MOTHERSHIP

How does one review a collection of music so well-known, material so thoroughly dissected and analyzed that an objective write up is practically useless? Further, how feasible is a critique of songs that, normally, would be praised or at least accepted as seminal? Maybe by pointing out what a bland and uneventful compilation of Zeppelin's most familiar work this is. Or perhaps how old fans need this like they need a fourth pair of dress shoes, and how new listeners will be left with disassembled classic albums, consigned to pieces chosen for immediate satisfaction and universal appeal but missing the connections and intimacies the smaller songs provided. Zep 1 is reasonably covered though the omission of 'How Many More Times' is regrettable, but when you sacrifice something like 'What is and What Should Never Be' or 'Rain Song' so there's room for the negligible 'Rock and Roll' and appalling 'D'yer Maker', you know something's gone terribly wrong. 1976's Presence is given its due but In Through the Out Door is predictably wan, ignoring the magic of 'Carouselambra' and elegance of 'Fool in the Rain'.

But that's all forgivable-- overall this is a proper set of great rock music and covers their career about as well as possible on two discs, and I wouldn't blame anyone for stuffing this in a new fan's stocking.

Some die hard Zeppelin fans will tell you that Mothership is nothing more than yet another greatest hits collection compiled by a group of grizzled old rock stars who want nothing more than to milk their old hits for all they're worth. While there may be some truth to that sentiment, this album was not designed with the die hard Zeppelin fan in mind. Rather, Mothership is intended for younger fans who are interested in this iconic rock band, but may have been too young to enjoy these songs the first time around. All of Zeppelin's albums are represented pretty well here (with the possible exception of In Through the Out Door) and most of their iconic tunes are present and accounted for. If you are already familiar with Led Zeppelin, then purchasing this album is a waste of money. However, if you are a relative new comer to the band and want to see what all the commotion is about, this is a great place to start.

'Mothership' - Led Zeppelin (Compilation)

Here we have a collection that tries to represent the entirity of Led Zeppelin's career. Spanning so much great music, it would be difficult to pick and choose. 'Mothership' manages to cover the best of their work on 2 discs. There are all the classics here, 'Black Dog,' 'The Immigrant Song' and especially the jaw-dropping classic 'Stairway To Heaven.'

This compilation is especially recommended to anyone just getting into the band and their work, but for those who already know a great deal about the band, it's better to go and buy the albums themselves over the compilation. A great 'starter kit,' one could say for the music of Led Zeppelin.

Not only for newcomers

Making a compilation like this, it's impossible to please everyone. Questions like ''why this or that song is not included?'' are inevitable. Making 3- or more CD set will not save the situation - in this case somebody will tell that there are lots of fillers. So double CD is a good compromise. ''Mothership'' is a very good collection of songs following in chronological order, from the band's first album to ''In Through The Out Door''. All songs are great, some are masterpieces. Even ''D'Yer Maker'', despised by many prog fans, is one of my favourites. Yes, I'd like to see here tracks like ''Thank You'' or ''I'm Gonna Crawl'', but I know - no chance to include everything in the set.

I own all LZ studio albums, but I like to listen to ''Mothership'' from time to time for two reasons: good choice of songs and sound quality - it is higher than on studio albums (I tell of CDs I own, I never bothered to get the best remastered versions). Recommended to those who only started to discover the band's music, but this good set of songs can be also useful for moderate LED ZEPPELIN fans like me.

There is nothing wrong with this!

If you're new to the music of Led Zep, then buy it. The only flaws people have pointed out are things like certain choices of songs, overall remastering, the greed of the band, etc etc. Whilst I agree with some of these points, such things are irrelevant to a Zeppelin newcomer. If you DON'T know every LZ album inside out, then you can enjoy this appropiate collection from an impartial, and simply enthusiastic perspective. Depending on your brain, you'll either like the whole lot, or none of it (and isn't that the purpose of a compilation?).

So, all I will say is this: Ignore the somewhat pointless reviews by intelligent rock critics, and make the most of the one Led Zep compilation that can still be found in shops. I never looked back.

