Formed by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham back in 1968, Led Zeppelin became one of the most important bands of all time. They sold an estimated amount of more than 200 million records worldwide and influenced a whole generation of artists, but they didn’t impress the Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine that much in the late 70s. The guitarist and singer recalled in an interview with AXS TV (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar) what bothered him about the band at the time.
Dave Mustaine explains what bothered him about Led Zeppelin
“I remember when Led Zeppelin came around. It was the last time that they toured while John Bonham was alive. And I had heard ‘The Song Remains the Same’ live album, and I thought, ‘These guys aren’t playing good anymore.'”
“Who am I to say shit? You know, I’m some little wet-behind-the-ears guitar-playing kid that’s just starting, and Jimmy’s the Dark Prince. I had my reasons, and he wasn’t playing good, so I didn’t go, ‘Great record. Love this record. Love this band.’ It’s funny though, I’ve never really been able to make a connection with Jimmy. We’ve talked several times. I know he’s a friendly person, but just never been able to connect with him,” Dave Mustaine said.
Mustaine said “Led Zeppelin IV” is one of his favorite albums of all time
Although he felt like Led Zeppelin was not that good in the late 70s, near their end, he is a fan of the band’s discography. In an interview with Loudwire in 2022 he mentioned some of his favorite albums of all time. One of them was “Led Zeppelin IV”, released in 1971.
The album has the classics “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, “Stairway To Heaven”, “Going To California” and “When The Levee Breaks”.
In a conversation with The Quietus back in 2016 he talked about some of his favorite albums of all time and one of them was again, “Led Zeppelin IV”. Mustaine recalled that one of the first bands that he learned how to play on guitar was Zeppelin. “As I got more and more into them, Jimmy Page increasingly became a hero of my mine to the point that he’s by far my biggest hero. If you listened to those records, and you were able to isolate all the guitar tracks, you’d probably say, ‘Wow, this track sounds awful. Wow, that track sounds awful too.’ Not the performance. But the tone of it. But he was such a master at what he did. They were able to blend those things and give it such a unique sound,” Dave Mustaine said.