Lets Talk About the Heartbreaker Solo...

I've posted before, without intended offense, that I am not a Zeppelin fan. But THIS song I absolutely love. I had a mix tape when I was 12 in 1973 that included this song and listened to it ad nauseum. I can probably still (quasi) sing this solo from memory. Sloppy or not, it's got feeling.
 
tgk03 said:
Sloppy or not, it's got feeling.
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...this...this sums up my feelings about it in a nutshell...I would rather listen to a fella playing from the heart, playing what he feels in the moment, that some tool whos gunna shred the exact same solo time and time again...its what got me in to jazz. theres a sense of "at this moment, this is what I am feeling" its expressive...its beautiful...I'm sure people used to look at Jackson Pollacks paintings and say "he just dribbled on the canvas, this isnt art"...but his paintings had something that couldnt been seen at first glance, the were original, personal, and human...
 
When I first heard it as a kid, I loved the energy and sense of impending chaos in it. It felt like the whole song could spin out of control and break apart at any moment. IMHO, it may not be a great solo from a technical perspective, but I think it's great from an artistic perspective.
 
To be clear I enjoy Page as a soloist, generally speaking. I just feel that his best work (in the studio, at least) is in the more composed riffs and melodies; for some reason his blues-rock improvisation on studio cuts just sounds sloppy and uninspired to me.

The choice live tracks, especially HTWWW, show that he's right up there with the best of 'em as an improviser. I dunno why his studio solos of that sort seem so shitty to me. "Fool in the Rain" is probably my favorite solo of his from the studio.
 
Dudeman1967 said:
It always sounded like his hands couldn't flesh out what his mind was thinking musically.
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this is what I think as well.

not that I see it as a bad thing, mind ya.

it certainly does have that "suck my balls" attitude.
and that makes it okey-dokey in my book.


that said, I'd have never released it, if it were me playing it.:wink:
 
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