“Something honest”: Robert Plant on the band that captured the spirit of Led Zeppelin
There is never going to be anything close to what Led Zeppelin created ever again. That might be disheartening for some classic rock fans to hear, but looking back at how the hard rock legends came together is the kind of creative synergy that no one can truly reproduce, even if Greta Van Fleet has certainly tried over the years. While Robert Plant might think it’s a good thing not to copy Zeppelin outright, he knew that some bands were better off hitting on the same attitude they had in their prime.
Because you have to remember how dangerous Zeppelin were for their time. Aside from the fact that they were ripping off some of their biggest songs from other people, their attitude towards the blues saw them taking things into new realms that weren’t even thought of as possible even five years before they performed.
And despite people claiming that they were simply plagiarists throughout their career, albums like Houses of the Holy prove that to be the furthest thing from the truth. They had absorbed a lot of their influences in their career and would pay tribute to them on occasion, but hearing something as gorgeous as ‘The Rain Song’ or the offbeat rhythm of ‘The Ocean’ is proof that they could have some truly genius moments when they walked into the studio.
Then again, being the best hard rock band in existence doesn’t always mean being the most perfect rock band, either. Not every member was exactly on the beat every time played, but the spontaneity that came from all of them having that internal sense of rhythm on a song like ‘Rock and Roll’ was what made their songs have so much mojo before Plant even began singing.
That didn’t mean that playing was for everyone, though, and the punk regime seemed to want nothing to do with Zeppelin’s more grandiose side when making songs like ‘Kashmir’ or ‘Ten Years Gone’. Even if Plant was more than happy to change with the times during his solo career, he knew that there was something special about Hüsker Dü. Outside of the melodic moments on their records, Plant was reminded of that same spontaneity he saw whenever his old mates performed.
Looking at where Bob Mould would eventually go in his solo career as well, you can hear bits and pieces of that same attitude still. There’s even some connective tissue back to Zeppelin since Mould was one of Dave Grohl’s greatest influences, culminating in him eventually jamming with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones onstage when Foo Fighters played at Wembley Stadium in the 2000s.
While Plant knew that many Zeppelin copycats had come and gone, something was special about hearing the hardcore punks make music, saying, “When I listen to them, I hear something not similar but something of the irreverence [of Zeppelin]. Something that ‘it wasn’t always right, but it was good so keep it’. There’s something honest about it.”
And that kind of honesty can’t really be captured when someone tries to do a simple Zeppelin pastiche. Bands from Kingdom Come to Wolfmother to Greta Van Fleet may wear their influences from Zeppelin proudly on their sleeves, but if they’re simply using it to emulate their heroes, they missed a crucial point of Zeppelin. It was about innovation, not imitation.
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