Somebody at MTV back in 1994, a person apparently in possession of brass balls, decided that an upcoming episode of the Unplugged series should feature none other than Led Zeppelin. Apparently, the Beatles weren\u2019t available, and so MTV approached Jimmy Page and Robert Plant about doing the show.<\/p>\n
Fans had been begging for a reunion ever since the mighty Zep broke up in 1980, but all they ever got were brief snapshots, such as the Honeydrippers EP, Page\u2019s guest spot on Plant\u2019s Now And Zen<\/i>, <\/i>and Plant\u2019s vocal spot on Page\u2019s Outrider <\/i>album, not to mention the terrible Live Aid performance. In 1993, Plant had just released Fate Of Nations <\/i>and Page Coverdale And Page<\/i>, neither of which had been warmly received. Most important, Plant had been pretty vocal about not wanting a reunion. Ever, really. <\/p>\n
But something changed in 1994, because apparently the time was right for Plant to think about playing some of those old songs; perhaps a big selling point was the unplugged format, which guaranteed this would not become a simple reunion show. Given the adventurous spirit and yearning of Zeppelin\u2019s body of work, Page and Plant decided a) not to invite bassist\/keyboardist John Paul Jones and b) add an Egyptian ensemble to round out the sound with strings, woodwinds, and percussion on many of the songs, as well as write four new ones with these musicians. Jones was understandably pissed.<\/p>\n
The reason No Quarter <\/i>works is in how it interprets thoseZeppelin tunes and mixes them with the similar-sounding originals, giving the music immediacy and a new-world feel while adhering to the spirit, if not the sound, of Zeppelin\u2019s original mission. You won\u2019t find \u201cWhole Lotta Love,\u201d \u201cStairway To Heaven,\u201d or \u201cDazed and Confused\u201d here, but anyone who truly understands the band would not expect as much. <\/p>\n
Instead, the songs are from the acoustic and moody side of the band\u2019s catalog. A handful are treated as straight acoustic readings that vary little from the original, while many feature the Egyptian band to transform the original. Only once does an electric guitar appear. <\/p>\n
Granted, part of the rush is in hearing Plant and Page together again, yet the successful songs are brimming with life and spirit in this different setting. The highlights are many: \u201cThe Battle Of Evermore\u201d is given more dramatic life with Najma Akhtar\u2019s voice weaving in between Plant\u2019s verses like a sensual snake, while an energetic \u201cGallows Pole\u201d uses a clarion guitar call to build on the original. Album tracks like \u201cFriends\u201d and \u201cThat\u2019s The Way\u201d don\u2019t receive much beyond standard interpretation, but they still sound great.<\/p>\n
A couple of the songs are nearly unrecognizable yet remarkable, including the title track, which is simply a bevy of stringed instruments backing up Plant\u2019s usual powerful vocals. Same goes for the opening \u201cNobody\u2019s Fault But Mine,\u201d which is turned into a hypnotic Middle Eastern drone, stripped of its blues yet still retaining a strange power. Of special note is \u201cKashmir,\u201d the song most begging for this world music\/acoustic treatment, and it is a rousing success.<\/p>\n
The harder songs actually work less well in this environment, most notably the electric \u201cSince I\u2019ve Been Loving You,\u201d while the versions of \u201cThank You\u201d and \u201cFour Sticks\u201d are perfunctory. It should be noted that the 2004 reissue disc adds \u201cThe Rain Song\u201d and \u201cWah Wah\u201d in place of \u201cThank You,\u201d and neither disc has the versions of \u201cWhat Is and What Should Never Be\u201d or \u201cWhen The Levee Breaks,\u201d which are only available on the DVD. The reissue is recommended, but either one is fine. Should you decide to purchase the DVD, skip over “When the Levee Breaks,” the only time a great song is ruined by this format. No need to mess with perfection. <\/p>\n
As for the originals, \u201cThe Truth Explodes\u201d \u2013 titled as \u201cYallah\u201d on the original 1994 CD \u2013 is by far the best, an electric Page riff trading with Plant\u2019s moans and some fascinating percussive work by the Egyptian band. \u201cWonderful One\u201d and \u201cCity Don\u2019t Cry\u201d are solid, if very similar to each other, although they help flesh out the picture between Zeppelin songs.<\/p>\n
No Quarter <\/i>ends up as a mostly successful reinvention of the Zeppelin brand and an extension of the musical journeys that characterized the band just as much as the hard rock. Moreover, it proves that a reunion \u2013 even a partial one \u2013 can be artistically valid while still satisfying fan expectations, provided those fans have open minds. Zeppelin may have seemed like a strange and ballsy choice to approach for an Unplugged show, but damned if they don\u2019t pull it off with creativity, beauty, and signature power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":31313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7449],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-43009","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jimmy-page-robert-plant","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43009"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}