Becoming Led Zeppelin

Jimmy page has always been something of a (rightful) control freak when it comes to his 'baby', Led Zeppelin; and while their 12 year output is largely untarnished, there have been a few missteps following the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, like the ill-fated Live Aid reunion in 1985, so it's no surprise he, along with Plant and Jones, were initially a little tentative about a proposed 'official' documentary.

On one hand, 'Becoming Led Zeppelin' does live up to its title. This is not a band chronology, but the how and why of it all coming together, from their post-war childhoods to becoming infatuated with American blues, r&b, jazz, and rock music as teenagers. While it doesn't touch on every single influence, there is enough of an overview to get the cultural picture. All three surviving members provide an adequate narrative through new interviews. Although it's Page who is the most lucid and engaged, Plant and Jones are also informative, witty and affable.

Of course, the music does speak for itself, and is given plenty of screen time to do that, presenting live clips of complete songs with original audio. It would be easy to complain that most of these clips were released in 2003 on the 'Led Zeppelin Live' DVD, but they definitely benefit from the Imax treatment. One nice surprise, though, was the inclusion of unreleased footage from the Fillmore West, San Francisco in 1969, among others.

It all seems to add up to an engaging cohesive story, that is, until the director gets a case of montage fever and decides to recycle clips and songs we've already seen, in a ham-fisted way more than a few times, which just comes off as filler, and really cheapens the overall tone of the film.

So, does this film actually do justice to the mighty Zeppelin? It does accomplish its objective in cohesively covering the early years, and keeps us engaged with interviews, unseen clips and photos, but somehow manages to stray without a satisfactory conclusion. Still, I'm glad it exists, but could use a re-edit.

Thoroughly enjoyed Becoming Led Zeppelin. Keep in mind this is about how the band rose to fame quickly, the old-fashioned way by touring relentlessly. No Internet, just word-of-mouth, kind DJs and radio play. What they achieved the old-fashioned way in less than 15 months was simply amazing. The film reveals how four people who virtually never played together discovered a magic within themselves and the vision Jimmy page had for their future. Never before seen footage and audio clips were awesome. Keep in mind this documentaries about the bands rise to store them early in their Career. Try to see in an IMAX theater or equivalent.

I do like Led Zeppelin, and would have loved to see Becoming Black Sabbath a little more but I did love this documentary. As someone who does understand what Zeppelin means to music I enjoyed listening to the band explain what it was like to... Become Led Zeppelin. It was an interesting story. I especially liked the band's respect for what came before them. Where I come from it is a running joke about how Led Zeppelin stole black music, but thinking about it in the eyes of someone living in 2025, I see a group of Brits living at a time when the American Dream was still alive and they herd it though African American music. It's just a respect for music that I don't see anymore. An Excellent band with an Excellent Rock and Roll story.

A brilliant and insightful documentary, saw it at the Olympic Studios cinema; watching footage in the actual room they recorded Led Zeppelin I was fantastic, (In Dolby Atmos too it's was LOUD!) Their love of their craft shone through and the archive footage is phenomenal, the editing and montage sequences have painstakingly been put together and gave a real sense of a place and time, the raw live performances also hit hard and showed what fantastic musicians they were individually and as group, the candid interviews and audio clips of John Bonham were really powerful, just wish they'd make one for the next stage of their career.

I grew up in an home where folk music reigned, and a bit like with those folks at the Newport Folk Festival who recoiled in disgust at Bob Dylan's shift from acoustic to electric, my parents wouldn't give this band house room in their collection. Therefore, save for the odd rendition of "Whole Lotta Love" or "Stairway to Heaven" I knew precious little about this band when I watched this documentary. It starts by introducing us to each of the members, and rather poignantly uses an interview with the late John Bonham as all four take us through their own musical influences before they met and make musical history. There's some serious archive research gone into this film providing an astonishing array of material from not just those who inspired these men but of some of their own early appearances. There's an especially enjoyable scene from London's Roundhouse theatre where, already having had success in the USA, they perform to a bemused collection of Londoners - some with their fingers in their ears! I didn't love all of their music, and as one journalists quoted here declared - they can be a bit self indulgent. So what, though? That old adage about serving others best when you serve yourself springs to mind. If you can't enjoy making music your own way, you can't expect others to enjoy listening to it - and that search for a musical style that resonates with an audience is clearly important to these blokes. Interestingly, after fifty-odd years, they still appear to respect each other and look back fondly not just on their days touring and making music, but also display a touching affection for their lamented drummer who's comments elicit a genuine emotion from Messrs Plant, Page and Jones. It features very little by way of noises-off comments, instead focussing on the band's own insightful narration as well as plenty of actuality material - including some long form performances from their gigs up until the release of "Led Zeppelin II" where our history rather abruptly concludes. These are three erudite and engaging men who who have clearly lived life's ups and downs fully and energetically, and emerged remarkably sanely out the other side of a music industry that they refused to be consumed by. There music won't be to everyone's taste, but as a history of an industry, a band and a genre-busting style of rock this is an easy film to absorb for two hours.