They're really back! You knew I was excited about the Led Zeppelin reunion that occured last night at 02 Arena in England. I did not, however, know I would be this happy. The poor performances at Live Aid, the Atlantic Records anniversary and their own Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction had convinced me this would be nothing but a long-form trainwreck that might be interesting to see, but would harm our memories and the legacy.

Much as with the Van Halen reunion earlier this year, I was wrong.

Plant is singing some of the songs softer and in a lower key (as he's been doing since about 1973), but Page and Jones haven't lost a step, and in fact sound tighter than they did in the band's heyday. In the case of Jason Bonham, son of original drummer John Bonham, the Atlantic Records reunion of 1988 left me with the impression that something didn't make it in the DNA chain from father to son. The DW drums he used had the 1980's tick-tick sound that made the music sound thin and puny. Last night -- wow! And check out this picture of the drum kit! Ludwig Vista-Lites with the three rings symbols on the cymbals (only blasphemy here, he used Zildjians and not Paistes like dad)! Overall I couldn't be more pleased.

There are loads of clips out there now, but here's the first complete song with decent audio I've ran across, "Kashmir."

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