Tag: Led Zeppelin

My Sunday Song – “Tall Cool One” by Robert Plant

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For My Sunday Song #474, we are talking Robert Plant’s “Tall Cool One”. The song is from his 1988 album ‘Now And Zen’ and was a change in Robert’s perception of his past…more on that in a minute. The song was released some time in April 1988 and saw Robert get a Top 40 hit as it went to #25 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. What helps makes this song so special is that it brings back Robert’s longtime Led Zeppelin partner, Jimmy Page, on guitar for this song. This might’ve been their fourth collaboration since the band’s breakup. And maybe their most special…up to this point in time.

The song was written by Robert Plant and his keyboardist Phil Johnstone who is in large part key to why this song came about. Robert had been very lackluster about anything to do with his former band Led Zeppelin. He wanted to distance himself from it and be his own person. Phil told him to lighten up about it and embrace that legacy. Maybe working again with Jimmy helped or maybe it was Phil’s encouragement, but Robert did finally lighten up about and as a result we get this really cool rocker “Tall Cool One”. It sounds like he is talking about a woman in the song, but that woman is simply Led Zeppelin. Even the lyrics give a shout out to the past with lines from the songs “When the Levee Breaks” and even “Black Dog”.

If that wasn’t enough, the song is also about Roberts displeasure with sampling at the time. I believe it was The Beastie Boys who sampled a Led Zeppelin song on their album ‘Licensed to Ill”. Robert was none too pleased. At first, Robert thought about sampling some Beastie Boys songs for this one, but instead he sampled his own Led Zeppelin songs such as  “Black Dog”, “Dazed and Confused”, “Whole Lotta Love”,  “The Ocean” and “Custard Pie” which is a much better choice.

The song itself is an upbeat, blast of a rocker. One of the most fun songs he’s ever done as a solo artist, at least to me. There is that classic Plant vocal, that full on 80’s pop/rock sound and all together makes for a blast of a song. I love the spoken word break that adds some more layers to the song and then you get some some Page guitar work, although, he isn’t in the video. There is a tongue in cheek through-out the song which I think takes it to another level and helps make it stick in your brain. At the end he throws all those Led Zeppelin samples and Zeppelin lyrics in to it letting the song go out with a bang!

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Needtobreathe – Best of The Insiders: 5th Edition – 2026 Insiders Club

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For the 2022 Insiders Club, Needtobreathe changed things up. They were no longer going to release a physical product and only do the Digital Songs only. I stopped being a member right then and there as I want a physical product. Well, I think the backlash was swift and loud as a few months in to the year, that all changed. They decided that there will be a new tier level in the Insiders Club, more expensive of course, but a physical product would be given. This time around instead of only a CD, you will get an autographed vinyl copy as well. They still have the digital songs, which are different then the ones on the vinyl. The new CD and Vinyl are now a Best of The Insiders giving us the 9-10 songs from the 8 years of The Insiders CD series they had started 8 years earlier. The 1st Edition came in March 2023 almost a year after the announcement, but the band was smart as they went ahead and worked on the 2023 Edition at the same time they were working on the 2022 Edition. We received this vinyl in April 2023. Then in February 2024, we got the 3rd Edition and a year later in February 2025, we get the 4th Edition. And if you have figured out the trend now, February 2026 we get the 5th Edition. And I have them all…

This time around, we get 9 songs but you have to remember they are trying to fit them on easily on a vinyl with only a set amount of time, so I’m okay with only 9 songs. We did get the CD again which is unsigned but that gives me all five of those as well…

You also got a handful of other items including including a 2026 calendar…

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My Sunday Song – “Lights and Thunder” by White Lion

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For My Sunday Song #459, we are going to discuss the epic White Lion song “Lights and Thunder”. The song was the first single off their fourth album ‘Mane Attraction’ and the song came out in March 1991. It was an unusual song for a single due to its length at over 8 minutes long. By far, their longest song up to this point in time. That would change in 2008 when they released “Sangre de Cristo” from their album ‘Return of the Pride’. “Lights and Thunder” actually charted in the UK at #95, it charted, I didn’t say it charted very high.

