Re-Led-Ed; The Best Of Dread Zeppelin CD

Deja Voodoo is Dread Zeppelin's first album for Cleopatra, and it finds them trying to expand their sonic palette to include bits of hip-hop, techno, and lounge jazz. Pile that on top of the band's still-intact hybrid of Led Zeppelin, Elvis, and reggae, and the results are bizarre indeed. It's admirable that Dread Zeppelin is trying to push their sound forward this far into their career, and the decision to return almost exclusively to Zep material (following experiments with less specialized classic rock covers and original compositions) helps give the project a tighter focus. ~ Steve Huey

Dread Zeppelin's years on the Cleopatra label (from 2000 on) are covered on Re-Led-Ed; The Best of Dread Zeppelin, a fair collection that can be your second purchase of this limited band. The group's cheeky combination of reggae, Led Zeppelin tunes, and an Elvis impersonating frontman really rocked on their 1990 debut, Un-Led-Ed. Since then, synths and sequencing have made them dreamy and clever, not what everybody looks for in a novelty party band. With electronics and the absence of its oh-so-identifiable riff, "Kashmir" is a breezy highlight, and an example of how crafty these musicians are. Their version is memorable, as are their "Lemon Song" and "Going to California," but there's some dull and pointless material here, too much for a "best-of." If you can't get enough of their debut, Re-Led-Ed has half-an-album's worth of Un-Led-Ed excitement. It's an easy way to cherry pick from some bad albums and hear how this one-trick pony of a band mellowed and trip-hopped into their later years. ~ David Jeffries

Dread Zeppelin: Gerg "Tortelvis" Tortell, Bruce "Ed" Zeppelin (vocals); Howard "Bob Knarley" Ulyate (guitar, keyboards, bass); Gary "Buttboy" Putman (guitar, background vocals); Christian "Spice" Boerin (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixer: Bob Knarley.