“Becoming Led Zeppelin” Stands Out as a Top Rock Documentary in Recent Years — But I’ve Got One Major Complaint

Finally, Becoming Led Zeppelin is available for streaming this weekend. If you haven’t watched it yet, you’ll have the opportunity with a Netflix subscription, and believe me, it’s well worth your time, especially if you’re a fan of the iconic band. I watch a lot of rock documentaries, and this one quickly became one of my favourite.

That doesn’t mean it’s perfect (very few documentaries are). The documentary describes the extraordinary genesis story of one of the most influential rock bands of all time, but it leaves out one aspect of the story: the blues titans from whom the band took some of their ideas, notably on their debut album. Let us set the record straight.

The interviews and live footage in Becoming Led Zeppelin are incredible.

Led Zeppelin has been the subject of scores of documentaries over the years. The interviews in Becoming Led Zeppelin stand out as the highlight of the series. All three remaining members of the band, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, and Jimmy Page, are heavily featured in new interviews. The highlight, however, is a rare, vintage interview with drummer John Bonham, which is widely featured. Bonham, who died in 1980, was known for being somewhat private with the press, and interviews with him are extremely unusual.

Aside from the interviews, the live video from the early days of their biggest singles is particularly impressive. “Communication Breakdown” is a genuine standout, especially given how the audience responded to such sheer strength and, frankly, volume. They simply didn’t sure what to think of this new, boisterous kind of rock. This film focusses on the band’s first two albums and early days, rather than a concert. The footage is excellent.

Led Zeppelin borrowed heavily from the blues.

To say that Zeppelin “borrowed” from older blues tunes when crafting their early tracks, particularly on their first two albums, is a mild understatement. They were accused of stealing full sections of classic songs, or even entire songs at times, while failing to give composition credit to the artists they were “inspired” by. Sometimes songs that were essentially cover tunes are only credited to the band members.

This is all well documented in court proceedings, as the band has been sued several times over the years and has had to add artists to the composition credits on various reissues of their albums over the previous 50 years or more. This includes their biggest songs, such as “Dazed and Confused” from their debut album and “Whole Lotta Love” from Led Zeppelin II. Both songs are widely used in the documentary, but no mention is made of the disputes that resulted in changes to the songwriting credits.

Most Led Zeppelin fans are familiar with this history, thus for many, it would be re-treading old territory in terms of the band’s history. The band members and fans have accepted the problematic exclusions in the rock documentary. However, the lack of acknowledgement remains a part of Led Zeppelin’s story and should be included in the film.

Hugh Scott, Syndication Editor.
Hugh Scott is the Syndication Editor at CinemaBlend. Before joining CinemaBlend, he worked as the managing editor at Suggest.com and Gossipcop.com, where he covered celebrity news and debunked bogus rumours. He has worked in the publishing sector for nearly two decades, focussing on pop culture, particularly films and TV shows, with a special interest in and passion for Gen X culture, its earlier influences, and what it has inspired. He earned a degree in Political Science from Boston University but quickly lost interest in becoming a politician.

The song that led Robert Plant to leave Led Zeppelin: “I’m heading back home”

A band that is reuniting must have a compelling cause to return to the stage. It is simple to understand why certain individuals either do not wish to communicate with one another or are too old to create the same level of magic as they did in the early days. It is no surprise that bands such as The Police have only conducted one legitimate reunion before returning to their solo albums. However, Led Zeppelin was the one band that should have spent more time with their admirers during their reunion.

However, Robert Plant has been the sole individual who has refrained from discussing the possibility of reuniting with his former colleagues, and it is not difficult to understand why. It is impossible to anticipate that he will embody the “Percy” persona each time he steps the stage. Consequently, he is responsible for a significantly greater amount of responsibility than Jimmy Page, who executes his signature licks, and Jason Bonham, who serves as his father’s replacement behind the drum kit.

However, this does not necessarily imply that Plant has been entirely opposed to the idea of reuniting. The Page/Plant pseudo-reunion did produce some intriguing musical moments when they revisited some of their older songs. Additionally, when he performs with Allison Krauss, it is significantly more captivating to hear him perform more folk-oriented renditions of songs such as “The Battle of Evermore” than to hear him push himself to the limit with “Rock and Roll” or “Immigrant Song.”

Celebration Day may have been the final official reunion of Led Zeppelin, but that did not prevent Plant from performing a few one-off performances for the sake of entertainment. However, no band member regards Live Aid as their most exceptional performance of the 1980s; however, they could have achieved a more credible result with Tony Thompson at the helm.

The unfocused nature of all individuals was evident from the moment they convened in the rehearsal room. Everyone possessed the ability to execute a feat, and they even had the privilege of working in Peter Gabriel’s state-of-the-art studio in Bath. However, it was impossible to achieve consensus among them due to their lack of knowledge regarding the material, particularly when Thompson was compelled to depart midway through the session to embark on a tour with another band.

The reunion may have been expedited by the reminiscence factor following Live Aid; however, Plant was considerably less enthusiastic after spending an excessive amount of time inactive, stating, “The entire thing dematerialised.” Jimmy was required to replace the battery in his wah-wah pedal every one and a half tracks. At that time, I declared, “I am returning home.” [John Paul] Jonesy enquired, “Why?” ‘Because I am unable to tolerate this.’ “However, you have previously tolerated it.” I stated, “Look, man, I do not require the money.” I am departing.

It is evident that Plant was also operating on a different wavelength than he was in 1973 when he listened to his actions. Now and Zen was an excellent record for his solo career. However, the influences from bands such as Talking Heads were bound to conflict when Jones introduced the old keyboard lines and Page began playing the riff to “Whole Lotta Love,” as he was fresh off of his album Shaken ‘n’ Stirred.

So, in reality, the calamity that transpired at Live Aid was significantly less related to the unsuccessful Zeppelin reunion in the 1980s. Although all members of the band are capable of performing, this is occasionally due to the fact that they are on two distinct creative paths, which causes them to become estranged. While some followers may be discouraged by this, it is impossible to fault Plant for his desire to shift his aesthetic.