This letter is in response to a recent article about Robert Plant ("Down to Earth--Singer Robert Plant's Post-Zeppelin Career Isn't So Full of Hot Air," by Mike Boehm, Aug. 9, 1990, OC LIVE!).
First of all, there has never been a band in contemporary pop music as misunderstood as Led Zeppelin. The comment that you made in the article--about Led Zeppelin putting "sensation first and plain old sense a distant second, maybe ninth or tenth"--epitomizes the total lack of understanding that much of the media has never overcome in regards to the band and their music. On the contrary, Led Zeppelin is one of the few bands that had managed to keep sensation out of their music while pushing ahead with their own capabilities, both individually and collectively, within the framework of a single working unit. As a unit, Led Zeppelin reached heights most only dream of, but the important thing is that they did it without compromising any of their musical integrity or vision. As a result, their music had a certain unconventional edge that was unique to themselves. However, it did not cause any of their songs to make less "sense" as you had indicated. The truth is that, whether acoustic or electric, Zeppelin employed a wide range of sounds to give their songs substance, depth and meaning (characteristics that many of today's bands urgently need.)
