led zeppelin

REVIEW: Led Zeppelin – Live EP (2025)

LED ZEPPELIN – Live EP (2025 Atlantic)

Feast or famine:  Led Zeppelin have always been weird with their archival releases.  There are numerous valid complaints about the release of this live EP, sourced from their 1975 Earls Court and 1979 Knebworth concerts.   Why not just release the whole shows, as they were on the DVD set?  Why not indeed?  We have no good answers to that, so instead we’ll focus on what we did get:  a smoking hot live EP by Led Zeppelin, including a magnificent “Kashmir”.  It also tickles the nostalgic funnybone that they simply called it Live EP.  From the band that brought you a DVD called DVD, and a box set called Box Set 2.  The cover art recalls Physical Graffiti in such a way that you know without guessing that it’s a Led Zeppelin release.

Of course, calling it an EP is a matter of perspective.  At over 34 minutes, it’s a live album.

“In My Time of Dying” was played fourth at Earl’s Court, but here it opens the affair with a slower, more brooding tempo.  Then things pick up.  You know how the song goes:  “Oh Gabriel, let me blow your horn!” as things get faster and funkier.  Plant drives this beast with orgasmic shouts and declarations, while Pagey plies the neck of his guitar with a slide.  In the back, John Paul Jones and John Bonham are so locked in, it’s boggling.  With Jones playing countermelodies, Bonham accentuates the groove.  You could listen to the song multiple times, focusing on different musicians, and not get tired despite the 11 minute running time.  Plant’s vocal outro is the kind of bombastic exercise you expect in any decent Zep parody – but done with sincerity.  This is is peak Led Zeppelin.

13th in the Earl’s Court set was “Trampled Underfoot”, but here it appears without a gap.  You want funky?  You got funky.  Talk about love!  Plant brings the love.  This accelerated version is locked into the groove, with Bonham adding flair when necessary, and John Paul holding it down.  Pagey is free to possess that riff like a six string demon, all before John Paul goes into a keyboard solo.  At about seven minutes, they just bring the whole thing to a boiling jam.  Not just a jam, but a memorable part of the performance.  A definitive version of a classic.

There is a fade before we get to the Knebworth 1979 tracks.  Something about late Led Zeppelin.  You know they were not at their peak, health-wise, and there are tales of mixed reviews live.  Knebworth was one such concert, considered a show with incredible moments of Led Zeppelin’s chemistry, and others a display of a tentative, nervous band.  “Sick Again” shows absolutely none of the weakness.  It was played 15th in the set.  Perhaps by that time, Zeppelin had felt warmed up and comfortable?

“Knebworth was useless. It was no good at all. It was no good because we weren’t ready to do it, the whole thing was a management decision. It felt like I was cheating myself because I wasn’t as relaxed as I could have been. There was so much expectation there, and the least we could have done was to have been confident enough to kill. We maimed the beast for life, but we didn’t kill it. It was good, but only because everybody made it good.” – Robert Plant

None of that is evident to the untrained ear on “Kashmir”, which was 13th in the set.  “Kashmir” is somewhat a rarity as far as official Led Zeppelin live audio versions go.  The only other officially released live version in audio format was on Celebration Day, a 2007 reunion concert with Jason Bonham on drums.  This sounds brilliant.  There might be more energetic performances out there, but as the only live one by the vintage band on CD goes, it’ll probably get repeat plays in your deck.

As a Live EP (or album if you will), this is a brilliant way to spend 34 minutes with Led Zeppelin.

4/5 stars

VIDEO: INCOMING!!! Mega Mail & a Holy Grail!!

After my ill fated dumpster dive, I cheered myself up by opening some mail!  In this video, you will see my surprise as I open:

  • One parcel from Australia, courtesy of the Mad Metal Man, containing bonus tracks and a Holy Grail CD I have wanted since 1999.
  • One parcel from Amazon, featuring a new release that dropped from $30 to $20.
  • A science fiction book by an Australian author.
  • A surprise from Mr. Durling!  A band that he recently published a new book on…

You can hear in my voice how my injured body is weakened…but not defeated!

 

The State of the Sunday Chuckle

Hey folks!  I hope you are having a good weekend.  I just wanted to let you know that I’ve decided to retire the Sunday Chuckle by the end of the year, and I’ll replace it with something new.  2020 is the fourth year for the Sunday Chuckle, and it has been a good run.

