Every Moment Has A Song

You can find plenty to criticize about Rolling Stone magazine these days. What was once perhaps the foremost periodical devoted to Rock and Roll music and culture now regularly follows the careers of Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift as if they were Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

And the seemingly bi-weekly special issues built around the Top 100 this or the Top 500 that are kind of played out, no?

But hypocrisy is funny too. And it’s interesting to note that Swift not only merits a RS cover story but she also gets better reviews than Led Zeppelin once did. The magazine heaped flattery on her Speak Now album (see full review here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/speak-now-20101026 )

…And for contrast I’ve reproduced John Mendelsohn’s review of Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut. I consider it one of the bigger whiffs in the history of rock criticism (although I do give the magazine props for reproducing it in a 2011 issue). It’s not so much that I disagree with everything Mendelsohn said, it’s just amusing to note how quickly after this scud review the magazine set about elevating the band to status of rock immortals. Despite the cred Jimmy Page had earned as a member of the Jeff Beck Group, Mendelsohn makes them sound like mere mortals indeed, even hacks:

‘Led Zeppelin’: Blues Combo Dead on Arrival

Jimmy Page is, admittedly, an extraordinarily proficient blues guitarist and explorer of his instrument’s electronic capabilities. Unfortunately, he is also a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs. The most representative cut is “How Many More Times.” Here a jazzy introduction gives way to a driving guitar-dominated background for Robert Plant’s strained and unconvincing shouting. Zeppelin has produced an album sadly reminiscent of the Jeff Beck Group’s Truth. To fill the void created by the demise of Cream, they will have to find some material worthy of their collective attention.

I don’t know if Mendelsohn’s opinion of Plant changed once his “strained and unconvincing shouting” made him a rock god, or if  he still thought Page was a “writer of weak, unimaginative songs” post- “Stairway to Heaven”…but I think I know the official RS editorial position on the matter.