Film Review | The Sound Remains the Same
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin,’ Dealing with the Iconic Band’s Formative Years, is a Rock Doc. Worth Catching
'Becoming Led Zeppelin' poster | Photo: Courtesy
Faced with a choice of theaters where I could catch the impressive rock doc. Becoming Led Zeppelin, I opted for the Arlington. It seemed appropriate to watch a saga about the iconic Zep’s early days in this movie palace doubling as a kitschy-cool concert venue, where the band might have cranked up its psychedelic-blues-hard-rock sound back in its humbler days. That never happened, although the seminal Zeppelin did stop at Earl Warren Showgrounds in 1969, opened by Fraternity of Man and Jethro Tull.
But a funny thing happens with director-writer Bernard MacMahon’s thorough and affectionate origin story doc., well-stocked with live footage and generous screen time for each mythic song. The footage can seem visceral and present enough — especially in a venue like the Arlington — that our “you are there” sensors almost inspire in-house applause.
The complete and labyrinthine Led Zeppelin story would require a doc. of epic proportions. With this film, MacMahon wisely focuses on the personal prequels of each member, the formation of the band — one of rock history’s rare quartets in which each member played a vital role — and its meteoric rise to fame, up through Led Zeppelin II. Yes, it’s true that much of the band’s more interesting and eclectic work came after that stoner-bluesy first phase, but without the bedrock one-two punch of its first albums, the fuller story would never have unfolded.
Clearly, the pivotal storyteller and architect of the band was guitarist/conceptualist Jimmy Page, and the extensive testimonials and history recounting he brings to the film is something of a revelation. Page has been largely a mystery man, a shy and cryptic figure who has done a little of musical interest since Led Zeppelin’s end, in sync with signature drummer John Bonham’s death in 1980.
Through the past few decades, we’ve caught Page in public here and there, as with his role in the unique rock guitar doc. It Might Get Loud (alongside Jack White and The Edge). In that film, interview footage in Page’s English manor feels like a visit with a reclusive sage, who we feel empathy with when he almost tearfully listens to music of an early hero, Link Wray.
To its credit, Becoming Led Zeppelin digs deep into the prehistory of the musicians involved, with contemporary talking-head footage of the three living members occasionally interspersed with a rediscovered audio-only interview with Bonham, who always shied away from interviews. Unlike, say, the salacious and outrageous antics in the discredited 1985 Zeppelin book Hammer of the Gods, this film dives headlong into the fascinating musical chemistry of the band.
Page and John Paul Jones — an underrated figure whose skills extended from bass to keyboards and arranging — were go-to session musicians in London for much of the ’60s, and were the more musically literate players in Led Zeppelin. In the sequence about the studio player era, we learn that both played on the Shirley Bassey–sung “Goldfinger” Bond theme, and that Page’s challenging but emotionally unrewarding work on Muzak tracks finally led him to jump into a more personal rock and roll path.
That path intersected with his entry into the Yardbirds, at Jeff Beck’s invitation, and when that band disintegrated, Page reached out to his comrade Jones, the powerhouse young blues singer Robert Plant, and, at Plant’s recommendation, the stunning young drummer Bonham. What was first launched as a new edition of the Yardbirds transformed into Led Zeppelin (a name suggested by The Who’s Keith Moon), fueled by Page’s ambitious idea of avoiding the trap of being a singles hyphen-based band. In this new era of FM radio and expanding musical consciousness, especially as experienced on the American west coast, Page was determined to create capital A albums.
Once launched and airborne, with the fiercely protective guidance of manager Peter Grant, the official Led Zeppelin adventure began, and the film meticulously traces its upward path. After a slow start in its native country, the band embarked on a career changing American tour which steadily gathered steam as it moved from the west coast to a triumphant east coast landing. Evidence of the musical intensity of Page’s experiment liberally line and validate the power of the band’s — and the film’s — progress. We are lured into the electricity of the moment in live performances of such classics as “Good Times, Bad Times,” “Whole Lotta’ Love,” and “Ramble On,” which allow us to appreciate the chemistry and also the improvisational fluidity between the band members.
As testament to the film’s powers of persuasion, after things close with a full disclosure of the morphing beauty “What is and What Never Should Be,” at Royal Albert Hall, some of us are left wanting an encore. Hopefully, the encore surrogate will be a continuation of the saga. Suggested title: Being Led Zeppelin.
See trailer here.
