XYZ (ex Yes Zeppelin) - "Mind Drive"

[rocknrollcola]

Some of this material sounds like material you could include on Death Wish II.

[joe10864336]

It's a shame that this project was not actually...

[hdrake1000]

There is also A Scream for Help Movie Soundtrack w/John Paul Jones and it has Jon Anderson (yes) and Jimmy Page. I have the soundtrack and I know it exists I believe that is really where the XYZ Band and rumors of the band got started.

[Gretschguy5119]

Holy Grail. This song is so awesome, Chuck Norris took awesome lessons from it. This song is so awesome, it radiated backwards in time and rubbed off on the young Jimmy Page, making him future-awesome.

[DaveNuma]

This is an amazing history lesson. Nice one matey!

[yes901251000]

ギターはダンエレクトロだろうか？

[ludwigvan17]

Yeah, it's ashame this didn't go on. I mean, this sounds frickin' awesome but the only thing is that, overtime, it's really repetitive. I think this is one of those things where Page was laying down the background and was prolly planning on doing some cool overdubs and stuff. It really would have been interesting to see what this might have turned into.

[lastertower]

He could have done anything with these guys. I'm sure he had about 5 more guitar parts ready for this song. I think it would have been incredible...maybe an instrumental album? Or would they have gotten a singer?

[gh9448]

@lastertower Plant was supposed to be the singer and attended one rehearsal session, but what I've read, it thought the music was too complex and they also couldn't settle on who should manage the group-Zep's former manager Peter Grant or Brian Lane, Yes' former manager. So 4 demos are all that supposedly exist.

[ClockworkOrangeABC]

Zep and Yes are two of my all-time fav bands. Had no idea that Mind Drive (1997 version) originated from XYZ! We can only dream what could've been of this supergroup!

Btw, interesting to note that Page didn't receive a credit for Mind Drive (1997 version).

[LedWilde]

I can't find the comment now but someone mentioned that if Robert didn't want to do this, they could have found another singer. Then that person, by surprise to me, suggested Siouxsie Sioux. I can hear that actually. I do think she would have worked with this band when I listen to this music. Not only that, the music would have been better than her band was and would she have been a bigger legend if she was in this band if it took off.

[insaneorama]

All these years i've been listening to this song off of Yes' Keys to Ascension 2 album, and i had no idea that this song went back that far (and that jimmy page was involved!) how fn cool!

[mawel1955]

When I first heard of XYZ I thought the line up would naturally be:

Jimmy Page: Guitar

Chris Squire: Bass, Vocals

John Paul Jones: Keyboards

Robert Plant: Vocals

Alan White: Drums

I think with only Squire, Page and White participating, the project wasn't really taken seriously at the time.

[Luxmaxnike]

@mawel1955 they were still looking for a singer and bass player

[jroxx11211]

@Luxmaxnike this was chris squire on bass

[Luxmaxnike]

@jroxx11211 I know now. thank you anyway.

[karlmoles65]

OMG JIMMY WITH CHRIS SQUIRE!?!?!?!?!?!?!!

[zlonxman]

This is fascinating! Zeppelin and Yes were two of my all-time favorite bands. To hear Pagey jamming with Squire and White is a treat I never thought I'd get to enjoy. It's too bad Plant didn't dig this music. XYZ COULD HAVE SAVED MUSIC IN THE 80S! Instead, we got a Death Wish soundtrack and Owner of a Lonely Heart.

[pigeonapocalypse]

@zlonxman Im totally with you man. If John Paul Jones got in on this on keys and Plant on vocals..... man..... just..... wow, cant even fathom how badass that wouldve been O.O

[kettlezone]

I think it could have worked if Plant had been allowed to do his own thing over the grooves - I think Squire saw them as finished songs? I don't know! I don't think Plant wanted to do it anyway? :-)

[MysteryClown000]

@kettlezone Apparently Plant didn't dig prog all that much. He wasn't too keen on the project.

[calculoramas]

sounds like carrouselambra to me... it's a shame this band never came out

[zzzxxyy]

@calculoramas I think Robert Calvert or Peter Gabriel or the lead vocalist from UFO (forgot his name) would have worked well with Page/Squire/White.

[motleycrue24]

@tuktuktok ya im pretty sure he was serious

[ToujoursLAmour]

This could have been the first Tool.

[metalfiend124]

i love song and had the 3 songs but not their titles.it was about 20 minutes long. i show my friends this all the time. this rules. did you hear jimi hendrix was going to have a session elp but died 2 weeks before it happened. the media was giong to call it HELP. i'm convinced this would have happened. hendrix was curious about jazz fusion at the time.thanks for sharing.

