Page On 'Physical Graffiti': "Like A Voyage Of Discovery, A Topographical Adventure"

Most recently I witnessed one of the longest threads I'd seen on Facebook on the question 'What is the best double album in rock?' I was undecided about whether to give my vote to 'Exile on Main Street' by the Rolling Stones, 'White Album' by the Beatles, 'Wheels of Fire' by Cream or 'Physical Graffiti' by Led Zeppelin.

But at the end, the participants couldn't get away from the fact that 'Graffiti' was the masterpiece, one of a kind. After all, you are speaking of the best rock n' roll band, ever — mainly because they had the best drummer in rock ever, the late John Bonham.

When the four gathered in Headley Grange, the 18th century English estate where the group had recorded its landmark fourth LP, they knew they had to do absolutely nothing else to prove that they were the best. At the peak of their journey, all they had to do was to stretch the musical freedom even more and create a work that flew in a constant path within, blending the subtle ballads to powerful epic narratives and the sharpest of tunes. All done with incredible ease and control.

After 40 years, the album now is being remixed by the guitarist Jimmy Page, who tells the story of those intense days.

"All of us knew that it was a monumental piece of work, just because of the various paths that we'd trodden along to get to this."

The remix will include an album-long bonus disc of alternate mixes and rough sketches. And the expectation is an output with a much sharper content than the old recordings.

The double album is filled with masterpieces, but the highlight is 'Kashmir', the most majestic piece of rock history — again, thanks to Bonham's mesmerizing, clockwork-like drumming.

"It was another piece of music entirely, and right at the very end of it, while I was playing along, I played the acoustic guitar part in reverse, and there was a sort of fanfare, or the cascades, followed by the riff, and I thought, 'Whoa!'"

Let's hear the rest from Page.