The moment Led Zeppelin turned “shit”, according to Dave Mustaine
Towards the end of the 1970s, rock music became heavier. Bands like Led Zeppelin were a huge part of this, as while they combined several different music genres, there was one overriding sound, and that was hard rock. Led Zeppelin inspired so many musicians that a lot of upcoming rock bands leaned into trying to replicate that sound.
While the music industry wasn’t made up of a barrage of Led Zeppelin soundalikes, you can hear rock music relying more on distortion, and music, in general, getting much heavier. It meant that by the time the mid-eighties came around, there was a clear market for heavy metal bands such as Megadeath, who pushed the boundaries of rock so far that it made its very own subsection.
There is no doubt that Led Zeppelin had a big influence on many of these bands, particularly because of their exciting live performances. Each musician was thunderous, and when they played on stage, people were subject to the fantastic vocals of Robert Plant, the bass of John Paul Jones, the face-melting solos of Jimmy Page and the intense drum solos of John Bonham. They played to sold-out crowds because of how impressive their live sound was, but all good things come to an end.
The band officially broke up after the passing of drummer John Bonham. “When we lost John, we agreed unanimously that that was that,” said Robert Plant, “I had to go and find out if I really want to do it. Did I want to do it, or did I just want to sit back there like a croupier at a gambling thing and just kind of rake [the money] in […] I wanted to take all the trappings away, because I’d lost my best mate.”
According to Dave Mustaine of Megadeath, even though the band split up after John Bonham’s death, he thought they lacked quality before that. He picked one album in particular that highlighted to him that the band was losing it, and it stopped him from being interested in going to future gigs.
“I remember when Led Zeppelin came around. It was the last time that they toured while John Bonham was alive,” he said, “And I had heard The Song Remains the Same live album, and I thought, ‘These guys aren’t playing good anymore’.”
Mustaine continued, “Who am I to say shit? You know, I’m some little wet-behind-the-ears guitar-playing kid that’s just starting, and Jimmy’s the Dark Prince. I had my reasons, and he wasn’t playing good, so I didn’t go […] It’s funny though, I’ve never really been able to make a connection with Jimmy. We’ve talked several times. I know he’s a friendly person, but just never been able to connect with him.”
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