WI: Bonham Lives

John Bonham died in 1980, bringing an end to the legendary Led Zeppelin. How would things have changed if the greatest drummer of all time hadn't gone and died on us? What would Led Zeppelin's next album look like? Just to balance things out ITTL, we'll say Bill Ward died on the day Bonham died IOTL.
 
John Bonham died in 1980, bringing an end to the legendary Led Zeppelin. How would things have changed if the greatest drummer of all time hadn't gone and died on us? What would Led Zeppelin's next album look like? Just to balance things out ITTL, we'll say Bill Ward died on the day Bonham died IOTL.

Greatest drummer is arguable, Bonham was reeeeally good but tragically overrated.

And unfortunately, IMHO, I think Zep keeps doing much of the same (plagiarizing blues records a little too obviously for comfort and spitting out long heavy rock tracks which are saved only by the brilliance of John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page) until punk and later new wave make them look like dinosaurs to everyone but attention starved, hippie culture obsessed southern American teenagers (which seems to be the only surviving group of Zeppelin fans I can ever find, besides first generation listeners.)

The vitality and invention of their first few records were by this time long gone and they were fast becoming parodies of themselves, Bonham living could only exacerbate this, unless something drastic changes. They went from being a blues-rock supergroup to arena filling, song stealing bums playing it heavy just to play it heavy, and Bonham's death helped to reinvigorate their fanbase for years, similar to how Lennon's death sparked a reinvigoration of Beatles fans.

A more interesting question would be what if he lives but quits Zep?

I like the idea of him replacing Moon in the Who, myself... It's plausible, Bonham and Moon were big time fans. Bonham and Moon taught Zak Starkey to play drums, after all, when his father would be out of town doing Beatle things.
 
Greatest drummer is arguable, Bonham was reeeeally good but tragically overrated.
Don't take my opinion on it. Take Dave Grohl, Chad Smith, Roger Taylor, Charlie Watts, Rolling Stone (the magazine), and pretty much any other prominent drummer you can think of's opinion on it.
And unfortunately, IMHO, I think Zep keeps doing much of the same (plagiarizing blues records a little too obviously for comfort and spitting out long heavy rock tracks which are saved only by the brilliance of John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page) until punk and later new wave make them look like dinosaurs to everyone but attention starved, hippie culture obsessed southern American teenagers (which seems to be the only surviving group of Zeppelin fans I can ever find, besides first generation listeners.)
I'd hardly call it plagiarizing. They took the lyrics, and the rest they gave a god damn super-steroid shot of awesome in the arm. Their long improvised rock jams would probably still continue to be popular outside the hipster crowds.
The vitality and invention of their first few records were by this time long gone and they were fast becoming parodies of themselves, Bonham living could only exacerbate this, unless something drastic changes. They went from being a blues-rock supergroup to arena filling, song stealing bums playing it heavy just to play it heavy, and Bonham's death helped to reinvigorate their fanbase for years, similar to how Lennon's death sparked a reinvigoration of Beatles fans.
In Through the Out Door saw a significant rise in writing by Plant and JPJ. Partially because Page and Bonham were high and drunk, respectively. I could certainly see Plant and JPJ issuing an ultimatum for them to get clean. With Page and Bonham putting in a lot of input like on the first few records I could see a Led Zeppelin revival taking place. I could see them experimenting with Progressive Rock like Genesis and Queen were working with around that time. The results could certainly be interesting, and I could definitely see them meshing well with the long, odd-meter improvised jams of some progressive rock outfits.
 
Don't take my opinion on it. Take Dave Grohl, Chad Smith, Roger Taylor, Charlie Watts, Rolling Stone (the magazine), and pretty much any other prominent drummer you can think of's opinion on it.

I'd hardly call it plagiarizing. They took the lyrics, and the rest they gave a god damn super-steroid shot of awesome in the arm. Their long improvised rock jams would probably still continue to be popular outside the hipster crowds.

In Through the Out Door saw a significant rise in writing by Plant and JPJ. Partially because Page and Bonham were high and drunk, respectively. I could certainly see Plant and JPJ issuing an ultimatum for them to get clean. With Page and Bonham putting in a lot of input like on the first few records I could see a Led Zeppelin revival taking place. I could see them experimenting with Progressive Rock like Genesis and Queen were working with around that time. The results could certainly be interesting, and I could definitely see them meshing well with the long, odd-meter improvised jams of some progressive rock outfits.

We weren't talking about opinion, padawan, but I'll allow it. Bonham was a great drummer, it's just that the "Greatest Drummer In The World" thing, as a drummer myself, has always perplexed me, much like the Clapton, Hendrix obsession wears on my sensibilities as a blues scholar.

And no. It was plagiarizing. Those early records were kickass, sure, but let's not call it original. A steroid shot is a good way of looking at it, though, for sure.

It looks like you already had the answer you wanted prepared so I'll leave the discussion. If this was meant to begin a discussion on how great Led Zeppelin would have been after Bonham "gets clean" (yeah right) then I shouldn't have suggested the Keith Moon replacement thing. Sorry.

