taken by the previous owner at the show? I’ve never head any reference to any inserts with this record, so I can only assume so. Super cool!

Discogs lists 21 different versions of the March 21, 1975 show. Of these, only two are on vinyl – this one and one entitled 207.19, which includes different songs from this set plus some songs from a show in Boston (a copy of which is currently listed on eBay for $273… which is a lot more than I spent on 214). Some of the CD versions refer to being “soundboard recordings”, which may explain why this one sounds so much better than most of the other live records. Regardless, if you are interested in testing live Led Zep waters, 214 is probably as good as anything you’re going to find in terms of vintage pressings, so buy with confidence! And don’t say I didn’t warn you if you find yourself staring down that rabbit hole…

The Best of 2021

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And so we reach the end of another year. The older I get the faster they fly by, the monotonous routine of COVID living adding to the Groundhog Day feel that is sometimes more like existing than living. Fortunately things are opening up a bit so we’ve been able to get out and enjoy some events like Seattle Kraken hockey games and meals with friends. A weekly Dungeons & Dragons game on Zoom gives us something to look forward to every week and our dog Evie won’t let us get too lazy, insisting on her morning walks and play sessions in the yard. Plus there’s the music. The music is always there, a way to be transported away for a while. There’s never enough time to listen to all the music I want to hear.

I didn’t blog much in 2021, only seven posts prior to today, and I’m not sure what the future holds for Life in the Vinyl Lane. We’ll just have to wait and see. Regardless, I listened to a ton of great music this year, and hopefully these lists may point you toward a band or artist that you will fall in love with.

Top 5 New Releases In 2021

1. Generation Loss – Steve Summers (US)
2. Mobile Home – GusGus (Iceland)
3. Ashamed – Mad Foxes (France)
4. Music Library 02 – Hvörf (Iceland)
5. Nightshade – NAOS (Iceland)

If you’ asked me at the start of December which album would top this list, I’d have said Mobile Home. But then a box of records I bought on a Bandcamp Friday from the L.I.E.S. label arrived and Steve Summers blew my mind. I’m not sure I can explain precisely why I love Generation Loss. I just know that when I put it on, I enjoy every single thing I hear, and if I play it on Spotify I also like almost everything the algorithm throws at me once the album is over. I suspect in 2022 I’ll be digging into his catalog and grabbing some of his earlier 12″ singles.

GusGus is one of my all-time favorite groups, and Mobile Home did not disappoint, the duo of Biggi and Daniél adding Vök vocalist Margrét Rán to the lineup to give an ethereal quality to the new album. This is the first time since I started doing these year-end lists that GusGus put out a new album and didn’t take the top spot on my Top 5. Don’t let that fool you – they’re hardly slipping, and GusGus remains a group I go back to time after time after time.

I first heard about Mad Foxes thanks to Mrs. Life in the Vinyl Lane, who texted me when she heard one of their songs on KEXP and said I needed to check them out. By the time she got home a few hours later I had already ordered their new album Ashamed as well as their 2018 CD Desert Island Wish. A bit punk-ish, a bit post-punkish, their sound orbits a lot of styles and bands I like. Hvörf made my Top 5 “New To Me” list in 2019, and their electro-library music is great for just chilling out. NAOS rounds out the list with his edgy, techno Nightshade cassette. This one is tough to find, and I don’t think any of his stuff is on Spotify either, but it’s worth the effort to track down.

Top 5 “New to Me” Bands/Performers

1. Jeno Void
2. Algebra Suicide
3. The Ruts
4. Hoodoo Fushimi
5. Laserdance

I could have easily included three artists from my Top 5 New Releases list here, but that seemed a bit too obvious.

I first heard about Jeno Void from, of all places, Instagram, when Seattle’s Selector Records posted about some old school Jeno cassettes that had just come in. I managed to snag three of these by mail, and later a fourth at the shop, and I have to say that I could play these sets over and over and over again. it’s like having a rave in your living room. Hoodoo Fushimi also came to me via Selector with the re-release of the funky ケンカおやじ.

