OUT THROUGH THE IN DOOR

A new studio album from Vanilla Fudge is something special as the heydays of the band were the late 60s. Then they were notorious for their cover versions of other people's songs, like 'You keep me hanging on', 'The season of the witch' and especially the Beatles' 'Ticket to ride' and 'Eleanor Rigby'. Their trick was to somehow distort and slow down the songs until you couldn't recognise them anymore. The result was stunning. Legend has it that George Harrison played their versions of above mentioned Beatles' tunes to everybody who came to his house, so excited he was of them. That was then.

Now is now. The original lineup, consisting of Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Mark Stein and Vince Martell decided for this album to do exclusively covers of one particular band, Led Zeppelin (hence the title of the album). To fully appreciate this you need to know that there is a special link between VF and LZ. When Zeps came to the States for the first time (very early in their career as the clear aim of the management was to firmly place them in the US market) they were true greenhorns, timid and shy and nothing like the rock superstars with all their allures they became later. They were to support Vanilla Fudge on a number of gigs and the Fudge, already established and older by a number of years, took them under their wings. When John Bonham died it was actually discussed that Carmine Appice should replace him, until Page/Plant decided that there would be no Led Zeppelin without Bonham.

We could indulge in these reminiscences forever, but this is all about music, isn't it? So what do we get here? A number of very well known tracks (to the Zeps fans anyway) which unfortunately stick closly to the original. It seems that over time they have lost some of their teeth. Don't get me wrong, they are expertly executed. But from this band I'd have wanted versions that sound like Vanilla Fudge and not like Led Zeppelin.

In conclusion it's a bit of a disappointment. Good songs, good interpretation. But more like a Led Zeppelin Remasters than like a Vanilla Fudge covers Led Zeppelin. Good but not essential. 3 stars.

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