Tag Archive for 'Led Zeppelin'

Jimmy Page II ‘Stormtrooper’ Limited Edition Sculpture

Jimmy Page II 'Stormtrooper' Limited Edition Sculpture

KnuckleBonz has unveiled a limited-edition sculpture of Jimmy Page depicted just as he appeared on stage in Chicago in 1977. The Jimmy Page II ‘Stormtrooper’ Rock Iconz figure is a fully licensed, limited edition collectible. The figure is hand-painted and numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity. This sculpture is licensed and personally approved by Jimmy Page.

The ‘Stormtrooper’ is the second sculpture of Jimmy Page created in a limited edition by KnuckleBonz. The first figure was released in 2007 and featured Page in his white “poppy” dragon suit and violin bow held high overhead.

Pricing and availability: The Jimmy Page II ‘Stormtrooper’ Rock Iconz is expected to ship in November 2008. The figure stands nine inches tall on top a wooden display base. This is a limited edition created by KnuckleBonz; there are only 3,000 available worldwide.

For more information, go here.

When Giants Walked The Earth

When Giants Walked The Earth

Orion Books has set an October 16 UK release date for author Mick Wall’s “When Giants Walked The Earth: A Biography Of Led Zeppelin”. A description of the 400-page hardcover book reads as follows:

“Forty years since their formation in a grubby Chinatown basement comes the first truly definitive biography of the world’s most legendary rock band — 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 last year, 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. And 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.

“Above all, a book that tells the full, shocking story of Led Zeppelin from the inside, written by someone who has known Jimmy Page for over twenty years, ‘When Giants Walked the Earth’ is the culmination of several years research. It is based not just on the individual interviews with every member of the band that author Mick Wall has conducted over the years — as well as those who knew and worked with them - but on the insight that only thirty years working in the music business alongside its biggest artists can bring.”

Led Zeppelin ‘Mothership Special Edition Vinyl’

Led Zeppelin 'Mothership Special Edition Vinyl'

Official mini-documentary on the making of the new 180 Gram vinyl boxsets for Led Zeppelin: Mothership and The Song Remains the Same. Really freaking cool! I bought both these recently, and everything is amazingly crafted from the thick stock for the sleeves to the beautiful booklets and astounding 180 Gram vinyl goodness!

Check out the video, after the jump!

Continue reading ‘Led Zeppelin ‘Mothership Special Edition Vinyl’’

The Return Of Led Zeppelin

The Return Of Led Zeppelin.
Rock legends Led Zeppelin are set for a reunion tour after singer ROBERT PLANT finally caved in and agreed to join them.

What Lies Ahead For Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

According to The Pulse of Radio, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones are featured in the new issue of Uncut reflecting on Led Zeppelin’s long history and what lies ahead for them as a band.

Robert Plant, who is widely viewed as the lone hold out on agreeing to a full scale Zeppelin tour, was asked if he felt the success of the band’s performance last December at London’s O2 Arena was enough of a victory to permanently ice any future work with the band. Plant said, “Not at all. I really enjoyed it. And hopefully, one day we could do it again for another really, really good reason… For people who came from Australia or Japan, to Jason (Bonham’s) family, John’s family, all the families — anticipation and expectation was huge. The potential for failure was also great because nobody knew what it was going to be like.”

Plant went on to reflect on the O2 show saying, “We did what we set out to do and more, in every respect. We showed people that Led Zeppelin did go on a bit… The interplay between us all was excellent.”

John Paul Jones, who has said that he, like Page and Bonham, would like the band to hit the road, reflected on the reunion gig, saying, “It felt like the first night of a tour. You think, ‘Oh, I could do that bit better, or change something in that song.’ And we didn’t get a chance to do any more.”

When pressed about the prospects of a Zeppelin reunion album, Jones said, “I’m not too certain about anything at the moment. I’ve got no idea what’s going to happen, but I’d certainly like to play with Jimmy again.”

Jimmy Page says that there are currently no plans to release a CD or DVD from the O2 show: “It was recorded, but we didn’t go in with the express purpose of making a DVD to come out at Christmas, or whatever. We haven’t seen the images or investigated the multitracks. It’s feasible that it might come out at some distant point, but it’ll be a massive job to embark on.”

When asked point blank what the current status of Zeppelin is now and if a tour could happen, Page said, “The focus was on the O2 show. That’s what I had my focus on. As for Robert, he had a parallel project (with Alison Krauss) and it’s been successful, which I suppose means he doesn’t have time for Zeppelin at this moment. What I do know — is at the rehearsals, and the O2 gig, we were really inspiring. Okay? That’s all I’ll say.”

Jimmy Page Les Paul Black Beauty

Jimmy Page Les Paul Black Beauty

Early in Jimmy Page’s career, one of his most relied upon guitars was the three-pickup 1960 Les Paul Custom ‘Black Beauty’ with a bigsby tailpiece. In 1970, the guitar was stolen and never recovered, but thanks to the Gibson Custom Shop, this guitar is back in the form of a new Gibson Custom Shop Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom, recently announced at NAMM.

No one has had a bigger impact on the style and sound of hard rock guitar than the deservedly legendary Jimmy Page. As the musical mastermind of Led Zeppelin, Page’s tone, playing, and phrasing made him one of the most influential musicians of the past 50 years.

