Ever wanted to know what Robert Plant was up to on your birthday?
I love Led Zeppelin. They may be my favorite band. So I was excited about taking the “This Day in Zeppelin” iPad app for a ride up the Misty Mountain (where the spirits fly). The app does exactly what it says it does. It provides a listing for what the boys in Led Zep were up to for every single day of the year. Sometimes it provides two or three facts. Pressing “Zeppelin on this Day” from the colorful home screen will provide facts for whatever day it is, but you can access other facts from any day of the year. Want to know what Zeppelin was up to on Christmas Day? Apparently they arrived in the United States for the first time to prepare for their North American tour. Sidenote? They received $1500 per gig on this tour. Also, that’s not a lot of money.
The facts are almost always kind of interesting, but occasionally you read something that doesn’t sound that impressive, or useful. Take Christmas Day, once again. A secondary fact, in 1973 “D’yer Mak’er” from Houses of the Holy was on the US Singles chart. Not number one. Not top ten. Just, on the chart. Somewhere. In other news, the gang probably also took part in a White Elephant Exchange. Robert Plant was stuck with the fruitcake. I suppose my point is, most of the facts are awesome. Others are superfluous. But perhaps you won’t view them that way, Led Zeppelin Super Fan.
And if you are a Super Fan, there’s trivia and random facts for you as well. You can rank anywhere from Dazed and Confused to…well, I don’t know. I never scored 10 out of 10. And I have no idea what the answers to some (most) of the questions I got wrong are. It’d be nice to see the answers to what you missed. I really wanted to know which member of the band coughed at the beginning of “Whole Lotta Love!”
But in my opinion, for Super Fans and the casual Zep-head alike, the best feature in the app is its Zeppelin Song Notes. Click the album you’re interested in, then the song you’d like to learn more about, and you’re well on your way to learning the most minute details about “Kashmir” (surprise (not really) omission: “Kashmir” was the standard track for the Godzilla soundtrack monster hit “Come With Me,” by Puff Daddy). The song notes are incredibly detailed and provide a rich history on the genesis of some of the greatest songs ever written by one of the most iconic bands in history.
Does the app live up to its name? Yes. It offers anything and everything you could want to know about Led Zeppelin organized by date or song title. Is it easy to use? It sure is. Is it a little simplistic and are the imitation Zep songs playing in the background a little lame? Yes and yes. But on the whole, it’s a useful app for the average rock fan, and a must have for Led Zeppelin fans.
App Store: $2.99
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Thanks for the tip, looks good, just downloaded now.
Looking good!