[youtube VBsbCMIyG6E] No Quarter is my favorite Led Zeppelin song by far. It was on their fifth album Houses of the Holy, which is considered by many to be the last great Led Zep album; or at least the end of the ‘classic’ era of Led Zeppelin. I like this transitional period best because I think they showed the most emotion and just the right amount of expirimentation here. The riffs in this song are pretty hautning and I think this song was the pinnacle of Jimmy Page’s career as a guitarist. This is a live video from 1973 and you can tell by the amazing ad-libbing that this is a band that really knows how to play together. They seem to use the original composition as a blueprint, particularly vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page.
Not only do I love to show you all Amazing Music Videos, I am also a huge show-goer. Living in the bay area, one has a large choice of venues from which to choose: Santa Cruz to Sacramento. That’s 146 mi. to cover! Since I don’t own a car, it’s sometimes difficult to use public transportation or borrow a friend’s car to see every show. I am hoping to have enough saved up in the next few years to purchase a motorcycle, but in the meantime, I must rely on renting cars.
There are a handful of rental dealers down the block to choose from, all with competitive prices and offer coupons online. It actually is annoying and a pain to compare all, especially with each company having a unique restriction. But for my week-long trips, Budget had the best deals. $30 off weekly rentals definitely allowed me to have a little extra fun at the shows as well as a t-shirt or poster. Anyways, I just wanted to share the good experience I had with Budget and recommend it to you readers. So if you need a rental car, make sure you get the best deal and look into these rental car coupons. Don’t know how long they’ll last, but at least through the New Year.
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Dread Zeppelin is a Led Zeppelin cover band that features a reggae band and an Elvis Presley impersonator for a lead singer. Apparently they’ve been doing this for about 20 years. This is the music video for their version of ‘Heartbreaker’, which also seems to be mixed with the Elvis song, ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ I was pretty impressed that the guitar player was able to get the solo down (you can even hear the bass following along) and all in all it’s a pretty entertaining cover.
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While the music itself doesn’t really appeal to me, this is a really amazing concept for a music video. The music sounds like a studio-fabricated attempt at imitating some 80s pop rock (maybe Cheap Trick or the Cars?) The entire concept of the video with the treadmills is really interesting though, and the band must have put some serious work and rehearsal into coordinating it. I also imagine lots of fuck-ups and bruises were also involved.
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King Crimson is a classic English progressive rock band that gained momentum in the late 60s and early 70s, with a similar sound to their contemporaries Pink Floyd. It’s a wonder that King Crimson did not experience the same kind of mainstream success as Pink Floyd and I attribute it to a couple of different possibilities:
-The mid 70’s, after Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ came out was really the big boom for progressive rock; King Crimson was broken up in between 1972 and 1981 so they could not capitalize on this period when their style of music became very popular.
-King Crimson’s music is a lot more expiremental and complex than Pink Floyd’s; this makes them less accessible.
Whatever the reasons may be, I think King Crimson are often overlooked and are, in my opinion, one of the most interesting rock bands of all time. They are extremely prolific, with 13 studio albums and literally dozens of live albums released over the years. They are probably most well-known for their live performances; they are a very performance-oriented band and never play a song the same way twice.
This live video, shot in Belgium in 1972, shows their talent for improvisation. Performing the instrumental ‘Lark’s Tongues in Aspic pt. 1′ which would later be released on their 1973 album ‘Lark’s Tonges in Aspic’, this line-up features guitar legend Robert Fripp, John Wetton on bass, David Cross on violin, Jamie Muir on percussion and Bill Bruford, quite possibly the best rock drummer of all time. I think having two percussionists definitely adds a lot of depth to this performance.
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Although They Might Be Giants only achieved mainstream success with their 1990 album ‘Flood’ with songs like ‘Birdhouse In Your Soul’ and ‘Particle Man’, they have actually been around since the mid-80s and continue to make records today. ‘Don’t Let’s Start’ is from their first self-titled record as a two-piece, comprised of John Flansburgh and John Linnell.
I like this video a lot, I think it really shows the strange and goofy sense of humor and approach to music that has made this duo a cult legend. In more recent years they have hit commercial success again making children’s music.
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Pink Floyd did not become world famous as a progressive rock band until 1974’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, but they were experimenting with new sounds long before then, and ‘One of These Days’ from the 1971 album ‘Meddle’ is a great example.
The focus of the video, and arguable the focus of the song, is Nick Mason’s drumming. The track is an instrumental, with the only vocals being a modified recording of Nick Mason stating ‘One of These days I’m Going to Chop You Into Little Pieces.’
David Gilmour and Roger Waters both played the bass on this song and Richard Wright’s keyboards really create a unique atmosphere of sound.
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Weird Al Yankovic is a name I think most of us have heard but tend to forget until every few years he releases another album of comedy songs and then we all say, ‘yeah, I remember that guy.’ Amazingly, unlike most comedy musicians, he is still prolific and popular almost 30 years after he mad a name for himself parodying the Knack’s ‘My Sharona’ with ‘My Bologna’ and Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ with ‘Another One Rides the Bus.’
He seems to still have a firm grasp on pop culture and know how to parody it. Here he is parodying R. Kelly’s ‘Trapped in the Closet’ with ‘Trapped in the Drive-Thru’ and at 11 minutes it is almost as epic as the original. This was taken from his latest album, ‘Straight Outta Lynwood.’
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Jay Reatard has been an underground figure for ten years or so playing with bands like The Reatards and the Lost Sounds and most recently he has gained a good deal of mainstream success with his solo efforts. Going back to his earliest roots when he had recorded songs alone to escape from his home life, his solo records feature him playing every instrument and singing. When he plays live, of course, he has a backing band as can be seen here.
This video where they play ‘Oh It’s Such A Shame’ from his debut LP ‘Blood Visions’ captures the intensity of their live show. Jay Retard has become infamous for punching, kicking and spitting on his audience members during his shows. I guess it’s common knowledge that he was raised in some shitty circumstances and not surprising that he has some socialization issues, but he still puts on a great show.
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Royksopp is an electronic duo from Norway started in the late 90s by Torbjorn Brundtland and Svien Berge. They have experienced moderate success and their music has been used for commercials by companies such as Apple and the BBC.
This video is for their song ‘Remind Me’ from their first album, ‘Melody A.M.’ and it features some really cool animation. The video seems to represent the general absurdity, over complication and detachment that goes on every day in modern city life.
