A review by tweep
Led Zeppelin: The Biography by Bob Spitz

2.0

A bit disappointing. I mean, it is a very thorough book that has got all the facts right, but it is obviously written by a fan, who thinks Led Zeppelin are mostly a bunch of geniuses, which I find hard to believe. Not all of them all of the time. Especially not John Bonham, who must have been drunk for most of his short life. Also, I would have liked to understand the band members a bit better. That Bonzo went about raping, demolishing, humiliating etc. the way he did just because he missed home sounds like a superficial explanation. Also, there must be more to say about John Paul Jones. What kind of guy is he, or was he, in his twenties? The book is quite good and specific, and not too judgmental, about the band's misbehaviour on the road. What was entirely new to me is that the band was run by gangsters, tough guys, especially their manager. Their legal representatives were close to the mob. In the end the band, who invented hard rock and metal, in great part by developing the guitar sounds (fuzz, overdrive) we are now used to, though Hendrix did a lot of that too, in the end, they went under in a haze of alcohol, cocaine and heroin. And their fan base moved to punk and new wave.