Where's That Confounded Band?

I completed my Led Zep-a-thon today as I methodically charge through my CD collection alphabetically.  Zeppelin certainly had a prolific 11-year career, and there's no questioning their impact on Rock 'N' Roll, but as good as they were at times, they were often just as perplexing at other times to me.

Oddly enough, I first got into Led Zeppelin even before I truly got into The Who (my #2 band of all-time behind Kiss) long about 1979-80 when what where then called "Album Rock" radio stations were really embracing the band's history after the release of their final studio album, the so-so (Zoso?) In Through The Out Door.  Their first five albums and about half of Physical Graffiti impressed me enough to make me realize there was much more to hard Rock than just Kiss.  And when Zeppelin announced plans for an American tour in the fall of 1980, my older sister said she would gladly take me to Chicago to see them (there was no Kansas City date announced).  Unfortunately, drummer John Bonham's untimely death at age 32 on September 25th scuttled that plan for good.
 What confounds me about this band is I've never heard a really good live concert recording of them.  I've heard a few good individual live cuts here and there, but never a really consistently good complete performance from start-to-finish.  While I certainly don't expect anyone to perform their songs in concert note-for-note just like on their records, Zeppelin far too often would go off on these tangents in concert and just do these self-indulgent jams that were downright boring at times.  For instance, it took them damn near half-an-hour to play "Dazed And Confused" on The Song Remains The Same, and we got nearly 15-minutes' worth of "Whole Lotta Love", too, not to mention an interminable ten-minute drum solo.  And on more than one occasion, it sounded like Jimmy Page forgot to tune his freakin' guitar before hitting the stage.  Legend has it that Led Zeppelin was white-hot in concert back in the day, but I have a feeling The Who on a bad night would still blow them off the stage every time...

Still and all, there's no denying the powerful influence this band has had on everything that came after them.  All four of them were/are outstanding musicians/songwriters too, and you can't sneeze at a band who produced the most-often-played song ever in the history or Rock 'N' Roll radio ("Stairway To Heaven").

My all-time Led Zeppelin Top 10:

1) “How Many More Times” (1969)  Love the bass line from John Paul Jones here...
2) “The Immigrant Song” (1970)  Greatest howl(s) in Rock 'N' Roll history!
3) “Communication Breakdown” (1969)  Short, sweet and to the point…
4) “Rock And Roll” (1971)  Let me get back, let me get back, indeed!
5) “Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid” (1969)  Killer riff on the first half of the song.
6) “When The Levee Breaks” (1971)  Very atmospheric song--almost takes you there...
7) “D’yer Ma’ker” (1973)  Boogie on, Reggae Plant…
8) “Ten Years Gone” (1975)  Very underrated song from Physical Graffiti.
9) “Black Dog” (1971)  Best Led Zeppelin “Dog” song ever!
10) “Hot Dog” (1979)  R. Plant sings “Hee-Haw”; 2nd-best Led Zep “Dog” song ever...
HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Boogie With Stu”, “Misty Mountain Hop”, “The Crunge”, “Down By The Seaside”, “Celebration Day”, “Thank You”, “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?”