Now that Robert Plant has quashed the rumor of his agreement to participate in a Led Zeppelin reunion, the rumor mill must find a new storyline to push.
And in this case, why not revive the one we were fed last week involving Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham?
After all, just because Plant isn't working with those three guys doesn't mean they're not working with each other, perhaps auditioning singers or maybe even already having identified their choice candidate.
A hint passed on to Led Zeppelin fans last week suggests that Alter Bridge singer-guitarist Myles Kennedy has become the boys' top pick in those much-ballyhooed jam sessions in England.
Hey hey, whaddya know? The Myles Kennedy rumor has now gone semi-mainstream, with entertaining Telegraph blogger Neil McCormick picking up on it! Also having written about it is Michael Christopher, music columnist for the Delco Times in Delaware County, Pa.
The mention of Kennedy's name in Zep circles last week was accompanied by a stipulation, assumedly conveyed to fans by insiders, that the Page-Jones-Bonham-Kennedy band would be a new project and not a Led Zeppelin redux.
If that's so, OK, fine. So, the band hypothetically puts out an album of originals. All new stuff nobody's heard before. How well does that go over in a live setting?
That resurrects another scenario previously discussed here: how classic artists can work to ensure their new music is appreciated by fans in a live setting, rather than be ignored as fodder for the proverbial bathroom break.
Still, even an aspiring new act that stars three members who will forever be indelibly linked to their past participation in Led Zeppelin has only one album's worth of original material under its belt. How could this act possibly conduct any kind of a tour without dipping into the Zep songbook for at least half the show?
Is it not human nature on the part of the musicians to want to play the songs that made them famous, and human nature on the part of the paying audience to expect to hear those songs?
And furthermore, is it not human nature to be disappointed if that expectation is not met? After all, this is the same fan base that crucifies Plant whenever he is seen as the lone holdout against a Led Zeppelin reunion, as he is no doubt currently being viewed in light of today's statement.
Plant's stance has definitely disappointed many fans who held a glimmer of hope that what happened in December 2007 could happen again, and soon.
So, if Page, Jones and Bonham have a project together that is not reuniting Led Zeppelin, how different can it be? Or, if you fit this into the context of history-resisting bands like Blind Faith and The Firm, how different must it be?
And what is the consensus on Myles Kennedy among readers of LedZeppelinNews.com?
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I think Myles Kennedy would be a perfect fit.. I have really gotten into his band Alter Bridge as of late. He is very talented. He seems like a nice guy check out myles-kennedy.com seems very down to earth.
ReplyDeleteYeah thats a perfect connundrum youve trapped us in. HMMMM is there any way out??? dear god help me!!! WAIT!! they could re-form led zeppelin, with.....A NEW SINGER! I know, that sounds like crazy talk, considering that the rock-n-roll industry is more loyal than the mafia...but since plant has bent over backwards to "distance" himself from zeppelin(read that as belittle, ridicule, mock and make numerous references to spinal tap), fans like me could care less if he even LIVES for another year, much less re-joins zep. In fact. Im so completely intruiged with the idea of Led Zeppelin with a new singer, I hope plant stays gone for good!
ReplyDeleteSolerso,
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree with you more.
As I have been saying for a while, Plant insults his Zeppelin fans on a regular basis and it’s nice to see that I am not the only one that sees this.
Doesn’t he know that it isn’t 1982 anymore?
Things go out of style and things come back in style, and Led Zeppelin is very much back in style these days.
People out there are tired of listening to bland, mundane music and want to hear more intricate, and polished music played by peopled that really know how to play.
The 80’s Punk and New Wave musicians attacked the better musicians because they could hardly play their own instruments. As history has shown, it has always been easier to tear down than to build up.
The people that used to make fun of Led Zep in the 80’s finally realized that THEY were the idiots for trashing Zeppelin, just because of their superior musicianship and their extended songs and solos.
What lasting impression did Punk & New Wave leave as their legacy….. Nothing.
Alas, I too am tired of waiting and this is the last slap in the face from Plant that I will take.
Bugger Off Plant……
and may the rest of your musical projects be as sour as you are to your fans.
Nuvo911
Yes are now touring with a tribute band lead singer. This is all so pathetic, desperate, and wrong. I for one fervently hope that Zep do not go the same route. Fire up a large one and watch the DVD, that's my advice!
ReplyDeletetHEY WON'T GO OUT WITH A FAKE SINGER AND CALL IY lED zEP. iF THEY DO GO IT WILL BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT. MAYBE TO SUPPORT JIMMY'S NEW ALBUM, AND THEY COULD THROW IN ZEP TUNES ON THE ROAD WITH A REPLACEMENT SINGER.
ReplyDeleteSO REMEMBER, NO MATTER WHAT, NO JOHN BONHAM - NO LED ZEPPELIN. PERIOD.
NUVO911
andrew why do i suspect that "fire up a large one and put in a dvd" would be your advice in any situation. and as for the "no bonham no band" guy, i guess we should all just lay down and die, and declare music to all finished now, right? get a life, i mean that leiterally, and it is still my best advice to page and jones.
ReplyDelete