However, if this was meant to launch an opinionated discussion, I will readdress. A clean Bonham quitting Zeppelin for fear of them bringing him further down the bad road and joining the Who (who, IIRC were trying to get clean themselves) and injecting some life into that band would be pretty kickass. The only drawback I can see would be that the Who would lose a great deal of its fanbase in the punk rock movement as Led Zeppelin was one of those bands they despised (including Pink Floyd) and The Who was one of the few old guard bands they still worshiped (along with Bowie, Iggy Pop, and The Kinks) however, by this time, how much the punks respected the Who was not what was filling stadiums or selling records, it was their age old fanbase and adding Bonham (and with him, a great deal of die hard Zeppelin fans) would be a good financial move.

Bonham on Imminence Front might suck, though. I don't know if his ego would allow him to play straightforward funk backbeats to augment the band. But with a drummer as technically proficient as Bonham, who's to say Townsend wouldn't write drastically different (read harder) songs.

Interesting concept.
 
...until punk and later new wave make them look like dinosaurs to everyone but attention starved, hippie culture obsessed southern American teenagers (which seems to be the only surviving group of Zeppelin fans I can ever find, besides first generation listeners.)

Hey, I'll have you know, us Zeppelin fans are found in the north too! :) (And I'm no teenager, nor am I old enough to be a first generation fan. The rest? well...)
 
Don't take my opinion on it. Take Dave Grohl, Chad Smith, Roger Taylor, Charlie Watts, Rolling Stone (the magazine), and pretty much any other prominent drummer you can think of's opinion on it.

I'd hardly call it plagiarizing. They took the lyrics, and the rest they gave a god damn super-steroid shot of awesome in the arm. Their long improvised rock jams would probably still continue to be popular outside the hipster crowds.

In Through the Out Door saw a significant rise in writing by Plant and JPJ. Partially because Page and Bonham were high and drunk, respectively. I could certainly see Plant and JPJ issuing an ultimatum for them to get clean. With Page and Bonham putting in a lot of input like on the first few records I could see a Led Zeppelin revival taking place. I could see them experimenting with Progressive Rock like Genesis and Queen were working with around that time. The results could certainly be interesting, and I could definitely see them meshing well with the long, odd-meter improvised jams of some progressive rock outfits.

In the 'Led Zeppelin: The Concert File' book, it mentions some rehearsals in Jan 1986 with Tony Thompson (the drummer for Led Zep at Live Aid) on drums. I'll quote from the book:

"two or three things sounded interesting" said Plant later, "A sort of cross between David Byrne and Husker Du"

Hmmm......... So a Led Zep more plugged-in to the alt-rock scene?
 
I got a random idea earlier for this thread.

What if John Bonham recorded on Michael Jackson's Thriller Album? And don't say Michael Jackson didn't work with rockers, because Eddie Van Halen is on that album, too. :D
 
Hard to say, really. Had Bonzo survived downing several bottles of vodka, he probably would have been urged by the other members of Zeppelin to go through rehab. In fact, his experience may influence the other members of Led Zeppelin (Page in particular) to get clean themselves.

Now, the future of Led Zeppelin. The day Bonham died, he had gone to rehearse for an upcoming tour in the United States to support In Through the Out Door. If he decides to go to rehab following his venture, then the tour may be delayed for a few months, much to the dissatisfaction of American Zeppelin fans.

Page and Bonham were not fans of In Through the Out Door. In fact, after it was released, Page said in an interview that the next Zeppelin album would be hard-hitting and riff-based like their previous albums. If this is true, then they would probably follow up on this promise and continue to be one of the most popular touring acts in the world.

I don't really know how they would fare in the rest of the 80's, though. I'm having a really hard time imagining Zeppelin going the direction of Whitesnake (even if Plant and Coverdale sound extremely similar) because Zeppelin + hair metal = OH GOD WHAT. WHY. They may go the direction of The Who in that they incorporate some elements of the 80's into their sound, yet still maintain their classic rock roots.

Also, you need to consider that Plant was sick of touring at the start of the 80's and was convinced into touring by Peter Grant. This sentiment may arise later during the 80's, leading to either A.) the breakup of Led Zeppelin or B.) Led Zeppelin going the way of The Beatles and only doing studio recordings.

If Zeppelin survives into the 90's, I have no idea how they would be able to survive then. They'd probably release the anthologies, much like they did OTL, along with an album similar to OTL's Coda (as with Bonham surviving, there's no need to release that album in '82 to fulfill a recording contract) except with potentially more unreleased stuff. They may be influenced by the grunge rock scene around them and abandon their 80's sound for more of a back-to-basics blues-rock sound. Either way, it's extremely likely that they'd break up this decade to spend time with families/do solo stuff.

Eventually, when Ahmet Ertegun dies in 2006, Zeppelin will get back together to play at the tribute concert for him. 2007 will be spent releasing something like OTL's Mothership collection, a remastered version of The Song Remains the Same, and potentially remastered versions of things made during ATL. After playing at the Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert, the members may feel that they have what it takes to tour once again, and they would embark on a wildly successful reunion tour and record new material up to the present day.

I guess buying all of those books on Led Zeppelin wasn't such a bad idea after all. :D
 
Top