Does Anyone Remember Laughter?

Despite the fact that I'm male, I never went through the prerequisite, 15-year-old, Led Zeppelin phase. When the time came that all young men must buy their copies of Led Zeppelin IV, I was too busy listening to the Beatles White Album and trying to figure out why "Helter Skelter" made Charles Manson go insane (as was my understanding of the situation at the time). It's like I missed out on that health class video that explains what boners are and why you're supposed to buy deodorant. And it's not that I don't like Led Zeppelin; I think they're just fine. I even, eventually, owned said copy of Led Zeppelin IV, but not until years later, when I was in college and had bought it purely to be ironic. I was just never... you know... in to them. The same goes for Pink Floyd, but I don't feel weird about that; they kinda suck.

Anyway, I was watching, last night, in a drunken haze, the VH1 doc Heavy: The History of Metal. It opened with a long discourse on Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and how they were the founders of Metal and it got me to thinking; pondering, even. I've always liked Black Sabbath, so why am I not a Zeppelin fan? What's wrong with me? Am I not a Man? Then the show started talking about Judas Priest and AC/DC and I got distracted by Rob Halford's leather-clad antics and Angus Young running around dressed as a school boy and the pondering, for a time, was forgotten.

This morning, however, it's bothering me again. Nagging at me. Led Zeppelin... why? Why not? A billion teenagers can't be wrong, can they (evidence points, most cases, that yes they can be; how else do you explain Limp Bizkit)?

At any rate, I've now decided that it's time, long past time, for me to get in to Led Zeppelin. I'm going to start with the gateway album, the aforementioned IV and work my way in from there. I hope to soon be reading "Hammer of the Gods" with a knowing smirk and growing my hair out into long, flowing locks of pure musical understanding.

I'll keep you posted.