Customer Reviews

The Origin of the Species: Led Zeppelin

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4 star:		(3)
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I enjoyed learning about the members before Led Zeppelin and what they've done and hearing the people they played with talk about them. The DVD includes what is billed as "The Hardest Led Zeppelin Quiz in the World Ever". It's far from hard. The DVD looks into the past of each band member before becoming Led Zeppelin. It also looks into the first few albums, tracing some of the songs' "roots", so to speak. Pretty good, although I've seen better. Hard core fans *will* buy it, newcomer fans *should*.

What is so interesting and amazing about this DVD is the footage showing the band members who would become Led Zeppelin before they came together and when they did, covering their history up to the release of their second album Led Zeppelin II.

Seeing Jimmy Page perform in The Yardbirds, seeing Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page perform in the earliest days of Led Zeppelin - this is the kind of footage that an avid fan can really get into.

The DVD covers and shows clips of the musicians who had the greatest influence on Page and Plant, as well as a couple of songs where that influence was used on a couple of songs on their first and second albums.

I honestly would only recommend this DVD to a die-hard Zeppelin fan. I don't think it would have the same impact on the casual listener, and I honestly don't think it's geared toward the casual listener.

[From the back cover] "This DVD is NOT authorized by Led Zeppelin or individual band members thereof, or their estates, their representatives or any record of publishing company associated with the release or ownership of Led Zeppelin's music."

It is very tastefully done, balanced and fair - I don't get the feeling of any ulterior motives - as the people who shared knew the band members before and during the formation of Led Zeppelin.

It's 70 minutes long - and I was glued to the screen the whole time. No boring footage here. I really enjoyed it. But it's the kind of DVD I don't feel the need to watch again. If you love Led Zeppelin, I think you would get more out of the DVD Led Zeppelin LED ZEPPELIN.

If you're a die hard fan as I am - by all means this is an excellent DVD.

This other linked DVD Led Zeppelin is a MUST BUY - Can't count how many times I've watched it and will again and again.

First, I am one of the world's foremost fans and authorities on this band.

Do NOT buy this--if you want information, choose any of a number of decent books. If a few SECONDS of unique video or photos are of value to you-then buy all you want.

This is yet another of these "critical review" DVDs that are now so prevalent, like the dreaded UK Classic Rock series that feature people giving opinions and telling eighth-generation accounts. Though Chris Welch, Yardbird Chris Dreja etc are worthy folk indeed, the cobbled together video scenes and such are evidence of how little material there is about this group. The official LZ youtube channel is much better than this.

I just do not understand people who rate this badly. Oh, wait a minute, I think I do. You see, there are people who are kinda shallow. These people do not care to understand a happenings, roots or understand why or where or anything for that matter. They see a name, in this case, Led Zeppelin, and they don't bother to read what it is about, they just hit the "buy" button and then are dissatisfied when they view it because, dammit, it said Led Zeppelin on it! Why was there not more Led Zeppelin in it?
Well I found it educating and fascinating. It delivered exactly what it promised, an examination of the roots and branches, the germination and beginning of the band. To hear from people who were there and witness to this burgeoning behemoth was incredible. Where else do you learn these kinds of things? I actually find these negative reviews in the same category as the people who give a film a bad review because it took a long time for them to receive it in the mail. Or, they didn't get it at all and therefore give the film a bad critique because they never actually got to see it. Perhaps I am the one who is mistaken. Perhaps the reviews are supposed to be for the post office, your individual mail carrier, the weather, flat tires and broken down mail carts and not just the films, recordings or what have you. Perhaps the Academy Awards should take into account the number of people bothered by crackling popcorn bags and ringing cell phones while people were in the theater viewing the movies before they bestow awards. " I am sorry, the film was hugely entertaining but because it also appealed to children and had a "G" rating, many people were annoyed by giggling children who consistently rustled in their seats and had to step on peoples feet in order to be led out to the restroom to pee, so it doesn't win the Oscar!"-Randall

Gertrude Stein famously said of Los Angeles, There's no there there. As for Led Zeppelin and the title of Darwin's magnum opus, I can only utter the truth: There is no The there, is there?

Got that?