I can’t remember how I learned about Algebra Suicide, but I got hooked on their quirky indie/post-punk/no wave weirdness. The Ruts came to my attention thanks to Henry Rollins’ Stay Fanatic books – with how much he raved about the band I figured I needed to check them out, and I’m glad I did. Laserdance was a shot in the dark – a rewards program at work was shutting down and I converted those points into an Amazon gift card, so I decided to look at some box sets. One that caught my eye was Laserdance’s The Ultimate Fan Box, because who doesn’t want some 1980s Euro synth-pop? I know I do. So I did. And it’s pretty great.

Top 5 Purchases/Acquisitions

1. B.Q. Wave – Vector
2. Realm of Chaos – Bolt Thrower
3. Jeno Void Cassettes
4. L.I.E.S. Records
5. V 1/2 Performed Live In Seattle – Led Zeppelin

Vector’s B.Q. Wave was actually the least expensive item on this list, but it will always hold a special place in my collection as it was the 1,000th Icelandic release (across all formats) I acquired. Funny that it came to me not from Iceland, but instead from Seattle’s own Selector Records. It’s hard to believe I’ve amassed that many items from Iceland. And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t slow down with my Icelandic purchases after picking this up – the count currently stands at 1,058 releases, with more already in the mail.

Bolt Thrower’s Realm of Chaos has been in constant rotation on Spotify since I came upon it for the first time last year. Plus as a fan of Warhammer 40,000 fiction the idea of a Warhammer concept death metal album appeals to me. It also has quite an odd backstory. Games Workshop originally allowed the band to use the painting on the cover, but when the label approached GW about a later re-issue the company and it’s IP had grown much bigger and more valuable, meaning there were more lawyers, and ultimately they refused to extend the license. The band did not want the album re-released with a different cover, but the label went ahead and commissioned the same artist who did the original to do a similar-but-not-too-similar new work, which was then used on later releases, much to the disgust of Bolt Thrower who have told fans not to buy it. I’ve coveted copies with the original artwork, and I finally broke down and bought a gatefold original pressing.

Jeno Void and the L.I.E.S. label came into my orbit thanks to Sherman at Selector. Since then I’ve picked up 4-5 Jeno cassettes and at least a dozen L.I.E.S. releases, including my pick for the top album of 2021, Steve Summers’ Generation Loss. As for the live Led Zep, I love the band and have always had an interest in any of their stuff live from Seattle, so when I ran across this at a location that shall remain nameless I just had to pick it up. The sound quality isn’t the best, but it’s still a cool artifact.

Top 5 Live Shows

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

For the second consecutive year we didn’t see a single live show. Which sucks immeasurably. On a positive note, we have been to a few larger events, most notably a handful of NHL games to cheer on our new team, the Seattle Kraken, so at least we’re starting to feel comfortable enough to go out in group settings. We’re moderately optimistic about 2022, enough so that we already have tickets for the Swedish House Mafia show here in Seattle later in the year. Fingers crossed.

Top 5 Artists on Spotify

1. GusGus
2. The Ruts
3. Beastie Boys
4. F-Rontal
5. Space 92

A lot of folks post on Facebook and Instagram when Spotify produces its year-end listening summaries to each user. And like last year, there were a few surprises fon mine. First and foremost was the sheer amount of time Mrs. Life in the Vinyl Lane and I spent streaming – 134,469 minutes, which equates to 2,241 hours or 93.4 full days. With both of us working from home and streaming individually in different rooms, this kind of makes sense – a typical work day could involve 20+ hours of streaming. But it’s still a lot of listening.

