John Bonham, the legendary drummer of Led Zeppelin died in 1980, but his son Jason Bonham has tried everything to keep his spirit alive musically. Unfortunately for Jason, his road to music stardom has been nearly as difficult as his dad's struggling bout with substance abuse. In spite of Jason's extremely polished (although unoriginal) drum style, Jason hasn't been able to capitalize fully on his dad's reputation. Jason & company do certainly seem to get record contracts, recording under the name of Bonham and more recently as The Jason Bonham Band. Sooner or later Jason Bonham was destined to record a Led Zeppelin tribute album and ... here it is.

Performed live at the Electric Ladyland as a charity concert
Vocals: Charles West
Guitars: Tony Catania
Bass/keyboards: John Smithson
Drums: Jason Bonham

--------------
Track list
--------------
In The Evening (7:13)
Ramble On (5:35)
The Song Remains The Same (5:45)
What Is And What Should Never Be (5:15)
The Ocean (4:47)
Since I've Been Loving You (7:53)
Communication Breakdown (4:57)
Ten Years Gone (7:43)
The Rain Song (2:25)
Whole Lotta Love Medley (19:22)

This concert is a mixed bag. Too many times Charles West strains to hit the high Plant notes. Overall not a horrible Plant imitation, but there have been better imitators vocally. Notably, Great White's Jack Russell. The sound quality of the concert is passable.

The guitar work has the right touch of distortion and Tony Catania doesn't just go through the motions. He does improvise a bit on Jimmy Page's famous fretwork, but in the end he doesn't get altogether too creative. It's a competent, though not entirely fulfilling effort.

The crowd sounds do not interrupt the experience like some live albums, nor does the crowd seem all that enthusiastic about the performance. Listeners might wonder for a minute if the audience was conducting a seance with Bonzo.

Since I've Been Loving You sounds like they forgot to tune or swap out their instruments (pitch is a bit too low), one of the worst covers of the song I've ever heard. There are also moments, particularly in Whole Lotta Love where feedback is not only noticeable but irritating (starting around 17:00 in the song and continuing for a minute and half).

In Communication Breakdown West's vocals sounds like a wounded animal instead of mimicking Robert Plant's signature moans. The vocal improvisations don't work throughout most of this album. The drums are solid, and it sounds like John Bonham willed his spirit into his son on several occasions.