When anyone hears the opening riff of Whole Lotta Love, there is no amount of willpower that can stop you from rocking along. That’s the power of pure rock and roll, and that’s the influence of Seventies rockers Led Zeppelin had on popular culture over the past five decades or so.
Formed in London in 1968 from the ashes of the Yardbirds, the band brought together guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. It almost looks, based on the narrative of the Netflix documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin, that it was destiny.
The foursome created a sound rooted in blues and folk, but delivered it with a punch and a guitar assault that shaped hard rock and heavy metal as we know them.
Atlantic Records, which signed the band after only a month or so of being together, gave Page and company absolute creative freedom.
In an interview on the show, Page said that the intent of Zeppelin was not to be a singles band, but to create albums that tell stories. And that was exactly what they did.
Paired with relentless touring of the United States at their genesis, the band quickly became underground and then mainstream rock gods.
They made it in the US first
Interestingly, they made it in America well before gaining any traction at home in the United Kingdom.
From their 1969 debut through Led Zeppelin II, which featured Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin III, with Immigrant Song, and the untitled fourth album, which delivered Stairway to Heaven, the band became an unstoppable force in music.
By the mid to late seventies, their tours were as famous as their records. It was rock and roll mythology… excess and record-breaking attendance at performances.
It was a decade that passed with a frenetic pace until John Bonham’s death in 1980 from choking on his own vomit, purportedly after drinking too many vodka shooters.
The band disbanded, but their music lives on. To date, they have sold an estimated 300 million albums, and with Gen Z rediscovering rock music, it may rocket further into the stratosphere.
Watch the trailer
Becoming Led Zeppelin tells a large part of the story through archival footage and interviews with Page, Plant and John Paul Jones, along with clips from chinwags with Bonham prior to his death.
The narrative is exceptionally well edited, and the story is told equally as well.
But the two-hour-long music marathon ends after the second album, which means a giant chunk of the band’s history is left out. Guess that’s why it’s called “becoming” and not “the whole story”.
Left out of the 120 minutes are the writing and release of Stairway to Heaven, the untitled fourth album, the crazy tour antics and later accusations and associations to the darker side. The occult.
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Occult influence
This, in part, is true, but overplayed by religious fanatics. Page had a fascination with occultist Aleister Crowley; he purchased the man’s home, Boleskine House, and artefacts relating to him, and based a lyric on Crowley’s law of Thelema, “Do What Thou Wilt”.
While Bonham’s death is somewhat noted in the show, it’s not unpacked. Because the storytelling timeline does not reach 1980, really.
But no matter what, Becoming Led Zeppelin is a fantastical documentary about a band that made colossal music.
Four figures that became larger than life and had an undeniably major influence on art and popular culture.
The film does have its droll moments, and perhaps it is a little bit long, but in the bigger picture, it’s precise and not just for the fans.
However, once you’ve watched the documentary, you will become a fan. It’s inevitable.
