Led Zeppelin - Black Dog (cover)

This is again one of those cases when the cover is better than the original, even though this song is a concentrate of Led Zeppelin's entire musical ars poetica in 4:48 minutes.

Again a lot of memories come back from the time I got to know Led Zeppelin. It was the same year, 1989, my very early teen years and a dull family holiday at one of my country's popular summer resorts. My eyes were already wide open for rock and metal and I tried to hoarde anything about any rock/metal band that crossed my path. Any information, any name, any song or album title, interview, gods forbid album or video (these last two were the hardest, I tell more about it later). It was a bit like this forbidden fruit for me as well (again more about it later) and for very obvious reasons Led Zeppelin was one of the first bands that crossed my young roads.

I remember, there was a kiosk we visited every morning, because my father needed his daily newspapers even during our holidays and at this kiosk I spotted a book written by a Hungarian journalist about Led Zeppelin. It was a small sized book, approx. as big as a man's palm, with an iconic photo of Robert Plant (and a smaller, but same iconic with the other members) on the cover. I kept nagging my parents to buy it for me and after a few days they actually did, probably just to make me shut tf up. From then on I spent the whole holiday reading it, I kept reading it on the train coming home, then at home, then again, then again, then again. The book was a summary of Led Zeppelin's career, the members' solo careers up to that date and a very detailed review of each and every one of their albums that was ever released, song by song. At the end the book looked like a piece of tired lettuce, crumpled, with pages glued in with sellotape. I have no idea where this book is now, but as strange as it sounds, it made me a Led Zeppelin fan even before hearing their music at all.

I remember, in the book the author mentions how he had got to know Led Zeppelin some time in the 1970's. Well, it is a typical story of those times. He was on a family holiday in Italy. At that time Italy was one of those countries where citizens of my then-heavily-Communist country were already allowed to travel - BUT! only for a certain (very limited) time, only through well-organized tours made by the tourist agency of the state. People needed to apply for special passport (that kind of passport that allows them to travel outside of the Iron Curtain - yes, it did exist!) and they were allowed to keep only a certain, very limited amount of foreign currency. These so-called "western currencies", like Italian lira, German mark, Austrian schilling, Spanish peseta, French frank, etc. could be purchased only at one bank, where you needed appointment for this and where everything was thoroughly recorded, how much and what kind of currency you bought, where you wanted to spend it, for what purpose and so on. The Communist state took the "freedom" of its citizens very seriously and with this strictness, limits and bureaucracy they wanted to prevent even the smallest chance of citizens turning into dissidents.

So, the author of my Led Zeppelin book had heard the band for the very first time at a holiday in Italy, by hearing their song "Whole Lotta Love" and this only song made him a Led Zep-fan. I only vaguely remember the story how he purchased Led Zeppelin's albums, but it always happened during these rare excursions to the so-called West, where he spent almost all his money on rock albums. (Smuggling these albums in to Hungary was another story, these albums needed to be hidden among e.g. laundry or toiletries, where the border police surely didn't want to sniff around.) That's how it was going until 1990. If there's any lesson to learn, then it's this: music (and art) always wins. Even over the most restricted, tyrannic systems.

As for my circumstances, I'm from a rather weird family to say the least when it's about music. We didn't have any music player at home. In other homes - both at other family members and friends - there was at least a record player, some people even had this "music tower" equalizer and huge speakers applied on the wall. They had record collections, too  - obviously only those records that were allowed by the system, but they were all very popular at those times. We had only a radio at home, and even that was out in the kitchen, where my mother used to listen to it while doing her things around the house. But even she never listened to music on it, only that one radio station which was labeled as "civil service" with only informations, news and reports and almost absolutely no music.

Remembering back, my mother never really liked music ever, she often even talked about music on a despised tone. Those very seldom songs she was willing to listen to were mostly these very syrupy, very corny, very cheesy Hungarian "chanson" types of music that were especially popular here in the 1960's (here is an example, but tap only for your own responsibility). For her every other genre, especially modern pop and rock, but even jazz and classical was something that brought very extremely negative reactions out of her. 

