Showing posts with label led zeppelin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label led zeppelin. Show all posts

Friday, 16 October 2015

What we're listening to this week. Led Zep 4.





There's very little argument out there, about what is the definitive Led Zeppelin Album. It's Led Zep IV (4).

Now you might not like the Band as such, or like heavier rock, but this is worth a listen and we loved it in Streamabout for a change. 

Of course, what made it famous was 'Stairway to Heaven' the iconic song of the 70's probably but 'Battle of Evermore', 'Rock and Roll', 'Going to California' are terrific too.

It was the Band's 4th album (obviously) from 1971 but you've probably never noted, it has no title and not on the cover which was hotly contested at the time between Page and the Record Company. Not only that, the Album sleeve has no notes or printing of any kind. 

So it just became known as Led Zep 4 only because it was their fourth whilst in fact, it's an Album without a name (actually, there's a song in that about a horse....). See? lots of interesting stuff here! 

The 19th century painting on the front cover was bought in a local shop by vocalist Robert Plant and photographed on a derelict building wall to contract the old and the new. 

Produced by legendary guitarist Jimmy Page (nearly as good as Ritchie Blackmore but pipped at the post we'd say), it's still one of the biggest selling Albums of all time. 

Page, Plant, Bassist John Paul Jones (real name John Baldwin I kid you not) and Drummer John Bonham (who died at 32 in 1980 having taken a lot of alcohol and choked) were the Band. And this is their best moment.

Hard to listen to the Album and not be invigorated. 

We are all a bit tired of 'Stairway to Heaven', and you'll know it well, but it does sum up the record. 

So what we have here is another version which is deadly cool from Rodrigo and Gabriela (which in turn helped make them famous). Have a listen you'll love it!


Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Spotify just went free on Mobile. This is going to hurt.



Music streaming just got shot.

Spotify announced that its music streaming service will be free (yep, free) to mobile users. Now that's a real shot at Itunes Radio (which is free) as they prepare to launch fully. Other services will be really hit because you can't compete with free - only match it.

Spotify was previously 9.99 a month (spotify premium) but they did have a free version for desktop and laptop.

And they also announced to get more publicity, that they now had a whole lotta Led Zep online. For free. (Led Zep 4, cover above, is always thought to be their best moment btw).

The service will be supported by Advertising for revenue.

This will concern local radio stations with a music bias, who'll have difficulty in retaining online listeners too. 

Of course, Spotify will try to upsell you to ad-free versions and indeed other services such as 'on-demand'. But this is a breakthrough in the fight for listeners however, it's also a sign of a race to the bottom for all subscription services.

What's happening is, people are able or prepared to pay less so they're moving. If Spotify's subscription model was a roaring success, they wouldn't be doing this, trust me.

And will advertising pay for the music copyright fees and run the business? Difficult to see, but it is a model working for Facebook and starting to work for Twitter. 

One thing for sure though, it has killed the market.