Becoming Led Zeppelin

                       
Bernard MacMahon's Becoming Led Zeppelin displays the pitfalls of authorized music bios. Cozy familiarity is gained at the cost of shilling for the band. The only taking heads included are the band themselves with deceased member John Bonham contributing in an old audio interview. Thus, we get a rose colored glasses appraisal that amounts to hagiography of a band that found commercial gold in the hard rock residue of psychedelia. There are token stabs at objectivity, the band admit to being stung by the critical brickbats aimed at their first album, but they are few and far between. When Jimmy Page mentions that Zep's version of "Dazed and Confused" was inspired by Jake Holmes, you just know that he is covering his tracks after a consultation with his solicitors. No other examples of Zep's propensity for plagiarism are mentioned. The only females name checked are wives and mothers. So, there are no mentions of Miss Pamela Des Barres, Eva von Zeppelin, or Jackie DeShannon. The absence of the latter is a particular pity since she was Page's closest musical collaborator before he joined The Yardbirds.

Still, there is enough exciting live footage to satisfy fans of the band. The documentary limits itself to the band's first two albums, material that suffers from a cartoonish and overwrought blooze approach. I enjoyed "Whole Lotta Love" the first five hundred or so times I heard it, but I don't need to hear it again. I may be prejudiced against this film because I believe the band didn't really gel musically until its third album, but, perhaps, a sequel awaits. The studio session careers of Page and John Paul Jones before the formation of the band, fascinating topics in themselves, are only superficially touched upon. Becoming Led Zeppelin suffers from an oafish use of stock 1960s footage. "I Can't Quit You" is contrasted with shots of the Apollo 11 moon voyage among the many such ho hum and puzzling moments. Footage of an iron foundry is shown as Robert Plant sings about Golem during "Ramble On". The film opens in hoary fashion as the band, ripping through "Good Times, Bad Times", is juxtaposed with stock footage of the Hindenburg. Ultimately, this is a more satisfying portrait of the band than The Song Remains the Same, but it is still only a two hour infomercial for Led Zeppelin Inc. The flick is a PG-13 band approved boilerplate that is currently streaming on Netflix.