Led Zeppelin: Dazed & Confused

Led Zeppelin was undoubtedly one of the greatest rock bands of all time. For nearly a decade they dominated the music industry; releasing 9 albums and selling over 300 million records worldwide. Their music has influenced the shape of rock and heavy metal for generations. There can be no doubting the importance of this super-group. Comprised of four indomitable characters, the chemistry between band members was electric; often competing with each other and continually forcing themselves to greater heights. The results were phenomenal with rip-roaring vocals and intense guitar solos that were the hallmark of a Led Zeppelin track. Follow the exciting story of Led Zeppelin from their formation out of The Yardbirds in 1968, to the band s dissolution after the tragic demise of drummer John Bonham in 1980 and beyond. With performance footage of the group throughout their career and interviews with the band both past and present this programme presents a unique biographic picture of Led Zeppelin. Packed with archive footage, performances and rare interviews this DVD is perfect for any fan.

What's in "Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused" is worthwhile, especially the Peter Grant interviews. It's what's missing that dooms this failure.

It starts off wonderfully, with a decent analysis of the Yardbirds-to-Zeppelin transition, then mostly glosses over the band's history while leaving out the kind of detail that is necessary for this to work. More time is spent on hotel-room destruction -- and, the film's highlight, the myths surrounding that -- than on any particular album nor the details that go into the music that the band created.

Then we get a hugely insufficient roundup of the band members' post-Zep activities, and,voila, we're done.

Any doc on Zep is watchable, but this isn't the one you're looking for.

In 1970, I was 17 and was lucky enough to see the band in concert in the Melody Tent, a venue in Beverly Massachusetts. It was an intimate setting and something I will never forget. I loved their music, still do. This documentary captures some of the excitement they generated. The music used in the doc. Sounds genuine enough to me. They changed rock and roll forever.

Led Zeppelin: Dazed & Confused (2009)

*** (out of 4)

If you're looking for an all out rocking documentary on Led Zeppelin then you're not going to find it here. What you get here is a rather cheap and quick look at who the band were, how they got together and we hear some stories about their rise to fame and their eventual end when their drummer died. At less than an hour there's really nothing too detailed here as we're basically given information that even the smallest Zeppelin fan should know. We learn about The Yardbirds, how the band formed, being influenced by the blues and then we hear about their manager, the U.S. tours, the various drug issues and of course the end. Most fans of the band are already going to know this stuff and much, much more so that's why they will probably be most disappointed. If you're not familiar with the band or are just going to know them then I think this documentary will work because it will at least give you some basic information and then you can go out there and search for more detailed stuff. There's no Zeppelin music played but we do get some behind the scenes footage, which was nice but we certainly needed more of it.

I believe, to avoid paying licensing fees, the makers of this documentary removed any audio of actual Led Zeppelin songs. There are some interesting interviews and old footage but the background music is horrible. The most surreal moment comes when you're watching footage of Led Zeppelin and the riff for Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" starts playing (but it's not actually Pink Floyd either.) There are a few drunk cover band quality clips of Led Zeppelin songs. A very odd viewing experience. There are a number of moments when if feels like you're watching a St. Sanders "Led Zeppelin Shreds" video. A very strange viewing experience.