Eddie Van Halen

Not enough can be said about Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing ability. There have been many other greats like Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaugn, and Eric Clapton. In my mind, Eddie stands above them all. He has the quickest fingers I've ever seen and has the ability of improvisation like none other. I give you...Eddie Van Halen.

GREATEST BAND EVER

The 1970’s was home to what many enthusiasts consider the greatest rock and roll band of all time; Led Zeppelin. The band was formed in 1968 and consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, singer Robert Plant, and drummer John Bonham. Like many of the great rockers before them, Zeppelin was a blues-based rock band with ties to British folk music that would integrate a powerful guitar, loud drums, and screaming vocals at times. When asked about the type of music Led Zeppelin played, Page described it as “contemporary blues”. The band was the first to be categorized as having characteristics of hard rock with “Page’s heavyweight guitar riffs, Plant’s raw, half-screamed vocals, and the rhythm section’s deep, walloping assaults – all hallmarks of a new approach to rock that combined heaviness and delicacy”. Jones described the band as a sponge that would “use everything [they] came across, whether it was folk, country music, blues, Indian, Arabic”. Their first albums had strong relations with blues but also had that essential touch of hard rock that was becoming so popular. As more and more albums were released, Led Zeppelin progressed further towards the hard rock form. Songs like “Dazed and Confused”, “Good Times Bad Times”, “Ramble On” and “Since I’ve Been Loving You” all had a touch of acoustic, folk, and electric blues. Other songs such as “Immigrant Song”, “When the Levee Breaks”, and “Black Dog” showed just how hard Zeppelin was capable of rocking. Released on their fourth album was “Stairway to Heaven”, perhaps the greatest rock ballad of all time. This song has been requested more than any other on the radio and has more mystique surrounding its meaning than imaginable. Led Zeppelin developed a hedonistic following as well, something that would become fairly common with future rock bands in both their lyrics and fan base. Zeppelin had laid the groundwork for modern rock and arguably is still the most influential band in the industry.

Best Decade of Rock

While rock and roll music has been very popular for about sixty years now, there was one decade that stood above the rest in terms of the quality of music and its popularity. The 1970's was home to some of the greatest rock bands of all time: Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, and Pink Floyd just to name a few. All of these artists were around when the drug culture in the United States and England was at its greatest. The rock and roll of the 1970's did more for the genre than any other decade. It began what we now call "hard rock" by integrating faster guitar riffs, louder and more powerful drums, guitar solos, an up-beat tempo, and louder vocals. This hard rock form would become the basis for much of the rock and roll music that followed. Bands like Van Halen and Metallica produced music that was stemmed off of the artists of the 1970's. Bands of the 1970's were also much more pure in their production of music. They didn't use machines to change the sound of their music; it was all natural. My favorite artists of the 1970's had to be Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. The sound of their music was so individual that it will never be replicated. Hendrix' ability as both an onstage performer and musician were legendary. He was known for playing guitar solos behind his back, blindfolded, with his tongue, and even with his feet. These two artists exemplified the rock music of the 1970's.

Where does the Stairway lead?

Stairway to Heaven is the most controversial song in rock and roll in terms of its meaning. Led Zeppelin refused to disclose the meaning of the lyrics; they preferred to keep it to themselves and keep people guessing. People have been guessing for a while now and many theories have been created about this mystical tune. I had heard the song many times before and didn’t give much thought to its meaning before this. I sat down with a copy of the lyrics in front of me and started reading. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant put so much effort into writing this song that its true meaning had to be in between the lines. Deciphering the words proved to be very difficult; when I thought I had found something, I came across a verse that seemingly had nothing to do with the previous one. Nevertheless, I came up with my own interpretation. Zeppelin’s profound lyrics speak of two separate people, a lady and the narrator, seeking one common goal: making it to heaven. The song dictates the life of the two and all the choices that they make. They take two different paths and have people along the way pointing them in different directions. Some of those people are good influences and some are bad. Eventually their path’s cross towards the end of their lives, and they help one another find their way to heaven. The message that Zeppelin is trying to get across, is that while it is important to be independent and have your own identity, it is even more important to have people that have common interests in life that you can trust. With the aid of these people, life will be easier.

There are endless interpretations to the meaning of Stairway to Heaven. Some people think it is a guide to Christianity and finding Jesus. Members of the band have called it a woman’s quest for spiritual perfection and a song of hope.