This compilation album was released to both cash in on the massive interest in the band after the announcement of the gig in London in 2008 (?) and because a new generation had arrived after the release of the last compilation album some fifteen to twenty years ago.

I am not disputing that this compilation album is very useful for new generations of rock fans who want to get to know the best ever rock band of all times. Neither do I begrudge the band the income a compilation album provides them with. My gripes is just that Led Zeppelin first and foremost is an album band. You cannot break up the albums and put them together in a compilation album. This simply removes the dynamics from their material. That's why the band released so few singles. Although the songs here are all 4-5 stars songs; bunched together in this compilation is not right. But I write this as a fan who increasingly is listening to their albums back-to-back for my pure enjoyment. Only then I feel the greatness of this band comes to the fore. Hence my sparse sprinkling of stars for this and any other Led Zeppelin compilations.

3 stars

In my opinion Led Zeppelin was one of the best Heavy Prog bands. Not complex their music: only a mix between Prog Blues and Classic Music, good example of the nascent heavy metal, just to confuse too many people. Because, true or not true Led Zeppelin was the combination of Blues and Prog Blues of Jimmy Page and the classic instance of the bassplayer/ keyboardplayer John Paul Jones with the power of John Bonham (drums) and the Heavy Metal poetry of Robert Plant (voices). Of course the small use of keyboards are the creator of a big idea: Led Zeppelin invent Heavy Metal, as Deep Purple(but Mk1 and "Fireball" are Heavy Metal?) and Black Sabbath in UK and Blue Oyster Cult in USA, to cite name names known to all. But the weight of arrangements are important and these arrangements are not Rock. The final result is OK metal but not distant to the Symphonic POP of Procol Harum or the Heavy Prog of Uriah Heep or Tempest! I respect all the position of musical critics but I think that my position is not only my personal view.

It is true that Led Zeppelin was a border line band between Prog and Heavy Metal but in my view some parts of Led Zeppelin music was and is 100% Prog. If "Achilles last Stand" sound as a Iron Maiden song (or Saxon song or Judas Priest song) is true. But this song is Heavy Metal? In parts with vocals probably yes. But the soli and the long bridge between part 1 and part 2 of vocals are Prog. "Starway To Heaven" was a great ballad, clearly a prototype of Heavy Metal ballad. But this song was also a great Prog ballad. In my opinion "Babe I'm Gonna leave You" is one of the most sincere and great Folk Prog songs as "Ramble On" is a pure Heavy Prog songs, not distant from Tempest or Uriah Heep. And "Since I've Been Loving You"? Is another Ballad with no Rock arrangements, as "No Quarter" is a personal view of psychedelic Rock. Probably the more Heavy Metal song is "in The Evening", a sort of Rock with synths.

In my personal view I think that "Mothership" is only a "Greatest Hits", a personal view of Jimmy Page about Led Zeppelin music. Probably Page tries to bring out the 70's musical soul from the music of Led Zeppelin. And the magic and innovation is all here, present in tons. Since that this music is not old, this fact it is very obvious.

The Mothership landed to unleash a barrage of Zeppelin for the uninitiated and it is a worthy successor to the myriad of Zeppilations on offer. 2 CDs jam packed with LZ classics is irrisistible and it is actually still selling on shelves in Australia CD stores. Yes, folks, they still exist here. The packaging is classy, love the art work and each disc is a treasure. Yes, all Zeppeholics will own every track, and the Remasters did it all before, but this is still a grand enough project to dip your toes in when you need a bit of Zeppelin in your system.

So what have we on offer? Only the Greatest LZ you are likely to hear. On the menu are brilliant gems Good Times Bad Times, Communication Breakdown, Dazed And Confused, Whole Lotta Love , Immigrant Song, Rock And Roll, Black Dog, Stairway To Heaven. And that leaves CD 2 with some triumphs to wade through such as Kashmir, Nobody's Fault But Mine and Achilles Last Stand. Basically every song is a jewel and there are no surprises, apart from the fact that there is nothing live which is when they are in their most experimental mood. You can find the CD at a reasonable price easily, unlike some other comps that are becoming scarce.