In Zeppelin’s early days, Page relied heavily on a three-pickup 1960 Les Paul Custom ‘Black Beauty’ with a Bigsby tailpiece. Unfortunately, the guitar was stolen in 1970 at an airport and never recovered. Page has always felt that that particular guitar was “the one that got away.”

Gibson proudly returns Page’s cherished lost guitar in the form of the new Gibson Custom Shop Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom - a painstaking recreation of that iconic instrument, with the addition of some of the most innovative electronics to ever grace a Les Paul.

The result is this stunning ‘Black Beauty’ with a slim-profile neck, Page BurstBucker pickups, gold Bigsby vibrato and an innovative six-position toggle that lets you isolate the neck and bridge pickups, or add the middle in any combination. A stop tailpiece version is also available.

Limited to a worldwide edition of just 500 guitars, the Gibson Custom Shop Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom is Gibson’s heartfelt tribute to a true legend and to the guitar he loved and lost.

Go here for a sneak peek!

Continue reading ‘Jimmy Page Les Paul Black Beauty’

Led Zeppelin Reunion In Pictures

Led Zeppelin Reunion

via Rolling Stone

For the second encore of their first, full concert in twenty-seven years, at London’s 02 arena last night, Led Zeppelin tore into “Rock and Roll,” from their untitled fourth album, with a joyful vengeance. As drummer Jason Bonham hammered with the ghostly precision and ferocity of his late father, guitarist Jimmy Page fired dirty chunks of Chuck Berry and bassist John Paul Jones kept iron time with familiar reserve, singer Robert Plant sang the most obvious words of the night: “Been a long time since I rock and rolled.” Overhead, images of a much younger Zeppelin, in concert during the early and mid-Seventies, flashed on a huge digital-video screen. In those films, Led Zeppelin were the biggest, loudest and most cocksure band in rock. Jimmy Page’s now snow-white hair was still jet black; Robert Plant was a golden god, not yet a Viking elder, and the late John Bonham — whose death in 1980 abruptly ended Zeppelin’s reign — still ruled the engine room.

Read the rest here.

View more at Rolling Stone, Flickr, Getty Images.

Led Zeppelin set for reunion gig

Led Zeppelin set for reunion gig.

Zeppelin hints at reunion follow-up

Zeppelin hints at reunion follow-up.

Do the songs remain the same?

Do the songs remain the same? They’re remastered and rereleased - but does messing with Led Zep’s classics really make them sound any better?

Led Zeppelin 2008 Tour?

led_zeppelin_people1.jpg

Led Zeppelin have denied they are planning a world tour in 2008.

The legendary rockers claim “no decision has been made” as to whether they will follow up their comeback concert at London’s O2 arena on December 10 with a globetrotting series of shows.

Excitement over a possible Led Zeppelin tour peaked this week after Ian Astbury, lead singer of British band The Cult, told fans at a show in Cincinnati: “We’ll be back next year because we’re opening for a band you might have heard of. The name starts with ‘L’ and has a ‘Z’ in it.”

When asked by an excited member of the crowd if he meant Led Zeppelin, Astbury reportedly nodded his head and raised a celebratory arm in the air.

But an aide for the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ rockers insists: “No decision has been made beyond the band’s performance at the O2 arena.

“Maybe Ian got mixed up and they’re supporting Limp Bizkit!”

Led Zeppelin have been sending out mixed messages concerning future shows.

Lead singer Robert Plant has been quoted as saying “there’ll be one show and that’s it”, whereas guitarist Jimmy Page insisted: “It’s a bit selfish to do just one show. If that’s it, we probably shouldn’t have taken the genie out of the bottle.”

The band - which also features bassist John Paul Jones - have reformed for a tribute concert for the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who signed the group.

Continue reading ‘Led Zeppelin 2008 Tour?’

Shepard Fairey Designs Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin Mothership

I’ve never been what you would call a Led Zeppelin die-hard. I’ve certainly appreciated their stamp on the Rock genre - even if lately they have come under considerable criticism due to some underhanded ways they stole some of their music from other artists. Having said that, I grew up in the Black Sabbath camp but always had a passing glance at what Zeppelin was doing.

Last week I noticed the new compilation ‘Mothership’ had been released. What really caught my eye was the beautiful packaging and stunning artwork which was designed by the infamous Shepard Fairey. I bought the disc on the spot just for this very reason. It was just too gorgeous to pass up and I’ve got my fingers crossed a vinyl version is produced.

Says Fairey on his website: “…I was recently asked to do the package for Led Zeppelin’s two CD one DVD greatest hits package Mothership. Zep is one of my favorite bands of all time and if they aren’t one of yours, you need to check that your DNA is human. If my art is 1 percent as good as this band I’m in good shape. What I’m trying to say is that the opportunity for me to hitch a ride on the coat tails of such an influential band is an honor and a coup…”

So with the new disc in tow, and God it sounds friggn amazing. The remastering is absolutely second-to-none and I am hearing stuff on this that I have never heard before in over 30 years of listening to Zeppelin. And so the Zep bug has bitten down hard ‘cos for the past week or so, this is all I have been listening to!

Led Zeppelin tour in ‘08?

Led Zeppelin tour in ‘08? It would be big. Potentially one of the biggest ever. I’m talking, of course, about the increased chatter regarding a Led Zeppelin reunion tour for 2008 featuring founding members Robert Plant on vocals, Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass, with Jason Bonham, son of the late Zep drummer John Bonham, manning the skins.