Customer Reviews

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time

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This book is incredible. The photos alone make it worth owning, but added to that are interviews with other bands, musicians talking about Led Zeppelin and my favorite part, the history of each of their tours. What happened specifically on that tour? See behind the scenes and also see the memorabilia from each specific tour (t-shirts, posters, ticket stubs). I also wrote about it on my blog, Layla's Classic Rock: http://laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/

I wasn't fortunate enough to be able to see Led Zeppelin live (fingers crossed about the rumored reunion tour), but this book brought me about as close as I could've hoped. It has Zeppelin covererd from A to Z, whether you're looking for photos and memorabilia of the band, tour-by-tour or album-by-album coverage, or stories about how Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham inspired an entire generation of writers and performers. Trust me, both the casual fan and the "sleep on the sidewalk for tickets" fan is going to love this book!

The challenge of this book, as with all Zep books - is to find new material and a fresh way of capturing a legendary band for the fans.

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin does this with the compendium / tribute approach. It's not a be-all and end-all of Zep books (an accompanying live bootleg DVD would have been awesome) but it does bring something new to the party.
(I have my personal favourites for this - the Q and Mojo magazine specials were truly excellent for fans reading.)

Journalists have written volumes about Zep, and in a sense, there is nothing new to say. However, this tome does collect and present some new material: color plates of Zep's concert posters, magazine covers and international releases; and some nifty write-ups with William Burroughs interviewing Jimmy Page; Ann and Nancy Wilson's gushing tributes which reflect the fan in all of us.

What would have been nice: more candid insights from the band members (you notice that Jimmy Page was the man giving the press the most interviews) - I was expecting more revelations and interviews from Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones, but they are actually in the background somewhere (meaning: read in between the lines for their presence) as the music and the force of the band takes centrestage. It's like Led Zeppelin was this big huge stage or movie production that the rest were just a small part of. Which in a way it was.

And there are historical inaccuracies in the discography - shocking for such a comprehensive tome - e.g. the recording dates for certain tracks on the Physical Graffiti listing are wrong. "Boogie With Stu" was not recorded in 1974! for example.

Still, this makes a great gift for any rock fan which is why I got a copy (as a gift) and I would recommend it. For true fans, search out other books to complete your Zep collection. I sense there is a space for yet another book in the future but it's going to have to be different - or maybe everything has been said.

When the book came, and I opened the package and started looking through this book, it took my breath away. It is visually stunning, and the commentary is really entertaining/enlightening. I feel like I have been taken back to my lost youth.

I am buying another copy just to have, and definitely buying my nephew a copy as well. He grew up listening to Led Zeppelin right along with me (I was 11 when he was born in 1968) so we both "grew up" with Led Zeppelin.

This book is for young fans, old fans, new fans, diehards.....I could go on forever. This is a must have for all Led Zeppelin fans (past, present, and future) and THE Led Zeppelin curious.

Just brilliant!

Great pictures, very interesting inside info. from former road manager.
Not many details of the dark side, because that's on the "Hammer of the Gods" book. Even if you're not a total zep fan, you'll enjoy to find out how really humble the group was(and still are.-J.Bohnam)

i was so excited to get this book, that when my packaged arrived it felt like christmas morning! And to my very happy surprise it didnt disappoint. not only are the pictures wonderful but it also has great stories from playing doctor with groupies down to what life was on the road... Its great!

If you are a huge fan of Zeppelin like I am, you will absolutely LOVE this book. I simply could not put it down; in fact, I finished it already, and I have only had it for three days. Don't waste your money on Richard Cole's book of BS - get this one instead! It is well made (it weighs a TON), and will last forever.

Item came as I expected, quick and clean. It was more than I expected once I looked it over, great purchase.

The scope of the subject matter is reflected in the weight of this tome. It looks to bring the complete story of the Led Zeppelin experience in both words and pictures. It does this and more through the thoughtful incorporation of memorabilia, testimonials and witness accounts of the history of the band that shook the world (all night long).
The chronological record is thorough and in some instances intimate to the point where you feel you are living through those heady days all over again.
If you love the band it is a worthy addition to all the material you may have on the subject. If you just think Led Zeppelin was some group in the 70's you will be well served by reading how they fashioned what rock 'n roll has come to mean to everyone that boo-boo-boogies.

As an aging rocker himself, my husband just loves this book. It was a Christmas gift but he has finished it already.