As for the artists themselves, there were a few surprises. GusGus in the top spot was to be expected, especially with them releasing a new album in 2021. The Ruts raised an eyebrow, though I went through a pretty big Ruts phase earlier in the year. The Beastie Boys are an all-time favorite and never disappoint, so that makes sense. The last two artists, well… I don’t know that I could have named them prior to seeing them on this list. It turns out that both have tracks on a playlist called Techno Bunker that we listen to A LOT, so that’s clearly how they cracked into the Top 5.

Top 5 Places to Buy Records

1. Bandcamp
2. Selector Records – Seattle
3. Lucky Records – Reykjavik
4. Easy Street Records – Seattle
5. Discogs

I tried to shop on as many Bandcamp Fridays as I could – I appreciate the platform’s commitment to artists, and knowing that the artists would receive all the proceeds from purchases on those days got me onto the site just looking for stuff. I ended up making a few decent sized purchases, most notably from the L.I.E.S. and Intellitronic Bubble. Discogs, as always, was also a great online source.

As for bricks-and-mortar, this year I “discovered” one of Seattle’s newer record ships, Selector Records. Selector specializes in electronic and DJ music and my man Sherman has curated a great inventory of labels, genres, and artists into a relatively small space. I don’t think I’ve walked out of there with less than 10 records (and a few tapes) in my bag after any of my visits this year. Easy Street continues to be a local favorite as well, though the closure of the West Seattle Bridge made it harder to get to. And while we didn’t travel to Iceland this year, I believe I had three boxes arrive from Reykjavik courtesy of my friends at Lucky Records, with another box being assembled for January shipment.

I bought a metric ton of music in 2021, and while space is stating to become an issue, I don’t expect to slow down in 2022.

Top 5 Music Books Read

1. Avant-Garde From Below: Transgressive Performance from Iggy Pop to Joe Coleman and GG Allin by Clemens Marschall
2. Once Upon a Time in Shaolin: The Untold Story of the Wu-Tang Clan’s Million-Dollar Secret Album, the Devaluation of Music, and America’s New Public Enemy No. 1 by Cyrus Bozorgmehr
3. Love In Vain – The Story Of The Ruts & Ruts D.C. by Roland Link
4. GusGus 25 Ára
5. A Pig’s Tale: The Underground Story of the Legendary Bootleg Record Label by Ralph Sutherland and Harold Sherrick

Only two of these books were newly released in 2021, but no matter. Avant-Garde From Below profiled a small number of musicians and performance artists and forced me to think a bit about the question of “what is art”. And now that I think about it, so too did Once Upon a Time In Shaolin; I always saw that one-off Wu-Tang album as a bit of a stunt, but it was actually much more than that, it was an artistic statement. Honorable mention to the crowdfunded GusGus 25 Ára photo book, an exquisite piece of publishing if there ever was one.

And that’s a wrap, folks. Hope to catch you here again in 2022.

Led Zeppelin – “Seattle Graffiti” Box Set (2012)

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There are a number of terms used to describe releases such as Seattle Graffiti, often interchangeably. That being said, I think the tag of “unofficial” is probably the most accurate. “Bootleg” is generally reserved for an illegally made copy of an official release, whereas what we have here is a live recording that was never released by the band or the label. Maybe it’s just semantics. But either way, Seattle Graffiti is not part of the Led Zeppelin canon.

I was originally drawn to Seattle Graffiti for two pretty obvious reasons – I’m a big fan of Led Zeppelin, and I’ve spent most of my life in the Seattle area. I was too young to have seen the Mothership play here (or anywhere else for that matter) live, being not even 10 years old when the band broke up; I’m part of that very next generation of Zep fans, the first group who “discovered” them after they disbanded. Fortunately for me, though, there are a number of Zeppelin recordings from live shows in Seattle, and Seattle Graffiti may be the best of the bunch.

