Led Zeppelin, ‘Kashmir’ – Song Review

With ‘Kashmir’, Led Zeppelin comes roaring back to life. It is the first single to be released from their much awaited ‘Celebration Day’ project, which documents Zeppelin’s performance at London’s 02 Arena on the 10^th of December, 2007. This concert was a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records. He was the one to first sign the band for a record.It is a very powerful and a moody track which showcases the group at its creative best with all their musical powers overflowing. It is currently ruling the charts and climbing up the popularity chart.
In the creative process, all the founding members like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined by Jason Bonham. Jason is the son of late John Bonham, who was the great Zeppelin drummer. The concert has a set of 16 songs out of which ‘Kashmir’ is the highlight. Since the death of John Bonham in September 1980, the group has had only a handful of reunions. Much to the disappointment of their fans the group has gone through a lot of embarrassment due to under-rehearsed and disappointing performance, some of which include their performance with Phil Collins at Live Aid and their performance at the Atlantic Records 40^th Anniversary Concert. These concerts have not been upto their mark.         
But this time they are here to undo all those damages. ‘Kashmir’ is rejuvenation for the band with every group member coming out with the best of their talents. Each individual member is at the peak of their game with nothing but the best as their contribution towards the band. The song is truly exceptional, undoubtedly one of the best pieces ever produced by the band. It is more of an amalgam of hard rock, which in more general terms can be described as Egyptian progressive rock. This song is much different from the other and earlier works of the group, mostly their blues based origins. This song marks their attempt to bring something fresh and new to their fans, who have been deprived of great music and performance from their end for some time. 
Each member of the group contributes in their own special way for the majestic completion of the song. The performance captures all such unique contribution. The thick tone and odd rhythmic sense of Page, the stirring orchestral keyboards of Jones, the tappy drumming of Bonham which he seems to have inherited from his father, all makes the song a blissful experience. But the icing on the cake is Plant and his superb vocal. When he roars ‘ooooooooohhhh…. Baby I been crying’ the whole crowd seems to get into jitters. It transports both the members of the band and their fans back to those glorious years when they ruled the music world. Even though the transportation is brief, it is worth many more things, the value of which will be known only by the true fans of Led Zeppelin. This is one of the best comeback singles of the band and is expected to revive their lost glory.