[proferic]

Would have been a great band.

[nooroloyia]

what a bummer that they never released a record together ... i think this sounds great. when i imagine how they could have evolved ... i feel emense disappointment that they didn't continue together. this sound is sooo 1981! and incredibly progressive ... and to my ears ... timeless. if robert didn't want to sing, no problem .. back then, they should have asked siouxsie sioux to join them... imagine ...

[billzebubba]

@Cliner98 Amen. Why does every artistic endeavor have to be a goddamn competition? Enjoy what you enjoy, and let the others out there do likewise.

[starrshiptrooper]

This is rockin'

[nedmarc]

Squire and White really tightened this up on "Keys To Ascension 2", but it is just a demo, so loose is cool!

[SalemNews]

Light and shade is Page's description of the technique he created for Led Zeppelin, which was archetypal for future bands to replicate in numerous ways.

[frankndebois]

I have to agree with Ken, have you ever really paid attention to what Alex Lifeson, Steve Howe, John Petrucci, Steve Morse, Trevor Rabin, Frank Zappa, or even James Young, etc. have done with 'light & shade'? Get real... there are many really good guitar players that have paved new ground, whether others took it or not. Music is music, loops are loops, the difference is true musicianship & true musicianship will come back around like it always has, then others will pave more road...

[slagdraggin1313]

Leave The Nuge out of this...Not the sametype of style!!!

[vgmc7650]

Are these demos being kept in a trust-box somewhere until Page retrieves them? That would be the right thing to do...

[madtnt]

you have to kind of give Page a pass on this project ... he was so whacked on heroin and coke. He was a mess. And I am a huge fan. JPJ was a savoir to Zep for finishing Presence and In thru the Outdoor

[arby2112]

Nugent once called Page "old fumble fingers". I'd agree. Listening to Page play live, there's a LOT of technical errors. I don't have a horse in this race but I think Howe's more technically saavy and a disciplined creativity make me appreciate his musical expression a bit more than Page's. Give them any keyboardist you want and Zeppelin would have a much harder time covering Yes songs than Yes would have covering Zeppelin songs. Musical ability and complexity of compositions...advantage..YES!­!

[JackBlair2]

But Page was a genius at producing, arranging, and getting AMAZING guitar sounds. He was really like a self-contained orchestra. Howe was more like one section of an orchestra.

[arby2112]

Well stated.

[ktchadwell1]

Nugent should stick to writing mediocre songs and preaching right wing politics...I challenge him to write something like the Rain Song or Achilles Last Stand..Page is about creating a feeling..about a mood..although from 69 thru 73, very few could mach him in the technique department.

[Ken5244]

I agree. Has Nugent ever written one really high quality song? I haven't heard his entire catalog, but just about every track has been crotch rock, hasn't it? It could be argued there's a place for that, of course, and he can be amusing, but he's light years behind Page as a songwriter and guitarist.

Having said that, Page admits to being sloppy. He once said that the SRTS show from Madison Square Garden contains "lots of howling guitar mistakes." He can be great, but he's inconsistent.

[vettezeppelin]

Steve Howe can't do what Jimmy Page does...Page can't do what Steve Howe does but Page has something that no other guitarist has...that combination of technical skill with the raw emotion, power, light and shade, vision and composition...no one comes close. Howe is a great guitarist but there is lots of those...there is only one Jimmy Page!

[Ken5244]

Quote: " ... but Page has something that no other guitarist has...that combination of technical skill with the raw emotion, power, light and shade, vision and composition...no one comes close."

I agree he had all those things (although I'm not sure what you mean by "light and shade"), but there've been other guitarists with similar skill sets: Eric Johnson in his younger days, Brian May, Alex Lifeson, Michael Schenker, Rik Emmett and Eddie VH come to mind. Who's "better" is subjective.

[vettezeppelin]

Ken5244..Thank you for your reply. The guitarists you name are all great in their own right so no argument there. What I mean by light and shade is the ability to make a song dark like No Quarter or light like Down by the Sea Side or to do solos or riffs soft or hard or sad or aggressive or difficult or easy though playing style, sound choices etc...when you look at the different music that Page & Zeppelin took on, that's where I say Page has no equal but we agree all of this is subjective.

[Ken5244]

I'm with 'ya. I grew up on Page and he's always been one of my fave players, for the reasons you list & more. I've always thought he was one of the most imaginative guitarists, both playing-wise and compositionally.

I agree that Zep probably covered more musical ground than some of the bands of the other players I listed, so Page's diversity was on display more often. Neither UFO nor VH were as diverse as Zep, but their guitarists were better than Page in some areas. It's all relative, eh?