The song was written by Mike Tramp and Vitto Bratta and talks about a Utopian society where there is no fighting, no religion, no kings and only peace, love and happiness. Yep, a make believe world that will never exist. It was a statement that the world is really fucked up (imagine if that was written today as it is more so now) and there is too much fighting, too many wars and simply too much.

Musically is where this song is so badass. It was inspired greatly by Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand” and is full of very complex moments, tempo changes and full on rock epicness. This was the opening track of the album and what a way to kick things off. It starts off with some weird keyboard sounds, some drum fills echoing in from all sides and a little Vitto guitar solo…totally wicked. The song explodes in to full band mode, the drums are heavy as hell and the barrage of snare hits is crazy almost like machine gun fire. Mike Tramp sings with an almost angelic-like vocal delivery welcoming you to the utopian world. He goes all gritty during the chorus. Before one of the instrumental breaks, there is a lot of spoken words from various leaders around the world including Martin Luther King, George Bush, and many others all letting us know how bad things are down here.

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Friday New Releases – September 12, 2025

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A lot of old bands this week with new releases…I’m not sure what year I’m in actually as a result. But I think it is 2025. The only one I’m interested in hearing is the Led Zeppelin E.P. and Foreigner Box Set for ‘4’. For something newer, I’ll check out the new Daughtry E.P. , but that is probably all. What do you want to hear? Also, let us know what we missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

  • Motley Crue – From The Beginning – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • Foreigner – 4 (Deluxe Edition) – (Atlantic Recording / Warner Music)
  • Led Zeppelin – Live EP – (Atlantic Recording Corporation)
  • Spinal Tap – The End Continues – (Authorized Spinal Tap, LLC / Interscope Records)
  • Daughtry – Shock To The System Part Two – (Dogtree Records / Big Machine Label Group)
    David Bowie – I Can’t Give Everything Away 2002-2016 – (Rhino / Parlophone)
  • Phil Wickham – Song Of The Saints – (Fair Trade Services)
  • Ed Sheeran – Play – (Atlantic Records)
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The Collection: Ep. 24 – A Box of 8-Tracks including Kiss, Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and so much more!!

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The collector in me got the best of me. I bought a box off eBay that was full of 8-Tracks. Of course, why wouldn’t I. I don’t have an 8-Track Player so why not buy a bunch of tapes to never listen to them. Makes total sense. Well, this box had some Kiss, Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and a ton more classic rock 70’s bands…and some not classic rock. So, this special episode is going through 40 8-Tracks…Don’t worry, I make it fairly quick.

So go check it out as it is live now on July 24, 2024 at Noon…because why not!! Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

You Pick It! – What to Review in December?

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You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple! Now, if you want to cast more than one vote, comment on the Twitter and Facebook post and you could get up to 3 votes on your favorite pick.

There are no longer rules for my selections, maybe themes.  I’m just picking albums in my collection and this time they are classics from the 70’s. What are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have them right here…

   Alice Cooper – ‘Billion Dollar Babies’

   Elton John – ‘Captain Fantastic’

    Rolling Stones – ‘Sticky Fingers’

   David Bowie – ‘Diamond Dogs’

   Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin II’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in December, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!

Turntables & Vinyl #24 – Interactive Album Covers

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It is Thanksgiving 2020 and dang what a crazy year it has been. One thing I have found to give me peace and help deal with stress during this Covid impacted world is my vinyl collection. I am of course thankful for my health and my family as that is a given, but since this is a music site, I need to tie in music somehow, I am also thankful for my vinyl collection. It brings me great joy. To be able to pull out an album and play it and it might help my mood brings me great satisfaction. There are so many things I love about it.

