LED COMPANY!
Seeing as how the debut of the Firm is a simple, straightforward piece of work, we might as well get right to the point: This record stinks! Considering who’s involved, it’s a total outrage! Whether or not you’re a fan of Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers, you’ve gotta respect their track records.
The CREEM Archive presents the magazine as originally created. Digital text has been scanned from its original print format and may contain formatting quirks and inconsistencies.
LED COMPANY!
THE FIRM (Atlantic)
Jon Young
Seeing as how the debut of the Firm is a simple, straightforward piece of work, we might as well get right to the point: This record stinks! Considering who’s involved, it’s a total outrage! Whether or not you’re a fan of Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers, you’ve gotta respect their track records. The awesome
achievements of Page’s Led Zeppelin speak for themselves, and though Free and Bad Company may not have reached the same level of cosmic brilliance, Rodgers usually made sure they were hot little combos. So you’d at least expect the Firm to be interesting—and you’d be disappointed. Page and Rodgers have not struck out in a bold new direction and failed. (That would have been preferable.) No, the Firm rehashes too-familiar fare.
For instance, “Someone To Love” bumps and grinds with an edgy stop-and-start tempo plucked from the Zep bag of tricks. “Make Or Break” strives for the brawny selfassurance of Bad Co.’s “Can’t Get Enough.” But after all these years, don’t our heroes owe us more than a lazy repackaging job?
There’s no denying that the wellpreserved Paul Rodgers projects the same manliness he did 15 years ago on “All Right Now.” Unfortunately, the caveman act needs updating. Paul doesn’t realize that lines like “I just want to lay with you” fail to get girls these days. And bragging that you’re radioactive, which he actually does, turns the women off even more. Heck, I wouldn’t shake hands with a guy who told me that! On the occasions Rodgers adopts a more sensitive approach, the results are laughable. The gentle ballad “Together” features lyrics sure to make the Bad Poetry Hall of Fame: “Now that I’m a man/1 understand/Need someone to share this wonderland/Together.” Then again, Rodgers can transform great material into the same sort of crud. His clumsy reading of the sublime “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” sounds more like an account of heartburn than spiritual anguish.
All would be forgiven, of course, if Jimmy Page exerted more of a presence. Besides being guilty of dull songwriting, he turns out puny solos that go nowhere. Maybe it’s just a case of being out of practice, ‘cause every time he starts to get in a groove, ol’ Jim backs off quickly and returns the spotlight to Rodgers. The production does bear Page’s stamp, especially in the crisp definition of Chris Slade’s Bonham-influenced drums and Tony Franklin’s throbbing bass.
Big deal. You have to watch out for these creative genius types, though. Sometimes they release bad or weird records on purpose, just to make a perverse artistic statement. Dylan and Lou Reed,' among others, have certainly resorted to that ploy before. I was clinging to the notion that maybe Page was up to the same sort of mischief until I got to the nineminute closing track, “Midnight Moonlight.” The tone and structure suggest he wanted this bloated epic to be another “Stairway To Heaven,” but it’s bland through and through. The only memorable feature of “Midnight Moonlight” is Rodgers’ imitation of a lust-crazed pig.
On second thought, Page is making a Statement. He’s proving he can be a real bore, just like mere mortals. Point taken, Jimbo! Now if you don’t mind, I’d rather listen to Box Of Frogs.
