Led Zeppelin, and the power of rock music, and subjectivity

This volume examines the powerful ways in which identity can be shaped by rock music. Through the music, imagery and discourse surrounding one of the most innovative and commercially successful rock bands ever, Susan Fast probes such issues as constructions of gender and sexuality, the creation of myth and the use of ritual, the appropriation of Eastern musics and the blues, the physicality of the music, and the use of the body in performance. The band's influence is examined through socially-situated musical analysis, as well as an ethnographic study of Led Zeppelin fans. Fast draws on academic and journalistic writing as well as a new interview with band member John Paul Jones. Specific pieces examined include "Dazed and Confused," "Kashmir," "Stairway to Heaven," and "Whole Lotta Love." This text examines the important issues surrounding the music and image of Led Zeppelin - one of the most innovative and successful rock bands ever. The band's influence is examined both through an explication of the music and an ethnographic study of Led Zeppelin fans, who are quite candid about their likes and dislikes in the band's history.; More than just a sampling of opinion, Susan Fast uses this research to underscore her own findings on gender and sexuality, the creation of myth and the use of ritual, the appropriation of Eastern music and the blues, the physicality of the music, and the use of the body in performance. Specific pieces, "Dazed and Confused", "Kashmir", "Stairway to Heaven", and "Whole Lotta Love" form the basis of an examination of the group's long-lasting appeal and their musical development Explores Led Zeppelin's Influence On Rock Music And Popular Culture. Analyzes Provocative Aspects Of The Band, Including Images Of The Body In Performances, Onstage Rituals, Issues Of Gender And Sexuality, As Well As Their Appropriation Of Blues And Eastern Music. Introduction: Led Zeppelin And The Carnivalesque -- Dazed And Confused: Intertextuality, Ritual, Gender -- Stairway To Heaven: Myth, Epic, Ritual -- Over The Hills And Far Away: Difference And Representation -- The Wanton Song: The Riff And The Body -- Whole Lotta Love : Performing Gender. Susan Fast. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [207]-237), Discography/videography (p. [239]-240), And Index. During the performance of "Dazed and Confused" in Led Zeppelin's documentary film, The Song Remains the Same, the camera cuts away from concert footage to a film vignette constructed by Jimmy Page in which he is seen climbing a mountain in the dead of night, his way lit by a full moon, bare hands clutching at clumps of weed as struggles to reach the summit.