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The record that tested Jimmy Page more than any other: “A masochistic task”

Sun 31 May 2026 17:15, UK

When Led Zeppelin were at their very best, everything felt effortless.

Before their debut album was released, Zeppelin were upstaging the bands they were supporting, putting on a string of shows that emphatically introduced this new era of rock and roll – one that they would be the pioneers of. Then, when it was released, their greatness seemed to fall out of the sky, laying songs on their lap that would literally change the face of music. In those early years, hits were coming thick and fast, and there was simply nothing to stop them from following their path to outright greatness.

But like the music they played, the Led Zeppelin sonic machine operated hard and fast. They crammed everything into a succinct decade period, before dramatically and tragically disbanding in 1980 after the death of their enigmatic drummer, John Bonham.

The once-in-a-lifetime alchemy shared by these four members forced the hand of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. They knew it best to end completely than to limp through a future without Bonzo. And so they disbanded, stating that “together with the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.”

Now, each member was confronted with life without Zeppelin. Page was perhaps the best suited for this uncharted territory, for he had enjoyed a healthy and independent career before the days of Zeppelin. Something about his virtuoso guitar playing told us all that, amidst everything, he would be just fine.

But his ‘88 solo record Outrider told a vastly different story. It tried to capture that expansive brand of stadium rock, but something about it felt different to what had come before, almost like a ghostly sound of Led Zeppelin’s past. But what really didn’t help was that a friend of Page’s stole the demos of his record before he even got to this studio.

In one swift moment, the basis of his record was snatched from beneath him, and a whole blueprint of sonic ideas was up in smoke. He explained, “That setback put a completely different spin on the Outrider recording process”.

A record that was initially mooted to be a double album then got pared back, and the vision changed entirely. Page added, “Because I was shaping Outrider as I went along, I put more work into it than any other album I’ve ever worked on,” he claimed. “Consequently, I didn’t fancy doing a double; it would have been a masochistic task.”

Nevertheless, he still ended up with a nine-song record that showcased his already celebrated guitar playing. But the missing Zeppelin pieces were plainly evident on the record. The lyrics were left to the session vocalists, for Page explained that he needed to focus on the arrangements, claiming that, as someone who’s never been a singer or lyricist, he didn’t need to start on Outrider, despite it being a solo album.

Obviously, Robert Plant’s shoes would always be too big to fill, but the clear disconnect between his playing and the vocals proved that, as great as Page would be, he would never be the same without Zeppelin.