Before we get into the music, let’s talk about the physical object itself. The outer package is a sturdy and well-deigned box, just the right size to hold everything without bursting at the seems or having too much dead space inside. Apparently released in 2012, this version (there are any number of unofficial releases containing some or all of this show) is a limited edition of 500, each copy individually numbered on a sticker affixed to the box top and underneath the shrink – so you won’t lose your numbered sticker when you take the plastic off. Inside you get the complete show, all three hours and six minutes, on both CD and vinyl. The three CDs are in individual plastic sleeves attached to the inside of the box top, which has the benefit of keeping them from loosely moving around inside, but the downside, at least for my copy, is the adhesive used is tacky around the edges and some of it got on the insert. As for the insert itself, it’s fine but seems like a bit of an afterthought – a 12″ by 12″ fold-over, the front and back are basically the same as the front and back design of the box, while the inside is a collage of photos. Decent, but not really adding much. The vinyl is pressed on five records, each in a nice plastic-lined paper sleeve. The one copy of the box set I’ve seen inside had four records on blue vinyl with the fifth on white. I have no idea if that’s normal or if there are other color combinations.

While that’s great and all, what about the music? Well, as I mentioned, you’ve got just over three hours of live Zep at arguably their peak – Plant references their just-released double album Physical Graffiti a few times, an album that was arguably their catalog’s watershed. Of the band’s six albums up to this point, only Led Zeppelin III is not represented with at least one song on Seattle Graffiti, the other five all fairly evenly represented. Most of the classics are here – “Dazed And Confused”, “Whole Lotta Love”, “Kashmir”, “Stairway To Heaven”… from my personal perspective the most obscure track and the only one I couldn’t immediately call to mind simply by the title is “Sick Again”. As for the quality, well, it’s pretty damn good. Overall the sound is clean, though there are a few passages that get a bit warbly, suggesting the master tape itself may be slightly damaged. But even that doesn’t detract much from your enjoyment, because unlike so many unofficial live releases it doesn’t sound muffled or obscured with too much crowd noise. I’m not a connoisseur of these kinds of live recordings, but it’s probably the best one I’ve ever heard.

As an unofficial release, my understanding is that it’s legality sort of depends on where in the world you are – I believe in the EU these kinds of things are allowed so long as royalties are paid, but I certainly could be wrong. In the last couple of years Discogs has blocked the sale of unofficial releases like Seattle Graffiti, but you’ll still see it from time to time on other sites like eBay. At the time I wrote this, there was an open copy for sale there for $169, which may seem steep but is not bad considering it’s five records plus the whole thing on CD as well.

Overall this is probably only going to appeal to the Zeppelin die-hard, though if you’re only going to dip your toes into the gray parts of the live catalog this is probably the high point given the sound quality.

Train – “Train Does Led Zeppelin II” (2016)

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Where to start, where to start…

My introduction to Train was pretty common for a man – a woman took me to see them perform live. I knew nothing whatsoever about them the first time I saw them and didn’t recognize any of their songs, at least not until they played a pretty good Led Zeppelin cover, to which I gave an appreciative nod. By the second show I’d listened to them a little bit, though still probably only knew a couple of songs. But once again they gave me a solid Zep cover. Monahan and the boys are definitely fans of the Mothership.

Generally speaking Train seems like a lite version of Nickelback in that it’s both popular and acceptable for music fans of a certain sensibility to dislike them on general principle. Clearly they haven’t had as much success as Nickelback, the band that everyone professes to hate but still sells a ba-zillion albums, but they’re not exactly chump change either. Four Top 10 albums and three Top 10 singles is a pretty healthy resume. Personally I think the professed disdain for Train is because of the view that “it’s what people who aren’t music fans like”. And frankly it’s unwarranted – the band is clearly talented. Am I a huge fan? No. Do I sometimes listen to “Meet Virginia” on my iPod? Yes.

