Hard to say which is the worst Zep album. The hardest part to admit is studio magic is what made Zep so good. I am sure younger Plant had much better chops but overdubs and good editing make him sound amazing. While Page is credited for writing some great riffs/tunes he is not a guitar god in the technical sense. Watching live performances is painful...poor sloppy playing/missed notes/cues etc. Page is great at making a studio masterpiece. It’s easy to see how drugs/alcohol affected him playing live. I get that bands like to mix it up live as it would get old playing the studio version note for note every night but there are some solos/ parts you don’t mess with as they are too perfect/iconic. But when you do and do it poorly it’s pathetic. It’s almost sad in a way to know that Zep really could not duplicate live what they could in a studio.

I think we can agree Page is sloppy but wrote great riffs/tunes. Hendrix doesn’t get a pass but his career was short. He had a unique style and it was hard to tell if he was just experimenting or completely whacked out of his mind sometimes. I think of Hendrix as an innovator. Good music is good music even if it is studio magic. Many bands are guilty of this. We could have a different thread/discussion about what musicians/bands on a technical level are the best.

Yeah...by 1999 it was cool to be sober and equipment had gotten much better and almost every band sounds good live which is a good thing. How would Ozzy/Sabbath sound if live shows were still using 30 plus year old technology?

Exactly! Being a technical expert is a different discussion. Hendrix was an innovator. He created sounds so unique and different. Page probably wrote/stole more iconic rock riffs than we realize. They all have their place in music history.