Misty Mountain Hop

So I'm packin' my bags for the Misty Mountains
Where the spirits go now

Boxes, anyway. What a great song. I hope none of you ever get a chance to watch me listen to that song -- I'd never hear the end of it. I sorta bob my head every which way compulsively. I really can't stop it. I'm rarely compelled to do anything remotely close to dancing, which means Led Zeppelin is amazing.

I'm getting ready to head back up the hill. Box after box of computer stuff, school supplies, kitchen stuff, guitar stuff, clothes, and video games. I always forget how much stuff I have. I thought maybe I'd try to thin it out this time, and then I remembered that means I have to do laundry more frequently. Oh, well. I've got a big closet. I look at all of it and I know I'm forgetting something I'll need, but oh well. Flagstaff has stores and there are plenty of people in my hall to borrow anything I forgot from. Or from which I can borrow anything I forgot. Whichever you like better.

Wanna know the difference between Rock n' Roll and all this new bilge? Talent. Sure, all these punk rockers sing real high and have whiney screams, but they have nothing on Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, or Mick Jagger. These new guys just sound like they're five and their mothers won't give them any more cookies. No edge. No talent, either. What's worse, they've got no decent backup. Some random dude with an effects processor and a maxed out amp that knows ten chords. Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Santana -- those guys are good. Even guys that aren't as complex, like Townsend, Richards, Edge, and Walsh have good tone and know what to play, when to play it, and how to make it complement the song -- no, bigger than that -- the feel. Their lyrics may not be as emo, they may not be poetic, but they stick it to the man (a la Jack Black). Daltrey doesn't have to get whiney or emo or frustrated about it to do this: "Meet the new boss / same as the old boss." The guitar has an edge to it, a crunch, a grunt, a bite, maybe. It's not straight distortion, it doesn't sound tinny or over-effecty, but it sorta hits you in the gut. It has the same punch to it that the lead singers' voices do -- again, it's about the feel, not the high school fanboys.

That's why Nickelback, Creed, Blink 182, and any other insults to music that people refer to as "rock" suck. Thanks, MTV. We all really appreciate it.

Over the hills where the spirits fly, ooh
I really don't know