[alfislo]

@Ken5244: "light and shade" is expression Page uses when descibing soft, quiet playing and then switch to rockier stufff... it's in It Might Get Loud

[Blueindiefree]

I think it is a testament to chris squire that no one even bothers to compare John Paul to him. No hard feelings to John, it's just Chris is Jimi Hendrix's white brother. Also Bonzo whips Alan.

[metallibass95]

People not having the same opinion is the point of debate. If you don't like the discussion, don't read the comments.

[123dsliz]

I'm glad that Steve got the final product he is a superior more technical player Jimmy he is a good guitar player but he lucks in technical sabe of how to carry the song in a superior lebel like Steve with his acoustical abiliy to make it a culure classic! Sorry Jimmy you are great in Led but that is about it!

[Blueindiefree]

Sorry 123 but you need to learn how to spell don't compare Jimmy and Steve. Things would get ugly.

[LeoHareMusic]

Does Jimmy get any credits/royalties from the final Yes version of this? It's his riff, apparently, that Steve is playing.

[vanfer22]

you'd put some pictures to video

[Tengent]

You're silly and obviously haven't heard enough Zeppelin. :)

[vanfer22]

I listened to Led zappelin enough to say that Steve Howe is much better than Jimmy Page

[Tengent]

Sure Howe might be, I think that as well, but Jimmy sure as hell isn't a loser.

[vanfer22]

I apologize, I said as a joke. jimmy is not a loser, is a good guitarist

[Tengent]

No problem. :D

[ledzep147]

spelling led zeppelin correctly would have made your comment a lot more credible!

[vanfer22]

I write as I like

jimmy makes blues, country, psychedelia, jazz, classical music, progressive?

I do not think so

[Donovan37343]

Aye They Both are good, Cause They Tie in my opinion. But its like Apples and Oranges man

[metallibass95]

Technically Steve Howe was a far better guitarist than Jimmy Page, especially considering technique, ability, etc. Jimmy Page has always had poor technique, his left and right hands often don't sync up, resulting in a sloppy, distorted mess.

[elviszeppelin]

Watch the last Zeppelin dvd that came out with a concert from 1970. Page could do whatever he wanted then. Heroin definitely wasn't a friend to Page after that. He became a sloppy mess

[abrahamlincoln0900]

always , huh ?

[Satiaraha]

Yes you're right i love the sound of pege for blues, blues-rock, rock, experimental, and hard rock with a great Feeling but nothing else but wow Steve is amazing technique he can pick and finger style at the same time using raggtime, he can play blues with elegance and sweet feeling (not so high but lovely) he can play Jazz, Jazz-fusion, Heavy rock, classical Experimetal b-sides he is very versatile he can perform with any kind of music and finally his multi-voice guitar is so clean and pure

[ludwigvan17]

Yeah, but soloing aside, Jimmy has written FAR better songs as a whole. And all of Jimmy's solos are memorable whereas Howe's solos are great but rarely have the ability to be burned in your memory like Page's.

[abrahamlincoln0900]

god is fake and you are a cretin

[zitro1987]

Wow, I didn't know that the main theme of Mind Drive came from XYZ jams.

[rodcrippler]

besides, it's not surprise they didnt credited page in the song mind drive, they probably used the bass/drums base of the song and change the guitar bits so page wouldnt have to be credited, that's what they did with another demo from XYZ that was later turned to song in yes' magnification album: can you imagine

[thewanderingmessage]

I'm not sure the stories here are accurate. In fact XYZ as I understod it was Chris Squire, Alan White and Jimmy Page. I'm not aware of Plant ever being involved-or Jon Anderson.

Funny that

"mind Drive" doesn't credit Page as having anything to do with it. Trevor Rabin tells the story that when he hooked up with Alan and Chris they used all the XYZ material on 90125 .

I think what you have here is a studio Run through of Mind Drive from 95-96 ish

[Advaitamusic]

definitely Page here. early 80s. second half of this tune was reworked into a Firm tune.

[rodcrippler]

XYZ was expecting plant to join them to officialize them as a band, but plant didn't like (or get along) the musical style of alan white and chris squire, so he turned them down, few months later they stop the project.

[deapwavelio]

Too bad.

[scarfacedan09]

Robert attended a rehersal but didnt like the complexity of the music

[ledzeplad]

I go with your version of events.

[alexauyeung]

great thanks

[0011011100]

This is legendary material, Just wondering where you got these clips and if there was a chance I could get these songs as well.

[Scaremonger456]

this project would have been amazing.

