Marco: The Mix Tape (Track 3)

Led Zeppelin-No Quarter

A common Zeppelin fan’s narrative goes something like this: 14-year-old boy discovers Zeppelin through dad’s old record collection, obsesses over Jimmy Page’s guitar tone, John Bonham’s thick drumming, John Paul Jones’ mysteriousness, and Robert Plant’s tight pants for three-to- five years, occasionally writes “Zeppelin Rules” on his notebooks and binders, then moves on to more mature adult bands and artists. It’s true that Led Zeppelin were a lot of things for me in high school: a musical inspiration, a substitute for girls, an excuse to play air guitar. And it’s true that at one time I thought I was so over Zeppelin. But like any addiction, a teenager who falls for this band never fully recovers , and these days, I feel no shame in getting the Led out. One of the great things about Zeppelin is that they were never afraid to try something new; they didn’t have a Sound, so much as they had Sounds. I demand creativity and risk-taking from my artists, and Zeppelin, despite their occasional cock rock tendencies, was never afraid to go somewhere strange and dangerous.

(P.S. I really hate the way Robert Plant sings this version of the song, which comes from the generally awful The Song Remains the Same film. However, if you can get past that, the keyboard and guitar solos (with a ridiculous fantasy sequence featuring JPJ!) are sick.)