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Credit: Far Out \/ APA-Agency<\/p>\n
Sun 6 September 2026 21:15, UK <\/p>\n
Most generations usually have that one band that seems to defy any sense of time. <\/p>\n
No matter how many times they enter the studio, there\u2019s that X-factor that takes them from being just a bunch of musicians to one of the biggest names in music, whether that\u2019s the way they write the tunes or their ability to take them to another level behind the production board. Led Zeppelin certainly had the potential to go into uncharted waters whenever they made a record, but Jimmy Page<\/a> thought that their greatest asset could never be found on their studio albums.<\/p>\n Because as much as Zeppelin were innovators behind the board, Page was proud to have cut his teeth as a live group as well. For all of the great music that any group can make, the performance is a living, breathing entity, and most don\u2019t really pick up on that until they enter. They get onstage and have to work through their best moments in real time.<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably the most evident for Zeppelin when they decide to stretch things out. Some songs could already get a little lengthy on their studio albums, but hearing tracks like \u2018Dazed and Confused\u2019 spread out across one side of vinyl for The Song Remains the Same was more than just a song. It was a rock and roll spiritual awakening happening onstage, and Page was willing to use his theremin at will if it meant getting in contact with the other side of reality.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s more to Zeppelin than just being Page\u2019s baby. Much has been said about Robert Plant being one of the greatest frontmen to ever walk the Earth, but Page\u2019s interaction with John Bonham<\/a> is probably one of the most neglected parts of their sound. No matter how fast Page seemed to play, hearing \u2018Bonzo\u2019 trailing slightly behind the beat gave a certain uneasiness that made every show sound fantastic.<\/p>\n Especially when they started incorporating their blues covers into their repertoire, Zeppelin sounded like a freight train going 90 miles an hour down a track with no room to stop. Listening to those first shows, it feels like everyone\u2019s waiting for the whole thing to fall apart and it never does.<\/p>\n And that danger is something the records could never completely bottle. Zeppelin could spend as long as they liked<\/a> getting a guitar sound right in the studio, but onstage, there was nowhere to hide if Page wandered off into a solo or Plant decided to hold onto a note for twice as long as usual. Bonham and John Paul Jones simply had to follow them there. On the best nights, you can almost hear the four of them testing each other to see how far they can push a song before somebody has to drag it back home.<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n That kind of telepathic way of communicating onstage was the main reason why Page thought they worked so well, saying<\/a>, \u201cLed Zeppelin\u2019s live performance was so important as to the sum of the parts and how we would go onstage. If all four of us were really on top of it, it would take on this fifth dimension. That fifth dimension could go in any direction. Sometimes you\u2019d do one number, and it would be really quite slow and dirgey, and the next day it would be quite fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Calling it a \u201cfifth dimension\u201d sounds like the kind of wonderfully ridiculous thing you\u2019d expect from a band surrounded by occult symbols and enough mythology to fill a library, but Page had a point. Zeppelin wasn\u2019t interested in reproducing the record perfectly every night. A song was more like a loose set of directions, and once Bonham kicked in, they could take the scenic route for as long as they fancied. That\u2019s why there are Zeppelin fans who will happily argue over particular bootlegs and performances as though they\u2019re completely different songs, because sometimes they practically were.<\/p>\n While it was hard to get a read on which version of Zeppelin fans would be getting every night, there\u2019s a certain level of excitement in there as well. There\u2019s no telling where the group would go, but there was a good chance that fans would like what they were playing even if they decided to tear through \u2018Achilles Last Stand\u2019 for nearly 15 minutes.<\/a><\/p>\n In fact, that\u2019s probably why Bonham\u2019s death led the rest of the group to go their separate ways. When the live show is important to the band\u2019s sound, there is no point in trying to find someone who attempts to match the chemistry that all four of them developed naturally.<\/p>\n
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