MixedThe Washington Post... a 600-page tome that collects every (reliable) story previously reported, and is bolstered by original reporting and interviews—all delivered in brisk and straightforward prose. But readers be warned: Spitz doesn’t hold back in describing the band’s antics, its displays of ego and cruelty that today’s audiences might find less than acceptable ... The book is peppered with musical references that Spitz describes as evocatively as mere writing can describe music, and cultural references...that may cause some readers to fall into a rabbit hole of music minutia. It may cause others to give up ... Spitz is admirably unsparing, without being egregiously harsh, in his assessments of the attempts by White British musicians to approximate the sounds coming from imported, eagerly collected records by legends such as Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters ... the stories Spitz unearths and reiterates about what Led Zeppelin and their entourage got away with are, even to readers jaded to bad celebrity behavior, appalling ... Spitz’s handling of all this is patchy. At times, he denounces. At times he equivocates. At times, he slyly hints at judgment at the band’s various inanities and unsavory behavior ... Spitz manages to tell a compelling story (despite a few factual errors in my edition). The music criticism is often insightful and evocative ... Fans and naysayers alike will be disappointed that in Spitz’s telling nothing any of the men did after Led Zeppelin broke up seems to warrant much discussion. As a compendium of the often brilliant music created by ravaged souls, the book works well enough, but at this point both Led Zeppelin’s fans (and critics) yearn for more.
