Thomas W. Friend

This is a very long, brain-paralyzingly boring, fire and brimstone sermon that is at best laughable and at worst libelous. The author attributes the impetus for the book as a satanic vision that he experienced while at a Led Zeppelin concert in the 1970s while self-admittedly impaired by a hallucinogen. Perhaps he should examine his own psyche to determine why he interprets the world around him as satanic.

Thomas W. Friend, with a straight face, asserts that:

1. The members of Led Zeppelin “are indeed four of the most dangerous Devil worshipers to ever walk the earth.”
2. Jimmy Page and the other members of Led Zeppelin are “mediums by which Satan has been able to perform magical operations on the fans of Led Zeppelin.”
3. Led Zeppelin’s lyrics are infused with “commands” to the listeners to sell their souls to the devil.

These assertions are augmented with a mishmash of cherry-picked excerpts from the writings of Aleister Crowley which the author uses to decipher the “satanic” content of Zeppelin lyrics. The author reports he read upwards of 30 books by Crowley in the course of his research, also consulted other occult works, and attended an Ozzy Osbourne show in 1996 just for good measure.

The author and his pietistic accusations become increasingly unhinged as the book wears on. This is a self-published manuscript and therefore likely was not subjected to third-party editing, fact-checking or legal review. There are numerous books in print about Led Zeppelin written to portray the band in a negative light by authors with varied motivations. This book contains a startling level of inflammatory and libelous statements. It has either gone unnoticed or else Led Zeppelin realizes the futility of pursuing litigation against a book and author that lack a shred of credibility.… (altro)

This is the type of propagandist tome to be found piled up for sale on a table outside a tent revival in the Deep South. One is left to wonder why such a pious author would devote so much time studying "devil music" in order to write, self-publish and peddle 632 pages of soul-saving prose. Does Jesus take credit cards? The copy I found was humorously a castoff in a Goodwill junk shop, and is signed by the author with a reference to II Corinthians 11:14 written next to his signature: "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." However II Corinthians 11:19 is much more appropriate for readers of this book: "You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!"… (altro)