Phil Collins' amusing take on the less-than-stellar Led Zeppelin Live Aid reunion
http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/phil-collins-why-im-not-to-blame-for-led-zeppelins-live-aid-reunion-show/61899
“It was a disaster, really," he said. "Robert wasn’t match-fit with his voice and Jimmy was out of it. It wasn’t my fault that it was crap. If I could have walked off, I would have. But then we’d all be talking about why Phil Collins walked off Live Aid—so I just stuck it out.”
"I know the wheels are falling off from early on in the set. I can’t hear Robert clearly from where I’m sat, but I can hear enough to know that he’s not on top of his game. Ditto Jimmy. I don’t remember playing Rock And Roll, but obviously I did. But I do remember an awful lot of time where I can hear what Robert decries as ‘knitting’: fancy drumming. And if you can find the footage (the Zeppelin camp have done their best to scrub it from the history books), you can see me miming, playing the air, getting out of the way lest there be a train wreck. If I’d known it was to be a two-drummer band, I would have removed myself from proceedings long before I got anywhere near Philadelphia."
"Onstage I don’t take my eyes off Tony Thompson. I’m glued to him. I’m having to follow—he’s taking the heavy-handed lead and has opted to ignore all my advice. Putting myself in his shoes, he’s probably thinking, 'This is the beginning of a new career. John Bonham isn’t around any more. They’re gonna want someone. This could be the start of a Led Zeppelin reunion. And I don’t need this English fuck in my way.'"
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My immediate reaction was "Jimmy Page is effing HIGH, he can't PLAY."
On "Heartbreaker" in particular, his fingers just aren't going where they need to go.
So Collins confirms that he was high, and he wasn't playing well, and that's good enough for me.
I can't think of any band that created such an unmatched unique variety of epic rock with song perfection!
Live?
It was such an EVENT, no one cared what they sounded like! I saw them in mid-'70's - and it is a 3-day hole in my life. Like a faintly recalled dream.
Best concert ever! 
"Song Remains The Same" has always received mixed reviews as a live album.
"How The West Was Won" sort of corrected that as it had more fire, and along with it, more sloppiness, which I guess was part of the charm.
"The BBC Sessions Complete" is a mixed bag for me too, and that's probably because I've always viewed Plant as a pain in the ass, especially in a live setting...his moaning and cooing and squealing and "improvs" weren't what I was looking for in my rock and roll.
I have every LZ album, and that includes the recent remasters. I still think the second album is their best. They created some powerful albums, to be sure, but no album is "better than" the second one. It's in a class of its own.
