When it comes to legendary guitar players, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page has been consistently topping the lists of countless music lovers for decades. Also counted among the most iconic axe men in rock history is Neil Young — but the two musicians have drastically different styles of playing. So it makes sense that one epic ’90s collaboration featuring Page and Young would result in mixed reactions…but no one could have predicted that people would still be arguing about the performance decades later.
In 1995, when both Led Zeppelin and Young were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they took the stage together to perform a rendition of Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” featuring a particularly unforgettable solo from Young (and a bit of surprise additional shredding by Robert Plant).
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In keeping with initial reactions to the performance, commenters on a recently shared clip were divided by Young’s contribution.
“Sigh. Young cannot play solos. Great talents, but not on the guitar. And everyone being polite and pretending, like he’s the 4 year old kid brother pretending. This is embarrassing,” one person wrote, with another calling the clip “painful.”
However, others were quick to defend Young.
“People saying Neil was bad don’t understand this era of music and what this was about. Sorry it wasn’t auto tuned for you,” somebody argued.
“I frigging love Neil Young’s guitar solos,” someone else declared, adding, “Probably because I usually dislike guitar solos. All these so-called guitar heroes boring us with their ‘fret work’, yawn. Feel the passion, not the ‘technical ability.'”
“Boo boo Neil Young can’t play, he sucks, boo hoo” – dude sitting at home with his phone, who will never be remembered for his contributions to music, unlike Neil Young,” quipped yet another fan.
One person who was reportedly thrilled with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame collab was Young himself, who had such a positive experience performing with Zeppelin that he considered recording an entire album with the band, according to Rolling Stone.
While that never came to pass, Young did write a song inspired by the experience, per American Songwriter — “Downtown,” the lead single on his 1995 album Mirror Ball (recorded with members of Pearl Jam).
Related: Legendary Rock Star, 79, Thrills Fans With Rare Throwback Pic on Anniversary of Iconic Performance