“The Song Remains The Same”

Andrew Reilly
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

All stories begin somewhere, and mine begins at the Rose Records in Vernon Hills, Illinois.


In the spring of 1992, gift certificate in hand, I intended to buy two things:

  1. Ten by Pearl Jam (cassette, obviously)
  2. Whichever Led Zeppelin album it was had that “the way you move” song on it (also cassette, also obviously)

I am pleased to report the Rose Records in Vernon Hills, Illinois, did in fact have the Pearl Jam tape in stock, whose purchase would mark the beginning of its own similarly lengthy though far more conflicted fandom within the author; at the same time, I can report to great temporary sadness though infinitely greater ultimate gratification that the Rose Records in Vernon Hills, Illinois, did not have any copies of the specifically sought-after Led Zeppelin tape in stock, but did have another whose artwork was indescribably bizarre, whose songs I had never even heard of, and whose name sounded so familiar for reasons I could not for the life of me (until many years later) remember. But to a certain type of 12-year-old boy, there are few easier ways to make a sale than to take a mostly known quantity and offer as an alternative its weirder, more mysterious, less-prominent follower. (Case in point: twenty-five years later, that 12-year-old boy still hasn’t shut up about it.)


In musical terms, that tape’s first track did a lot of things just well enough, but not to any extent that would eclipse whatever awaited the compelled listener: a pretty rocking guitar line, a rhythm section that propelled without overpowering, solos the untrained ear could listen along to, and a singer wailing convincingly enough to the heavens about California and Calcutta and who knew what else. As an opener, it was pretty good; as an introduction, it was as good as anyone could have asked for.

Grade: B+

96-98 St. Mark’s

One man’s guide to the “complete” Led Zeppelin.

Andrew Reilly

Written by

Chicago / andrewreilly.org

96-98 St. Mark’s

One man’s guide to the “complete” Led Zeppelin.

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