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Kashmir: Symphonic Led Zeppelin Description

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4.1 Out Of 5 Stars (38 Customer Reviews)  
Reviews for Kashmir: Symphonic Led Zeppelin (Audio CD) I've listened to many, many Symphonic re-interpretations of rock songs, and they are almost universally embarrassing. They strike me, basically, as a quick way for a symphony or string quartet to make a buck. And as others have noted, they essentially come off sounding like Musaak.

One of the few exceptions to this rule is the interpretation of "Kashmir" on this album.
Reviews for Kashmir: Symphonic Led Zeppelin (Audio CD) With "Kashmir," Jaz Coleman accomplishes the impossible - he creates orchestral treatments of classic Led Zeppelin songs without resorting to camp or cliches. I'd previously suffered through many attempts to reinterpret classic rock through the medium of classical musicianship - and I have been disappointed by CDs based on the music of Queen, the Stones, Pink Floyd, etc. This CD triumphs where similar CDs have failed, carefully avoiding the pseudo-Muzak pitfalls others have fallen into.

Part of the success is earned by Coleman's gorgeous re-arranging of Zeppelin's material; Coleman is unafraid to add Middle Eastern textures to the arrangements, resulting in a very epic, almost Cecil B. DeMille quality. An equal part of the success goes to both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones - their innovative arrangements on the original Zep albums undoubtably made Coleman's task much easier. It's amazing how grand and larger-than-life this music is once divorced of Robert Plant's lyrics and Bonzo's thundering groove. Once again, I'm struck by how close to film music this CD is. It would be perfect music for an old Hollywood Biblical-era widescreen film!

The CD's one flaw is an over-reliance on material from Led Zeppelin IV. One can only imagine how "Dazed and Confused" or "The Rover" would have sounded in Coleman's hands! It's especially disappointing since two tracks on the CD are Coleman originals which, while suitably Eastern-sounding, could have been replaced by actual Zep compositions like "In the Light" or "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp." It's too bad Coleman never tried for a sequel.
Reviews for Kashmir: Symphonic Led Zeppelin (Audio CD) Ethereal.Epic.Moving.I am a long-time Zep fan and a huge fan of crashing movie scores. If there was one group's songs ripe for ripping symphonic interpretations, Led Zeppelin was it.Tracks 2,3 and 5 make the CD worth the purchase. The LSO brings out even more grandeur than the original pieces, if possible. "Kashmir" probably resembles the original version the most, but is still different (in a good way). "Battle of Evermore" is less intricate than the Zep version, but also more gloriously sweeping and crashing. And "When the Levee Breaks" becomes a joyful, symphonic exclamation, with the orchestral riffs growing more and more contagiously groovy--I defy you to not dance or frolick to this piece.However, the other tracks leave a _lot_ to be desired. 10 minutes for "Going to California"? They should have picked "Achilles' Last Stand," "In the Light," or other more epic pieces for interpretation. And I am disappointed that the LSO used up precious disk space for TWO "ambient" tracks that really have nothing to do with Zep.

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