Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin’s golden-haired frontman, once said, “John [Bonham] was the greatest drummer in the world.” I knew this because he said so.” Aside from that pithy remark, John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham conveyed the same message to the world through his braggadocio drumming. He was the thunder that turned Led Zeppelin into a storm to behold.
Plant supported this notion, stating, “Bonzo was the main part of the band. He was the man who made whatever Page and I wrote work by holding back and not changing the tempos. I don’t think anyone in the world could replace him.” That distinctive style continues to captivate musicians to this day.
As Matt Helders of the Arctic Monkeys once stated, “He’s someone I always come back to. […] He performs a fill at the end of the ‘Moby Dick‘ solo, just before the band returns. It gives me chills, and I’m not exaggerating. I can barely express how it affects me. “It is perfect.”
However, it was not the rattle of ‘Moby Dick’s’ final throes that elicited a bombastic response from Plant. The frontman of Presence described ‘Achilles Last Stand’ as “us at our least charming. And also a most proficient—a Bonzo track where nobody could even believe a human could do it.” At 146 beats per minute, Bonham switches between 5/4 and 4/4 time like a metronome on speed and breezes through fills that bring color to the hard rock rhythm in a way that effortlessly complements the Moroccan-influenced arpeggios that dominate the melody.
The comment now has a strange AI-like foresight, but back then, no one could believe it was human for completely different reasons. Even now, drumming outperforms anything AI could create. It is because AI must invent something new simply by assimilating what has come before. So the uniqueness of Bonham’s beat here would certainly stump it.
The volley, which lasted just under 11 minutes, also demonstrates Bonham’s endurance. He may be a thunder of drums, but he is far from a passing storm. His ability to maintain not only his fury but also his innovation while never deviating from the core of what Robert Plant and Page were attempting to do is nearly unparalleled in rock. As Plant would quip, it’s almost barely human.
This sentiment refutes Keith Richards‘ criticism. It stated, “I love Jimmy Page but as a band. No, with John Bonham thundering down the highway in an uncontrolled 18-wheeler.” “He had cornered the market there.” If it’s 11 minutes of solid, rattling innovation, surely that’s the pinnacle of control? He may have been heavy, but his craft was incredibly artistic.
The fact that this transformed octopus behind the kit lays this drum track down on a song that quotes William Blake and transposes Flamenco guitar to rock stylings is another indication of Led Zeppelin’s brilliance. With so much going on, the brew they served up was bound to be interesting. This mix of Bonzo’s brilliance, the exotic influences. Page’s overdubbing studio innovation that channeled Pet Sounds. And John Paul Jones’ distant orchestral arrangement typifies exactly what made Led Zep one of the most multi-dimensional bands of all time.
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4 sticks gave Bonham fits