One of the things I love about vinyl is that occasionally you find an album cover that is interactive in some way. Something about the picture can be manipulated, changed or just turned to a different angle for a dramatically different picture. This makes for the most fun and enjoyable album experience. For this version of Turntables & Vinyl, we are going to explore those I have in my collection and maybe one I want to get in the future. I will break it out in to different categories. And let’s get right in to the first category…

Perspective

Some album covers have a cover that changes the look of the cover strictly from the perspective of how you are looking at it. A changing perspective is actually a good thing to have in life as well. We change our perspective on the world depending on how we look at it. Why not take that ability and turn it in to an album cover. A couple I have in my collection do just that.

Def Leppard – ‘Retro Active’: This album cover looks different depending on the position you hold it. Up close, it is a beautifully lady sitting in front of a mirror doing make-up. From far away it is a Skull. See what I mean below…Look at the picture closely on your screen and see the girl, pull the screen away from you (or sit further back) and you will see the skull.

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You Pick It! – Which Album to Review in October?

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You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple!

There are a few simple rules I have put in to place in my selections.  They are…

  • One has to be a new release (within the last month)
  • One has to be one I have never heard before (new releases don’t count for this one)
  • One has to be from a genre I don’t normally listen to at all or very often
  • And the last two are choices from my collection that I haven’t reviewed before

What are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have those right here…note: I tried to throw in a couple non-obvious choices to make things a little more interesting. I have to admit, there are some heavy hitters on here for this selection.

  New Release – Dokken – ‘The Lost Songs: 1978-1981′

  Never Heard Before – The 13th Floor Elevators – ‘The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators‘

  Not My Normal Genre – Miles Davis – ‘Kind of Blue’

  From My Collection – Led Zeppelin – ‘Led Zeppelin IV’

  From My Collection – Queen – ‘Innuendo’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in October, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!

June 2020 Purchases – Vinyls & CDs

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Welcome to the June Purchases wrap-up and what a month it was.  After not visiting an actual record store in 2 months due to the Covid Stay at Home Orders, I was out in force when the opened back up.  And this time it wasn’t just vinyl and CDs, there were a couple other surprises that were music related.  And then there were a stack of albums I picked up that I didn’t have to buy which is always cool.  Let’s get started.

First up was my trip to Repo Records and Noble Records as they were two of the first to open. I wanted to spend a little at both to show my support and I did just that.  First up was Repo. I was worried we would have to wear masks and gloves, but thankfully neither store required but we could if we wanted to do it.  Which I didn’t because we left the masks at home on the counter.  I didn’t really find anything at Repo’s until I stumbled across a brand new copy of Tesla’s Psychotic Supper.  It was new and sealed so no real deal on it, but it was cheaper than what Amazon was offering and since it is on a list of albums I want, I got it.

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The Original vs. The Cover – “Dazed & Confused”

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For this month’s version of The Original vs. the Cover, we are going to discuss the Jake Holmes song “Dazed and Confused” that was later covered (or stolen) by Led Zeppelin.  The Jake Holmes song was released in 1967. Jimmy Page heard this song when Jake’s band and Jimmy Page’s band The Yardbirds were on the same bill.  Jimmy took the song and made several changes to it and performed it with the Yardbirds.  However, it didn’t get recorded until 1968 with Pages new band Led Zeppelin.

I say stole, because Page didn’t credit Holmes as the songwriter with the Led Zeppelin release.  Page felt he had made enough changes to the song that he didn’t need to credit Mr. Holmes.  And for the longest time Holmes did nothing until 2010 when he finally filed suit against Page.  The lawsuit never made it to court as it was eventually settled out of court.  Now, when the song is on an album that is newly released from Zeppelin it says…inspired by Jake Holmes.

Enough of the dirty music business.  Let us focus on the song and which version is better.  We will start as we usually do with the Original and then discuss the Cover ending with a wonderful Verdict of which one I like more.  And away we go…

 

JAKE HOLMES

Front copy

The song was recorded in 1967 for Jake’s debut album, ‘The Above Ground Sound”. It was recorded as a trio with only an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a bass.  No drums!!  And honestly, you don’t miss them.  The song is a trippy, psychedelic wonder.  The song feels like a bad acid trip, full of paranoia and god knows what.  Holmes at one time said it was about a girl and that can be true because women have dazed and confused men for centuries.

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