One of the concepts I’m playing around with is the Sunday Screening.  Maybe once a week, I’ll recommend something for you to watch.  Does that sound cool?

Here’s what it would be like.

Sunday Screening: Led Zeppelin at Live Aid 1985

Still on the high of all these Led Zeppelin discussions of late, I wanted to check out the much maligned Zeppelin set at Live Aid in 1985 one more time.  The unrehearsed band got up and played “Rock and Roll”, “Whole Lotta Love” and “Stairway to Heaven” with two drummers — Phil Collins and Tony Thompson.  The performance has been panned by critics and band alike.  While it certainly wasn’t great, was it all that bad?  You be the judge.  I think Zeppelin sounded pretty rough on “Rock and Roll”, but got better from song to song.  And it certainly is a joy to hear the crowd go bananas when Robert sings “Does anybody remember laughter?”  You can see that same joy on Robert’s face when he witnesses it happen.

Verdict:  “Do your own research”

Sunday Chuckle: An Essential Zep Question

Tonight on 107.5 Dave Rocks, check out Jessie David’s show The Essentials, because this week she’s covering Led Zeppelin!  I spoke with her about Zeppelin for the show, and she asked me a question that makes me chuckle:  “Have you ever seen them live?”

I laughed and told her I’m not that old!  I was only 8 when the band broke up.

Her fellow radio personality Darryl Law was in line to get tickets at the Montreal Forum the day that John Bonham died.  How’s that for historic?  But I’m not as old as D-Law!

I thought this was worthy of a Sunday Chuckle, and a good opportunity to tell you about her show.  8:00 PM tonight, listen to Jessie David play some Zeppelin Essentials!

 

Whole Lotta Lists! Sarca, Mars, and Mike with our Led Zeppelin favourites…and graphs by Geoff!

Thank you to Sarah and Kevin (Caught Me Gaming and Buried On Mars respectively) for co-hosting, and for some amazing Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Led Zeppelin songs lists!  Thank you to Aaron (Keeps Me Alive) and Uncle Meat (no affiliation) for adding your lists to the mix.  We heard about some brilliant songs tonight with some personal touches of what makes them so special.

But the hero of the night is Graph Wizard Geoff from 1001albumsin10years!  Thanks to him, we can call some clear winners or losers in this race!

Or can we?  You’ll just have to watch to find out!

 

If you don’t feel like watching the whole thing, you can just check out Geoff’s cool graphs below!

 

We’re Gonna Groove: Led Zeppelin Lists & Guests!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 37

In case you didn’t know, Sarah and Kevin (Caught Me Gaming and Buried On Mars respectively) just finished a massive Led Zeppelin review series.  Separately, they reviewed each Zeppelin album, from Zep I right to Coda.  They did a fantastic job of it, so with that completed, I had to have them on.  We’re going to do the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Led Zeppelin songs, with a few bonus guest lists in the hopper as well.

“But Mike!” you say.  “I have a hard time keeping up with all those lists, and remembering how many times certain songs or albums were picked.”

You’re right; I have a hard time keeping track too.  So this time, finally, we’re bringing in Geoff from 1001albumsin10years.  Geoff is the graph master.  You give him any subject you can think of, and he’ll come back with some kind of graph.  If anyone can keep track of our Zep stats, it’s him.  I feel the countdown will be in good hands with Geoff.

Tune in tonight at 7:00 PM E.S.T.!

Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

Live Stream – My Favourite Box Sets – Satuday April 25

What would you like to see featured next week?  Leave your feedback below.

 

VHS Archives #64: Kingdom Come interview (1989)

Michael Williams hosted the Pepsi Power Hour this time and got to interview Lenny Wolf and James Kottak of Kingdom Come.  He asks them about working with Bob Rock, their upcoming tour, the Zeppelin comparisons and all the stuff you want to know about.  Lenny also brings up Stone Fury.  Includes “The Making of the Making of” the video for “Do You Like It”.

Check out Lenny and James with Michael Williams on MuchMusic.

#726: Misplaced

GETTING MORE TALE #726:  Misplaced

I lost my favourite flash drive.  It’s around here somewhere.  Maybe I left it in a shirt pocket that ended up in the laundry.  Flash drives can survive a go in the wash, that’s no big deal.  It has 32 gig of various music on it, and it’s my handy dandy go-anywhere music solution.  Most recently it had the complete studio albums of Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Deep Purple, and many more.  Losing it (temporarily we hope) meant putting some tunes on another flash drive instead.

