runner -> RE: 70s Rock (Jan. 19 2014 23:38:21)
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When I listen to rock, I am taking no stroll down memory lane--for me, the music is always alive, always now. Perhaps this attitude is due to my interest also in classical music, which is also always alive, always now, whether it's Bach or Bartok. Flamenco, also; I listen to all of these as if there were no time separating one work from another--Doo-wop to the Shins: as Kaa was fond of saying, "All One". Led Zeppelin, IMHO, holds a unique place in rock, due to the extraordinary richness of texture of their songs. 95% of rock or pop consists of essentially a repetitive and usually quite simple rhythm track to provide some sort of sonic background for the singer & lyrics, then there is the obligatory guitar (or whatever) cadenza, then return to the singer, then end. And I like, nay love, so much of it. With Zep, however, unlike most everyone else, every moment, every space, is filled with interesting variations of instrument, of timbre, of volume, of tempo..... Nobody came close. Every time I hear Led Zep I, the first album, it blows my mind--truly a signpost album in the history of rock.
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