From the author of the iconic, bestselling history of The Beatles, the definitive account of arguable the greatest rock band of all time. It’s a readable volume that doesn’t get bogged down or sidetracked for too long in individual performances or recording sessions. There is some slight staining to the first page, otherwise the condition of the pages is very good plus. Previous proposals for a Led Zeppelin film “were pretty miserable,” Page said in September, “to the point where they would want to be concentrating on anything but the music. Spitz goes deeper and sees more clearly than any previous biographer, and his storytelling powers make it spellbinding.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. While this isn’t the first (or second) telling of the Zeppelin saga, it reigns superior to its predecessors with an exhaustive history that never flags in momentum or spirit. Tour posters, backstage passes, 45 sleeves and enigmatic record ads combine to complete this symphony of design and colour, turning the book into a visual feast that coexists with Popoff’s scholarly marking of the band’s many milestones. Spitz may not have had access to the three surviving Led Zeppelin band members, but his new interviews with associates including former Atlantic Records executive Phil Carson, Peter Grant’s former assistant Carole Brown, album cover designer Aubrey Powell and Plant’s PA Benji Le Fevre form a compelling narrative filled with recollections from people who were along for the ride as well. The book features over 300 photographs―many seen here for the first time―of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham from photographers around the world, and photographs from the band members' personal collections.

The band — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John “Bonzo” Bonham — epitomized either the dreamy idealism of the ’60s or the bloated vapidity of the ’70s. The negativity of the book, along with other controversial music biographies by Davis, earned him the industry nickname "Stephen Salacious".

The book begins with a witty prologue chronicling what it was like for a young Steven Tyler (later of Aerosmith and being Liv Tyler’s dad) to see the band that arguably invented heavy metal play the heavy, progressive blues that it didn’t invent but exemplified. He takes an unsparing look at how the band’s massive success snowballed into a ‘heedless hedonism’ that led to their decline and disbanding . There are a few different approaches one can take in chronicling Led Zeppelin, the larger-than-life hard rock band that blazed through the 1970s like an out-of-control comet. Celebrating 50 years since their formation, it covers the group’s unparalleled musical career and features photographs of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham on and offstage, in candid moments and in the recording studio.

Fans hoping for a book that examines Led Zeppelin’s on-stage musical development will be better served by reading Dave Lewis and Mike Tremaglio’s recently updated “Evenings With Led Zeppelin” book instead. For Jørgen Angel, the place was the Teen Club in Gladsaxe, Denmark and the date was 7 September 1968.