Blimps On the Radar

So a 2 CD/1 DVD Led Zeppelin career retrospective put together by the band entitled "Mothership" arrives in stores on Tuesday. If you're a more casual Zeppelin fan and haven't fully explored all this legendary rock and roll band had to offer, I strongly encourage you to explore the band's first 6 albums, which probably represent the 6 best records any band has ever released consecutively. And while Zeppelin's last few records didn't nearly live up to what came before them, the good news is that you don't have to pay much attention to them. Now if you're still resistant to spending some time and money on several Led Zeppelin albums, or are just content to hear "the big hits only," then "Mothership" is the perfect compilation for you.

Unlike "Early Days and Latter Days," the first separate (and later combined) 2-disc collection of Zeppelin's best and brightest tracks, this time around seems to have a stronger edge to it. You never had songs like "D'Yer Mak'er," "Ramble On," "Heartbreaker" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" on that other compilation, but they're most certainly here this time around. The track listing is much improved over all the previous retrospectives. I can't really think of one crucial track missing on this thing, and that's what makes it so fantastic. That, and the obvious focus on the band's earlier years where their sound was much more epic rock and much less lighter, more fanciful melodies. Or more simply put, this thing's got a lot more early (and better) material on it as a whole. You might just say the band knew precisely which tracks would play best lumped together.

Of course the same day "Mothership" hits stores, you'll also be granted access to Zeppelin's catalogue via digital retailers, which is something people have been eagerly anticipating for quite some time now. This was intended to coincide with the couple reunion shows the band was scheduled to play this month, however Jimmy Page's finger injury has pushed those performances back to December. Nevertheless, the Zeppelin fever has once again struck the general populus, even pulling me back in after a couple years of pushing them aside in favor of other music. For a younger person like me, who never got the chance to see Zeppelin live or even hear their records back in the vinyl-only days, this represents something of a second chance to experience the power of a group that stopped making music close to 30 years ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an extended reunion complete with a few U.S. tour dates, but until there's official word on that one way or the other, I'll keep hope alive by reliving all those classic albums and songs from one of the greatest rock groups of all time.

Led Zeppelin- Heartbreaker
Led Zeppelin- Houses of the Holy

Buy "Mothership" from Amazon

Labels: greatest hits, led zeppelin