For my father music was rather just a background noise. Though he really didn't mind having music around himself, he was never really fond of any particular band or genre.

And then here I am, a melomaniac and a fan of rock and metal for almost 35 years. I'm sure I was adopted.  

I remember, we had our first ever actual "music tower" (in fact it was a mini music center with radio, record player and cassette player - no CD's at that time yet, I got my first CD player only in 1995) around the collapse of Communism. Until then we had only that radio in the kitchen. Later I got a walkman, but it was an old model, not these newer, more compact ones and it was a pain in the ass carrying it with myself. Plus it ate up the battery very quickly and I often had no money to buy these AA batteries.

The reason why Led Zeppelin and similar rock/metal bands were a "forbidden fruit" is in fact simple. As I mentioned earlier in my KISS tribute review, rock and metal bands were the "forbidden" genres by the Communist system's values and these "values" got deep into the mind of older generations. On the other hand it wasn't uncommon at all in those times that parents simply forbade their children to listen to music - any music, not just the "forbidden" ones - that they disliked. It resulted many family battles, even warfare, sneaking out of home with the lie to go to a friend "to study together" and instead ending up at somewhere (usually in a basement or a hidden place of a house) where they could listen to this forbidden music together. Parents often called their rock/metal/blues/etc. fan children by all sorts of derogative names just because they liked something that was "not normal", also using other forms of punishment. It ended up only in very strong resistence in the youngsters, but as you can imagine, it didn't bring at all the results these parents wanted to squeeze out of their offsprings. 

Ah, those 70's and 80's during Communism...

So, Led Zeppelin had already had a deep impact on me before I could even listen to them, and eventually years later I could put my hands on their album "Houses of the Holy" in vinyl format. I'm aware that critics tend to have a low opinion about this album, simply because it was released right after their absolutely legendary 4th studio album that contained not only their most known song "Stairway to Heaven", but also that very song this review is about. Still I keep this no. 5. Led Zeppelin album close to my heart for this very reason, even though in the meantime I got to know their entire discography.

But as I mentioned above, Led Zeppelin had their 4th album released in 1971 and this album is one of the most important albums of rock ever. No, not just because of "Stairway to Heaven".

Because of this very song as well. Because of Robert Plant's distinctive, sharp singing screams, because of the iconic riff made by Jimmy Page, because of Bonzo Bonham's trademark drumming, because the by default gruntling bass lines of John Paul Jones. The structure of the song, the rhythm, the power of it. You really can't do anything but bow down and worship it. This, ladies and gentlemen, dear Readers, is ROCK in a bit less than 5 minutes.

Then came Cygnus Rock Band.

They smash right into the middle. Ruxx's voice follows the best tradition of Robert Plant's, putting it all on an even higher level with his own strong blues/soul/rock spiced voice. Deneb probably borrowed John Paul Jones's bass, but before the recording he secretly changed the strings to enriched uranium rods. The bass line smashes, it's as grim and rough as a raging wild boar, get ready for your groints to be demolished for the end. (You won't regret it, what is more, you will want more, I can ensure you.) Blu brings the well-known chords with his usual professionalism and routine, though I have a suspicion that before recording he rubbed the strings of his guitar with abrasive paper, because the sound is so raw and wild that could break through brick walls. Ruxx doesn't just follow Bonzo's path (how proud the drum legend would be to hear our drummer-singer!) but adds his very own, smaller and bigger trademark drum tricks. 

I tell you, but I dare to whisper only, this trademark drumming by Ruxx is one of the ingredients of the special Cygnus spice with that these rockers turn every single of their covers into a much more powerful and fiery experience.

Reny is the reliable keyboard player giving extra to the song with his harmonies. Ruxx is singing his heart out, adding extra legatos to the lines, and with this he gives an extra blues/soul flavor to his by default genius performance. 

And at the end. The SCREAM. That should be taught.