When Giants Walked the Earth

A Biography of Led Zeppelin

By: Mick Wall

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Led Zeppelin rose to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time. Mick Wall, respected rock writer and former confidant of band members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, unflinchingly tells the story of the band that wrote the rulebook for on-the-road excess and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction, and death.

Wall also recounts, in a series of flashbacks, the life stories of the five individuals that made the dream a reality: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and their infamous manager, Peter Grant.

Finally, the full, shocking story is told from the inside.

©2009 Mick Wall (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"So this is the big one: a fat, juicy biography of the biggest band ever....Mick Wall, the veteran rock journalist, lays it all bare in a book that can only be described as definitive." ( Daily Telegraph)
"That Wall can add so much fresh detail to the Led Zep story is in itself an extraordinary achievement. That he manages to humanize these planet-striding giants while doing so puts this book into the 'definitive' category." ( Classic Rock magazine)

"Wall painstakingly traces Zeppelin's development and musical pedigree. His access and attention to detail make this a definitive work….an essential source for anyone eager to learn about the era when rock stars ruled the world." ( Publishers Weekly)

Borderline

Pros: A decent history of the band full of all the necessary highlights. Cons: The flashback sequences are painfully awkward and all over the place chronologically really messing up the whole flow of the book. I don't feel they added anything, and they all have the same tone as if the 4(+Grant) members were the same person. Also, this is essentially a Jimmy bio through the first 2/3 of the book, the other members are virtually ignored and their contributions feel lessened. Lastly, the book is rather objective until it hits the epilogue where it is full of scathing comments and some very harsh words. The change in style is jarring.

Informative listen

An enjoyable book about a band that had such an impact on my early years. So many rumours disputed, some confirmed, and a whole lot of behind the scenes happenings that I never knew about. This book is very detailed, I especially enjoyed the way the author told the tales of each member's lives, sporadically throughout the book. It made for a very interesting listen, a nice touch as opposed to the common approach of telling in chronological order the beginning, middle and end in one chapter. In this case, we were still being told about the growth of each member, prior to joining the group, until the very end of the book. I really liked his method of describing this. Highly recommend for anybody who was into Zeppelin, or even growing up in the 70's, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. The narration was also very well done, although I don't know of any book in which Simon Vance does not make better by doing the narration. Even some of the lesser books I have read became enjoyable with Mr Vance as the narrator. In this case, Mr Vance made a good book much better.

Somewhat interesting

Would you recommend When Giants Walked the Earth to your friends? Why or why not?

I was one of the first Zeppelin fans when they first found a name for themselves back in the 60's I was really looking forward to the book but I really did not find it that exciting. It was okay and there were some interesting things in it but it wasn't one of those books that you just can't put down.

The Songs Remain the Same

As a fan, I admit that I didn't know all of the struggles of the band. Though some of them are due to over indulgence, this strikes me as a very human story of being young, extremely talented and knowing that it cannot go on forever. You cannot know what it is like unless you live a life...but this is pretty close. Think "Saving Private Ryan" only the best rock and roll is whizzing around instead of white-hot projectiles.

Would have been 10/10 except for the second person narration

The entire thing would have been perfect were it not for the wandering second person narration. I just fast forwarded through those sections. The rest would the perfect compliment of sex, drugs, and rock and roll told through a mystical eye.

ChrissylovesZoso

I'm not sure how I feel about this book yet. As a die hard Jimmy Page and Zeppelin fan the book and the writer piss me off. This book dies not favor the band. He actually comes across as severely butthurt and Very jealous of them, and especiallyJimmy. it was on my mind all the way through. I've seen him mock wall interview many times and he seems like another 1 of the boys and not someone who would write this book about you...

One of the best rock biographies.

Factually very accurate and detailed. Not judgemental. I got a little tired of the imagined narratives from 'young' Pkant , Page, Bonham, Jones. But really good. His understanding of the occult and Pages involvement is spectacular.

Good story

Good story, and that held me, despite almost quitting due to the 2nd person segments, more frequent in the early part of the book.

Outstanding

Loved it. The narrator was incredible. Learned so much and really gained a sense of appreciation and respect for Jimmy. Lost a lot of respect for Bob.

I knew a lot, I know more now

I always admired Jimmy Page and listening to this I admire him more. All of his studio knowledge, talent, desire and inventiveness as well as knowing what Led Zeppelin could/would become made this a very enjoyable book.