Fans hoping for a book that examines Led Zeppelin’s on-stage musical development will be better served by reading Dave Lewis and Mike Tremaglio’s recently updated “Evenings With Led Zeppelin” book instead. From the opening notes of their first album, the band announced itself as something different, a collision of grand artistic ambition and brute primal force, of English folk music and African American blues. It includes unseen photographs and artwork from the Led Zeppelin archives and contributions from photographers around the world.

It most likely serves best as a flagship entry to one's already sizeable Led Zeppelin collection, or a fantastic coffee table book for the casually browsing visitor kept waiting.The book’s prologue describes the band’s legendary January 26, 1969 Boston Tea Party show, explaining its significance and the impact it had on a young Steven Tyler in the audience. This 400-page book celebrates 50 years since their formation and features photos of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham on and offstage, in candid moments and in the recording studio. While there are numerous available examples of rock stars behaving in similar fashion as the members of Led Zeppelin, there were plenty of musicians in the ’60s and ’70s who were aware that women, even young women, were human beings. It’s here where the book shines thanks to Spitz’s interviews with Dave Williams, a childhood friend of Page who provides fascinating anecdotes about Page’s first forays into the musical world.

This story, the outrageous story of Led Zeppelin and all its rock ’n roll craziness, is right here in these pages. It was loud but very clear and I was right in front of this very first performance of this new line-up. The band's heavy, guitar-driven sound, rooted in blues and psychedelia on their early albums, has earned them recognition as one of the progenitors of heavy metal, though their unique style drew from a wide variety of influences, including folk music.Spitz has assembled a thorough and detailed history of Zeppelin, and his interviews with the band’s employees and contemporaries give the tale veracity. When relying on these new interviews, Spitz’s book is at its best, with the author digging into well-known stories and asking witnesses what really went on.