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  • When Giants Walked the Earth

  • A Biography of Led Zeppelin
  • Written by: Mick Wall
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

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When Giants Walked the Earth

Written by: Mick Wall
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's Summary

Led Zeppelin rose to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time. Mick Wall, respected rock writer and former confidant of band members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, unflinchingly tells the story of the band that wrote the rulebook for on-the-road excess and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction, and death.

Wall also recounts, in a series of flashbacks, the life stories of the five individuals that made the dream a reality: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and their infamous manager, Peter Grant.

Finally, the full, shocking story is told from the inside.

©2009 Mick Wall (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What the critics say

"So this is the big one: a fat, juicy biography of the biggest band ever....Mick Wall, the veteran rock journalist, lays it all bare in a book that can only be described as definitive." ( Daily Telegraph)
"That Wall can add so much fresh detail to the Led Zep story is in itself an extraordinary achievement. That he manages to humanize these planet-striding giants while doing so puts this book into the 'definitive' category." ( Classic Rock magazine)
"Wall painstakingly traces Zeppelin's development and musical pedigree. His access and attention to detail make this a definitive work….an essential source for anyone eager to learn about the era when rock stars ruled the world." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about When Giants Walked the Earth

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great story, great performance

Unfortunately, there were so many repetitive areas within the story, and character changes that made it confusing and disappointing. I still loved hearing about all the things zeppelin, but not so much about Crowley....
All in all I enjoyed the book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Large chip on shoulder

I found it difficult to get through this book. If you can sift through the authors bias and jealousy to get at actual facts and valid story's then go for it. Otherwise Mick Walls obvious hyper critical garbage is hard to deal with. I wanted to hear a biography of the band - not a critical treatise written by a failed artist who now takes it out on those that succeeded.

The narration was superlative! Simon Vance is a pro!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great details but hard work to listen to

This is a detailed book with tons of interesting stories about how the band got together and how they regularly crossed paths with other legends like Steve Winwood,Ron Wood, Bev Bevan - all these great names working the session and touring circuits in the mid 1960s. But the presentation and narration for me were really hard to take. I could do without the second-person flashbacks. They are jarring and obtuse. If Mick Wall had actually had these conversations, then they would have served as a great central thread. But when the introduction says "I made this stuff up," well, it takes away some of the credibility of the piece, just like learning your favorite singer used a voice double to record a tune. Added to this is the distracting cockney narration. Simon Vance does a fine job for most of the book - the third-person narrative - but blimey, mate! Just because Led Zeppelin is a British band doesn't mean the audience needs to be reminded of this in every sentence. It's like a bio of Tim McGraw or Garth Brooks narrated by Foghorn Leghorn or Gomer Pyle. If Jimmy or Robert had said it, then, fine, that's character. But as second person narration, I personally found it a bloody bit over the bloody top, eh, major? Overall a great history of the band for those looking for the intricacies of their collective genius, but I would love to read Version 2, in third person only. Alright, guv?

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