10 Led Zeppelin

Celebration Day

ATLANTIC/SWAN SONG, 2012

You say: “Amazing that they pulled it off. I would have killed for a ticket!” Lennox Orr, via X

There was nothing risk-averse about Led Zeppelin’s 2007 reunion show in memory of Ahmet Ertegun. Indeed, with Plant unpersuadable re further gigs, their reputation came to rest on its for-one-night-only bravado. A fracture to Page’s pinky necessitated postponing for a fortnight, but Valhalla was breached and Zeppelin triumphed. Kashmir sounds Olympian, Dazed And Confused stretches old improv muscles, and Stairway To Heaven – previously tarnished by duff airings at Live Aid and an Atlantic Records’ 40th birthday bash – regains its rightful place in the firmament. Through it all, Jason Bonham drums up a storm worthy of his late father in emotionally testing circumstances. Avoiding the A-lister-swamped aftershow, Plant repaired to his local kebab house for humus/reflection.

9 Led Zeppelin

In Through The Out Door

SWAN SONG, 1979

You say: “Band relations weren’t good, but still a very decent album. Love Jimmy’s guitar fills on All My Love.” Phillip Young, via e-mail

Hatched at ABBA’s Polar studios, Zeppelin’s swan song (bar outtakes set Coda) was largely The Percy and Jonesy Show. Still battling heroin addiction, Page contributed less than usual, hence six Plant/Jones co-writes in which the latter’s piano and Yamaha GX-1synth often star. In The Evening packs the old swagger, Page using a mikestand as a slide during his rambunctious solo, but much of ITTOD shreds the blueprint. With talk of Plant’s “old blue dungarees”, rockabilly/bluegrass knees-up Hot Dog is maybe a wheeze too far, but Fool In The Rain, with magnificent Bonham shuffle and joyous samba interlude, is wonderful. All My Love, Plant’s elegy for his late son Karac, also shines on a Zep LP like no other.