The Beatles' White Album 40 Years Later

Yes, it's really been 40 years since the Beatles issues their landmark White Album (almost exactly--the record came out in November 1968) and NPR's All Songs Considered takes an interesting look back at how this seminal record came to be.

It looks at the band's trip to India [to record the album] andf the many disparate factors at work during the White Album's creation, from the band's impending collapse to disputes with the Maharishi Yogi to oddities such as some band members' unhappiness with the food.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen talks with Bruce Spizer, author of The Beatles on Apple Records, in a one-hour conversation about the White Album. The podcast features a number of excerpts from demo sessions for the album, including some unreleased tracks. You can download the podcast or stream the show online, and also check out other Beatles-related podcasts on the site.

Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert: NME's Review and Photos

NME (New Musical Express) blogged the Led Zeppelin reunion concert live, song-by-song, and as promised they've posted a review of the show. (They claim it's the first review of the Led Zeppelin reunion show, but of course I have no way of knowing if that's true. But they did pop it out pretty damn fast.)

Here are the links to NME's Led Zeppelin reunion concert review and to their photos of the event.

Bottom line from the NME review: "If there were sceptics here tonight - there weren't but just for the sake of argument consider it - Led Zeppelin silenced them and banished any rotten memories of their shambolic Live Aid reunion."

I was a huge fan of the Led Zep in my formative years, when they were one of the biggest acts in rock. Here's hoping that this reunion concert is the start of something like a tour, if even a small one, rather than just a one-off.

Hey, when another of my childhood favorites, Cream, reunited at Royal Albert Hall they did a couple of shows at Madison Square Garden later on, and I was thrilled to attend. Maybe I'll have the same luck with the Led Zeppelin reunion.

Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert is Tonight

After a delay caused by a finger injury to Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin is ready for its delayed and much-anticipated reunion concert tonight, December 10th, at the O2 Arena.

Guitarist Jimmy Page tells the NME not to compare it to Led Zeppelin shows of the past (but how can anyone not do that?).

NME will apparently be liveblogging the show, posting song-by-song updates throughout the concert. (Link has been fixed; sorry for the bad link before.)

[UPDATE: NME has indeed provided the songs in the setlist, with commentary on how each one sounded. And they've promised to provide a review of the Led Zeppelin concert as a whole soon.]

Led Zeppelin has returned to the public consciousness in a big way recently, with this concert being discussed for months before it happened, as well as the band making all of its music available in Apple's iTunes music store.