So when I recently learned that Train put out an album that is a start-to-finish cover of Led Zeppelin II, I was both not surprised and stunned at the same time. The band members have been very open about their love of Led Zep, so them recording some covers makes perfect sense. But an entire album worth of covers? And not in a “these are our favorite Zep songs” kind of way but doing an entire album start to finish and staying true to the original throughout? This isn’t Dread Zeppelin giving us reggae-version covers sung by an Elvis impersonator (lest you think I’m joking, Un-Led-Ed is pretty great), where the band takes something old and familiar and makes something new and unusual out of it. No. It’s basically a copy. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the target audience for this. And I still can’t.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, much if not most of the world HATES this record. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at some article headlines.

“Train’s Led Zeppelin II Tribute Is Confusing and Unnecessary”
New York Daily News

OK, that’s not too harsh…

“Train Faithfully, Needlessly Cover Led Zeppelin II”
Associated Press

More of the same, though “faithfully” seems slightly positive.

“Train Shocks Us Half to Death with Their Led Zeppelin Cover Album”
Baeble Music

OK, this is getting a bit rougher…

“Train Finally Releasing That Led Zeppelin Cover Album No One Asked For”
Mashable

Um… ouch…

“The Band Train Is About To Desecrate Led Zeppelin’s Legacy”
Consequence of Sound

That’s about as close to a middle finger as you can get in a mainstream headline.

And let’s not forget the incredibly snarky “Train Re-Records Led Zeppelin Album, Improves Plight of Humankind” in The Stranger.

Like I said, people hate this record.

So of course, I had to buy this record.

Now one would assume that I would join the chorus of haters. After all, Led Zeppelin II was literally #1 on my personal All-Time-Greatest-Albums-Ever for most of my life, and it’s still and probably always will be in my Top 5. I feel 98.72% confident that I have listened to this album start-to-finish more times than any other, the only other even remotest contenders for that top spot being The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon. I love Led Zeppelin II with the kind of adoration usually reserved for religious saints. I kneel at the altar of its sheer sonic perfection. And yes, there was probably a time in my life when just knowing Train’s cover album existed would have felt like a crime against music. But then again, there was also a time when I felt like I had to hide the fact that I liked Madonna and Duran Duran so I wouldn’t lose some kind of meaningless “rock cred” and went through a mock-ironic Hawaiian shirt phase, so it’s not like I’m the paragon of righteous integrity.

As for the me of today, who is closer to 50 than to 40, who freely admits that Culture Club and Wham! are fantastic, has much broader music taste, and is open to way more new experiences, well, Train Does Led Zeppelin II is fine. I find its existence strange, but only because I can’t figure out who the target audience for this record is. Then again, I bought it… though to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have if I wasn’t blogging.

Musically the boys literally cover the album note for note – there are no obvious Train spins on these songs as near as I can tell. I mean, a 47-year-old Patrick Monahan can only come so close to approaching the power and range of a 21-year-old Robert Plant, but he does his best and doesn’t sound half bad. Luis Maldonado is quite good on guitar, and the production work does a good job in capturing the importance of the drums and bass on the original recording, bringing the drums front-and-center and allowing the bass lines to flow through like a deep, slow moving river. It all comes together best on “The Lemon Song”, IMO.

The bottom line is Train Does Led Zeppelin II sounds really good. The question ultimately, though, comes down to this: Why would I ever listen to Train Does Led Zeppelin II instead of just playing Led Zeppelin II? The previously mentioned Un-Led-Ed gives me a completely different take on Zeppelin – there’s the general sonic and lyrical familiarity, but those songs are done in not one but two completely different styles, reggae and Elvis (and yes, I know I just referred to “Elvis” as a style). I don’t know. Perhaps it’s a transitional fossil that can connect Train fans to their influences. If so, great. Anything that opens up people’s minds to explore music they might not listen to otherwise is a good thing in my book.

So anyway, there you have it. In one last odd twist, the vinyl is in a numbered limited edition, though I couldn’t easily figure out how my copies were pressed (mine is #02432). As a bonus, though, all of Train’s earnings from the album were donated to charity, so that’s a big point in its favor.