In fact, 80% of all good music ideas are dropped because Robert Plant is a snob.

[croke66]

if plant would not of dropped out of this it would of materialized. i remeber hearing about this in 81 after yes split after the drama tour. thanx robert !!!

[mlmr11]

Unbelievable this song is still around!!

Yes did this at Tsongas arena in 03

[2008AndAYes]

2004 actually.

[josewaters]

This is quite cool, actually

[FlavorRed]

This would have been way better than The Firm. This band should have happened!

[SeanusAran]

The Dream Team That Never Was. This would have been one of the best bands of the 80's.

[acerrite]

@SeanusAran Most definitely!

[eennymo]

Oh, this sounds so cool! Love this song as YES did it. AWESOME!

[jdoget07]

Oh GOD FUCKING YEAH!!! I had NO idea that the origins of Mind Drive started back in the 80's. It is awesome to hear this song in it's embryonic stage. But I am only speaking from a credibility standpoint.

Unfortunately, Jimmy Page sounds like shit. The chords sound choppy and static. I never really like Page as a guitarist personally but I am so happy that Steve Howe helped polish up things in order to create the most orgasmic Yes epic on the planet!

[poormansmissile]

I think there's two instrumentals here.

The second has the sound of Chris playing the ranney 8string.

[obsidiansands1]

Glad that Yes did this tune on "Keys To Ascension"- it is a great riff. Would have been nice if they could have done just one album. Page & Plant bring the grit, Squire & White the flash. Nice...

[vivelavidarocka]

Dude do you hear that bass and drums going "tototototot ... totototototo" Well that's a Yes sound. Maybe you don't like Yes, but no reason to disrespect Us, the Yes fans. BTW those other "two other guys" just happen to be the best in their instruments, So, WTF are you talking about.

[untziggy4]

He's complaining that the 2 Yes members wouldn't have gotten the credit they deserved, they would have just been overshadowed by "ZOMG, half of Zeppelin!" even though Plant's singing was shit by then. And of course poor JPJ, left out in the cold again.

[bassrocketsauce]

he wasn't dissing the yesmen, dude. he was saying that no one would've payed attention to them. hes saying that all the little led zeppelin fans would've gone to the show and gotten high to watch jimmy and robert play stairway or something, and not payed attention to the rhythm section.

[elviszeppelin]

Maybe if Bill Bruford were playing drums they would've paid attention. Alan White bores the hell out of me. I like the famous guy to be a better drummer than I am.

[Blueindiefree]

That would be true if it weren't chris squire on bass. However people went to yes concerts to see chris and that band had a flash guitarist too so I think it would be a fair match.

[HughHoyland]

If any reunion happens, I hope its these guys, back in the studio. To continue this path. Damn it sounds like it could be good.

[HughHoyland]

The three XYZ songs that I've heard of XYZ sound better than anything Mr Robert "Im so progressive and hip and beyond Led Zep" Plant has produced to date. (Including his duo with the country girl crap)

[SeanusAran]

Yeah, Plant is the perfect example of a singer that isn't worth shit without the band he was in.

[FlavorRed]

And better than the Firm as well.

[2008AndAYes]

During the Yes Union Tour, Alan White and Bill Bruford did a drum solo that had the main riff from Mind Drive.

[HughHoyland]

This sounds like it had potential to be something good, to bad it didnt get off the ground. From what I understand the story is the yes boys blame Page and Plants interpersonal relationship at the time for the project falling apart.

[kentamundo]

The second part of this instrumental became the basis for The Firm's "Fortune Hunter" off of their _Mean Business_ album. Squire was not credited.

He quipped that he would have sued... had the album made any appreciable profit.

[Brainslide01]

I would have to see if I can dig it up, but I'm pretty sure Page was working on that Fortune Hunter part during the Physical Graffitti rehearsals. There's a bootleg of that floating around somewhere.

[Brainslide01]

I would have to see if I can dig it up, but I'm pretty sure Page was working on that Fortune Hunter part during the Physical Graffitti rehearsals. There's a bootleg of that floating around somewhere.

[tuktuktok]

Thanks, no problem. Glad people enjoy them.

[7syn]

I have never noticed that say did the song before Keys To Ascension.

Now I now why some parts of Keys were so good.

But without Jons voice the song is not so intersting.

Thanks

[MikeYESfan]

Thanks, Great to hears this!

VERY Cool

To bad jimmy never hit it big ;)

and hears another feather in Alans cap.....

Love the smell of the Fish..HRB....:)

Peace

[randallcraig]

Good power trio!

[vzqk50]

Nice find! I would love to put some video to it.