Jimmy Page

Tinnitus

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Hi,

I am a seasoned classic rock fan, my main area of interest is the famous rock bands of the 70s.
I also play a bit of guitar.
I am a fan of LZ and of Jimmy Page, but am not going to heap unconditional praise on him here...
People have mentioned his sloppy playing before but it really grates with me when he is held up as a guitar god when you only have to watch a few videos on YouTube to see shockingly bad playing. Particularly on the guitar solos. His rhythm playing is actually quite consistent.

Sometimes I find his live playing to be unbearable. I listened to Celebration Day and the solo on Stairway was pretty faithful to the album, but it was a bit ragged.

I am not saying I expect him to recreate the solos note for note like some guitarists can but the quality of his live playing sometimes hurts the ears!

I think non-musicians cannot hear what I am talking about so much.

But having said that, I am not saying I could do what he can.

He is in denial about his abilities and the general public see him as one of the best ever guitarists.

I wonder if there was a way of measuring or quantifying the accuracy of live playing where he would rank?

Finally, if you see a LZ tribute band, the solos will be note for note to the albums. If the guitarist in the tribute band played the solos as Page would then what would the listener think?

Cheers,

T.
 

recgord27

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Hi,

I am a seasoned classic rock fan, my main area of interest is the famous rock bands of the 70s.
I also play a bit of guitar.
I am a fan of LZ and of Jimmy Page, but am not going to heap unconditional praise on him here...
People have mentioned his sloppy playing before but it really grates with me when he is held up as a guitar god when you only have to watch a few videos on YouTube to see shockingly bad playing. Particularly on the guitar solos. His rhythm playing is actually quite consistent.

Sometimes I find his live playing to be unbearable. I listened to Celebration Day and the solo on Stairway was pretty faithful to the album, but it was a bit ragged.

I am not saying I expect him to recreate the solos note for note like some guitarists can but the quality of his live playing sometimes hurts the ears!

I think non-musicians cannot hear what I am talking about so much.

But having said that, I am not saying I could do what he can.

He is in denial about his abilities and the general public see him as one of the best ever guitarists.

I wonder if there was a way of measuring or quantifying the accuracy of live playing where he would rank?

Finally, if you see a LZ tribute band, the solos will be note for note to the albums. If the guitarist in the tribute band played the solos as Page would then what would the listener think?

Cheers,

T.

Part of the charm for me when listening to Led Zeppelin live is what I see as their ability to improvise and which you may interpret as sloppy playing. For me, aside from the bum notes, lost segments of songs and the "raggedness", Led Zeppelin are at their best live. I personally hate it when bands play songs exactly as they were recorded on the studio album. For me, you may as well stay at home and listen to the album.

Regarding Jimmy Page's guitar god status, the more I think about it, the more I tend to agree with you. What JP is particularly good at is absorbing his influences, regurgitating them and then having the nerve/balls to claim that it all came from him alone. If I had to choose the best guitarist between him, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, he would almost always be my third choice. With the rest of Zeppelin, he surrounded himself with exceptional musicians that together created something bigger than the sum of them all and for that reason, I continue to listen to and love their music. :bow::bow::bow:
 

BikerDude

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I guess it follows along the age old dividing line.
"Ginger or Maryanne?"
Ginger guys need guitar solos to be slick and perfect.
Maryanne guys don't mind bombastic outbursts of tortured Les Paul cacophony.
I get your point and I've fallen on both sides.
I have to get myself back into the 70s mindset.
Once there I get it.
It's like NYC.
There is absolutely no doubt that by any sane measure the city is a million percent better today than it was in the 70s. But I'll confide that I do miss the times square of porn and shady characters. The canvas for a million weird stories. Rather than an endless TV commercial for boring tourists. IMO a bit of raggedness is not a bad thing. It's called soul.
Take the other thing too far and you get to the several friends I had who went to school wanting to be Jimmy Page and came home playing "jazz fusion". Yuck!
Its a sad thing to see. A total "soulectomy" in the interest of technical noodleing.
Take for instance Jagger's singing. I've known people who hate it. But try to cover a stone's song and not do the Mick thing. It's not good but it's perfect for what it is. It's as much a sneer as singing. Do it "better" and it's ironically not as good.
You get it or not really.
 

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