The context I'm talking about actually involves another band from right around the same area and time period, and one that was especially close to Page: The Jeff Beck Group.
Their sound is in the same vein as Zeppelin (heavy, bombastic blues) and the album Truth even has a version of “You Shook Me” that sounds compellingly similar to Zeppelin's on first listen, right down to the interaction between the guitar and vocals. The difference is of course that Beck's album debuted at least a year earlier than Zeppelin's. Some sources hint that Jeff Beck might have been a little put out by Page “stealing his sound”, while others seem to indicate that Page was actually involved in some of the Truth recordings during and might have even written the majestic chord progression of “Beck's Bolero”. Others still state that neither Beck nor Page knew the other was recording “You Shook Me” until after each was released.
There is definitely some hearsay involving these two albums, which makes the complete picture hard to see, but the stories are interesting and seem to add to each of their subsequent legends, causing certain people to rally behind one or the other as the true turning point of blues based hard rock, and engage in lengthy arguments as to the true merits (or lack thereof) of each.
Although the similarities are definitely noticeable, I hear a distinct difference between the two albums that actually points towards each guitarist's respective direction. Both are incredible, but Truth is far more R & B flavored with keyboards etc, and also more angular and rough around the edges to my ear, seeming to hint at more progressive things — which would be the direction that Beck would follow.
Led Zeppelin (the album) though, is more pointed towards very grand compositions and harder rock sounds, but still staying somewhat rooted in traditional rock and roll and blues ideas while experimenting. This became the direction they eventually would take. It's as if these two albums form a fork in the road. Page and Beck knew each other for a long time before they played together in the Yardbirds, and came from similar backgrounds, and were part of the same music scene. So the fact that their musical tastes would at least initially develop in parallel makes sense, (Eric Clapton was involved in the same scene too, which could explain why Cream hinted at hard rock and heavy blues as well).
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Nice piece D.A.N., although maybe you oughtta just try writing a book next time. The comparisons with Beck's Truth album (with Rod Stewart playing the role Robert Plant would prefect in Led Zeppelin) are particularly appreciated. Although Zep was the band that it took it all the way to the startosphere, a lot of people don't know or remember the fact that Beck's group was really the one that came first (although if you want to get really technical you'd have to start with Cream).
Again, though nice and very thorough article.
-Glen
2 - JC Mosquito
The main point of differentiation between the two albums is the sonic production. Zep's is huge - Beck's is thin. With very little tweaking, Zep I sounds current - sadly, Beck's effort will always sound dated unless maybe if it's ever remixed from the ground up.
3 - ray
Not the birth of a legend, instead the birth of a myth. The birth of one of the most allround overrated and overcredited bands in musical history. It is obvious that this isn't a perfect world that we live in when mediocrity such as this are lauded as legends, instead of the unoriginal, uninteresting rip-off artists they are. Much better music to be found almost anywhere else.
P.S. If Jimmy Page is a virtuoso, then the club is a little too easy to enter.