This time, I loaded it up with some AC/DC, Faith No More, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Joe Satriani, Whitesnake, and more.  Jen had a day of errands to run, so I decided to use a vacation day and help her out.

Our first mission, for most people, was no big deal.  In the lives of Mike and Jen, it requires planning and preparation:  getting your photo ID at Service Ontario.  You know those lovely pictures that look like mug shots because you’re not allowed to smile or show any facial expression at all?  Those are an obstacle and a half for Jen.  Why?  Because she’s epileptic and can’t have her photo taken with a flash.  Just another day in the Mike and Jen Show.

Since this wasn’t her first rodeo, Jen knew what to do.  She learned the hard way last time.  I know what you’re thinking.  “Why don’t they just take a photo without a flash?”  They can’t.  Those cameras are hooked up in such a way that they cannot turn the flash off.  Last time Jen had to do this, the staff at Service Ontario were absolutely stunned.  This time, we called in advance and booked an appointment.  Jen told them of her condition and made sure that they were prepared for her.  Then she went to Walmart and had some photos taken without a flash.  We picked the most bland-faced one of the bunch, and she had it printed up in various sizes and finishes so we’d have lots of options.

“Print it?” you’re asking.  “Why not just give them a card with the pictures on it?”  Yeah, they can’t do that either.  So what we do, and it’s quite ingenious, is take the Walmart photo and tape it where you’d normally stand to have your picture taken.  Then, they take a picture of that, while Jen looks away.  It took a few tries but we got her photo ID today with no hassles.  That was a first for Jen!  Mission accomplished.

Then we hit the road for Mission #2.  I loaded Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap up on the flash drive.  The mission this time was really simple.  We were going to visit Jen’s best friend Lara in Brampton for lunch.  It was a lovely day for a drive and AC/DC kept my pedal to the metal.  We both had a chuckle at the lyrics to Big Balls, with me remembering what it was like to be 10 years old and laughing every time Bon Scott said “balls”.

When Dirty Deeds ended, I threw on Rush’s Moving Pictures.  On a recent episode of Eddie Trunk’s radio show, Geddy Lee left no doubt that Rush is over.  Neil Peart has not only retired from Rush, he said, but from drumming altogether.  The physical toll that those 40 years took on Peart’s body means he needed a permanent vacation.  Rush will never play again.  That was running through my mind when I selected Moving Pictures, but soon I was immersed, rushed down “the river” like a modern day Tom Sawyer.

We picked a cheap steak place for lunch called Chuck’s roadhouse.  Surf & turf for $20?  Sure, I’ll try anything once.  Better than a fast food burger.  My steak was overdone but I haven’t had a lobster tail in years!  The sweet taste of lobster and salty butter was almost too much to bear.  I could have cried with joy.  Lobster is the ocean’s steak.  That was the easiest $20 to spend, ever.  I’d go back; maybe next time the steak won’t be over cooked!

We had a great lunch.  Jen broke a plate, but like a true friend, Lara took the blame.  We dropped her back off at work and headed home to Led Zeppelin’s In Through the Out Door.  It’s a quirky one and that’s why I love it.

As we rocked to “Fool in the Rain”, Jen remarked on how much her musical taste had improved over the last 10 years.  “I’ll always love Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots, but now I like Led Zeppelin too.”  Hey, I’m glad to have been a positive influence!

I think every music fan likes to share their favourites and hope it connects with somebody else.  The car is my favourite place to do that.  Thanks, Zep!

 

Intermission: Mail Call!

The mailman has been busy this last week or so.  Just look at the goodies!

LED ZEPPELIN – “Rock and Roll” / “Friends” Record Store Day single

DEF LEPPARD – Live at Abbey Road Studios 12″ Record Store Day EP

RAINBOW – Memories in Rock II Japanese CD – 2 bonus tracks

STRYPER – God Damn Evil Japanese CD – bonus track

STEPH HONDE – Covering the Monsters 

DALE SHERMAN – Mel Brooks FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Outrageous Genius of Comedy books – one for me, one for my dad’s 80th birthday!  SHHH don’t tell.  He doesn’t read this!