I don't usually go for books about music. For one, music in and of itself is very hard to write about. How does one describe the finale to Beethoven's 9th or Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland? I mean, yes, you could just say that both are "Awesome", but that is hardly enough material to fill a book.
But then, a rock biography isn't just about the music (was it ever about the music? Maybe it was once. Not anymore). Rock biographies are about bands that get their shit together through hard work and happenstance, hit it big with raw and earnest material, reach a zenith at about the time they are doing coke off a groupie's naked backside, fly too close to the sun, and crash hard. At least, it is if you were a band pre-punk. Post punk, you skip from delivering raw, earnest material to being caught up in your own hubris and you find that you are exactly the kind of the band you hated when you were just a garage band fooling around at John's house.
When Giants Ruled the Earth follows the rather predictable storyline of a rock-biography of the first kind. The author (Mick Wall) can't be blamed for this, as he is merely putting pen to paper and telling us the story of what is arguably the greatest rock band of all time: Led Zeppelin.
It's an unflinching look at the band. He starts out at the beginning, with the dissolution of the Yardbirds and follows through all the way to the death of John Bonham and beyond, concluding the narrative in 2009 when Robert Plant was touring the world with Alison Krause and Jimmy Page was left brooding over a cup of tea in London town. It's an account well balanced between describing the work done on albums and the touring the band did all over the world. Wall delves very deeply into Page's interest in the occult, which was (is?) far deeper than I had ever imagined it to be. Otherwise, what is found within can best be summed up in a couple of lists:
Things that Led Zeppelin Did Well:
Play their instruments (most of the time)
Do drugs/drink alcohol
Produce records
Wear funny clothes
Catch mud sharks
Play live, in concert (again, most of the time)
Things that Led Zeppelin Did Not Do Well:
Dissuade women from having sex with them
Give credit for song ideas that were not theirs (this happened a lot)
Play Baseball (White Sox 15, Led Zeppelin 2)
Be kind to hotel staff and respectful of hotel property
Reunite for comeback tours
The last point is especially interesting. Fun as it is to read about hedonistic tours and long hours put in the studios, the most interesting part of the story is what happens after Zeppelin dissolves. Wall's writing of Bonham's death, funeral, and how the band decided they could not go on without Bonzo is the most touching part of the book. And the last chapter is an interesting study in how two men deal with a glorious if somewhat infamous past. Jimmy Page (lead guitar...though I really shouldn't have to tell you people who he is), at least according to and at the time of this book (2009), is definitely interested in getting the band back together for a tour. Robert Plant (vocals) is not interested in the least. As always, John Paul Jones somewhere is caught in the middle, though seems to side with Page.
Plant especially is interesting. His solo career has found new life in projects with Alison Krause and his own Band of Joy. He is interested in moving forward, and when you read his quotes in the book (and when you hear him give a radio interview) he almost seems embarrassed about some of the work he did with Led Zeppelin, notably with the nonsensical lyrics to Stairway to Heaven, which many believe is the greatest rock song ever written (me, honestly, not my favorite). Yes, he may reprise some Zeppelin songs on the road, but they are done in a different way and no doubt there is a different feel to the experience.
For my money, Led Zeppelin is probably the greatest rock band in the world. I agree that they are far from the best song writers, and their music doesn't really MEAN much, it just is (i.e. it doesn't really stand for anything...no politics, no cause, it just is). But in their versatility, ability, and the power of their live shows (which you can get a taste of in some DVDs and CDs released about 10 years ago highlighting their work as a live band) I think, in my opinion, they get the nod over other super groups. But knowing that Plant feels self-conscious about his time in the band made feel a little embarrassed about queuing up a little Led Zep on my IPod at work. I wonder if I will ever be able to listen to the music again without sharing, if only a very, very little, Plant's reservations and the belief that maybe its time to embrace what is new and put to bed what is old.
It really makes me wonder...
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