‘It was like a gift from heaven, wasn’t it…’
I think every serious music fan has a Led Zeppelin phase at some point in their sad and lonely life. My dad said they were probably the best band he ever saw live. I got into them in my late teens and they followed me around in my early 20s, particularly the song ‘When the Levee Breaks’ – a track that was the soundtrack to many an evening of drunken debauchery in my younger years (and indeed in my older years). In recent years, however, I’ve kinda left Led Zep behind for whatever reason. And so, Bernard MacMahon’s excellent documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin seemed to be the perfect road back to one of the greatest bands of all time…
Charting the band’s beginnings as the Yardbirds through to their emergence as the biggest act in the world in 1970, Becoming Led Zeppelin is an exhaustively researched and lovingly crafted document of the formation of one of the most influential bands ever. By mixing extensive never-before-seen interviews with the band themselves alongside archive footage, MacMahon has created something here that has a genuinely revelatory feel to it. Newcomers will no doubt be entranced by the utterly spellbinding live footage of the band in their prime, while old heads will enjoy the detailed description of the minutiae of how the music came together. It’s particularly satisfying to hear Jimmy Page talk about the process of creating music. It is clear that Page is not just an expert, but a genuine musical genius. It is also heartwarming to see the surviving members of the band reacting to old footage of their departed bandmate John Bonham – their affection for him is palpable – and it’s clear Led Zeppelin were a band in the truest sense of the word.
Becoming Led Zeppelin is a love letter to a group who meant and continue to mean so much to so many. Considering the age of the remaining band members, it is also probably the last word on their creation and their legacy. Pretty vital viewing.
