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Originally Posted by demonrail666
Totally, although I think most people in the UK who are drawn to LZ find the same kind of foreign exoticism in them that they would in an American band. They somehow feel American. Sabbath were also far more popular in the States than over here but they still 'felt' British. Whenever I think of LZ I think of big, American-style wide open spaces. When I think of Black Sabbath i think of saveloys.
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The thing I always liked about Zep (+ I can say the same exact thing regarding the Stones) was that they seemed to be a foreign interpretation of American blues...w/ tons of twists. Figures like Jimmy Page and Keith Richards sorta took the idea of the lonely/black/american/hard drinking/front-porch-playing bluesman and turned it into a rock n roll concept. Like, "don't feel sorry for these sort of guys...praise them...fuck them...get drunk with them...etc". They gave it an "image" that was, and still is, insanely sexy and still..even to this day...being ripped off. Even Patti + J. Thunders wanted to look like Keith. He was just as much so a proto-punk rocker as any Iggy Pop or James Williamson (who himself has mentioned Keith as being an influence many times over).
I should add...just to remain what I feel to be historically accurate...that many ideas regarding the american bluesman are WRONG. Those guys were not always sad/lonely/etc...Blues was often a form of rejoicing, even in those SOMETIMES sad lyrics. But, sometimes kick-ass ideas come from being wrong/mistakes/etc.
Some might say Elvis and the like already did the same thing here in the US...but, it was still WILDLY different. I like Elvis, but once he reached a certain chapter he lost ALL street cred. He was just too difficult to take seriously...kinda like where the Stones are now ('least they still have Keith...).
I don't think the same thing ever really happened to LZ. They knew when to call it quits as a band.