February 19, 1998
No wonder so many modern bands are turning to electronics lately - why bother with straight rock and roll when anything you try has been done, and done better, by Led Zeppelin? Primal, grinding electric blues, lilting English folk, Eastern influenced groove, gritty psychedelia, hard funk fusion; Zeppelin was a brilliant, visionary band, and these live sessions prove that at their rawest, they could also kick out jams that can drill a hole in your chest.
These tracks were culled from live broadcasts ranging from June 1969 to April 1971, encompassing tracks from their debut album to the seminal Zeppelin IV. All tracks are performed with shocking intensity - this is a vital artery, the sanguine heart of Zeppelin's passionate early work captured in two shining discs.
Hearing these sessions is like discovering Zeppelin all over again; well-worn tracks are given a sinewy, coarse treatment that makes them sound incredibly fresh and spiked with electricity. "Communication Breakdown" slams into a taut, funky break that sounds more like Hendrix than Page, and I don't need to tell you about the incandescent, spine chilling slide runs of "Travelling Riverside Blues".
For collectors, there's the previously unreleased "The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair", which turns out to be an early version of "Moby Dick" with vocals, and an unpolished, unreleased slice of rockabilly that would make Jerry Lee Lewis' hair stand on end. Called "Somethin Else", it's two minutes of unbridled, chaotic energy that even the mighty Bonham can hardly keep in check, Plant wailing and Page tearing riffs out of the ion-charged air.
"Whole Lotta Love" is the same; the album version will sound plain and overproduced after you hear this otherworldly, vicious metal crunch, like a drill press on psychedelics. "Immigrant Song" is a goddamn revelation, the most muscular track on the record - Rage Against the Machine is barely this hard.
It's not all crushing power. Zeppelin's other strength was their gossamer beauty, in evidence in the added gorgeous coda to "That's the Way" and the tender treatment of "Goin to California". It wouldn't be Zeppelin without some serious boiled-down blues, and the 14 minute "Whole Lotta Love Medley" fills the prescription by pulling in "Boogie Chillen", "Fixin to Die", and "That's All Right Mama" into a scorching crucible - Hooker meets Bukka meets Presley in one hot fusion of Delta, Chicago and Memphis blues that is black alchemy at its most satisfying.
The exclusion of the sprawling, prehistoric "When the Levee Breaks" is the only thing that keeps this from being perfect; as it is, the BBC Sessions are merely essential.
- Jared O'Connor
shocking intensity