Over ten years after WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH, Mick Wall's seminal biography of the band, comes this major and extensively researched revision, which provides an unflinching look at life inside one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time, and presents the definitive, final word on Led Zeppelin.
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Over ten years after WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH, Mick Wall's seminal biography of the band, comes this major and extensively researched revision, which provides an unflinching look at life inside one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time, and presents the definitive, final word on Led Zeppelin.
They were 'the last great band of the sixties; the first great band of the seventies'; they rose, somewhat unpromisingly, from the ashes of the Yardbirds to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time. Mick Wall, respected rock writer and former confidant of both Page and Plant, unflinchingly tells the story of the band that wrote the rulebook for on-the-road excess - and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction and death.
WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH reveals for the first time the true extent of band leader Jimmy Page's longstanding interest in the occult, and goes behind the scenes to expose the truth behind their much-hyped yet spectacularly contrived comeback at London's O2 arena in 2007, and how Jimmy Page plans to bring the band back permanently - if only his former protégé, now part-time nemesis, Robert Plant will allow him to. Wall also recounts, in a series of flashbacks, the life stories of the five individuals that made the dream of Led Zeppelin into an even more incredible and hard-to-swallow reality: Page, Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and their infamous manager, Peter Grant.
I have a pretty extensive Zeppelin library of books and most of them are rehashes of the same old story. Not to say this book doesn't cover some of the same stories, history is history, no escaping that. With that said I couldn't put this book down and was sorry for it to end. One thing unique about this book is the italicized sections, which were likened to a movie taking liberties on a true story. Mick Wall never went into fantasyland, the sections were interspersed with enough facts to keep them real, and interesting. The book was well researched and Mr. Wall took just the right amount from other sources to make it not read like a rehash. He also includes the right amount of mud sharks, Crowley, occult, etc. without sensationalizing those events. Lastly Mr. Wall calls a spade a spade, if he's a fan you would never know it ... he calls it the way he feels it and is able to back his feelings up with common sense and facts. Another thing I came away with is a new sense of Robert Plant's perspective in the whole story. Good read, I highly recommend it.
- Billy B
From when I first heard Whole Lotta love when I was 12 using the 6" detachable stereo speakers from our families fold up record player placing them on the floor between my ears I was blown away by the power and the amazing soundscapes. I never had the chance to see them in concert as they never came close enough and truthfully by 1976 I found the albums after IV not compelling enough as I moved on to British Progressive artist like EL&P, King Crimson, Genesis and Yes. However, the tunes of Zep where always present on FM radio, at parties, etc. and they still speak to me today. The book filled in a lot about the band and I liked how the author went to autobiographical sections in italics that added to where the members heads were at..
It was very sad at the end for Jimmy Page as it seemed he had more music left in his brain yet without the "magick" of the others he was left frustrated, waiting for Plant to join him. I enjoyed the background between Raising Sand and efforts to get Zep back on tour. Personally I downloaded Raising Sand and Robert's follow on albums and really dig the musical directions he is tackling. I also had the pleasure to see him live in 2013 and yes when he played a few Zep hits, I got the rush and goose bumps and they were the highlights of the show, showing the power of the tunes 40 years later.
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-Archie