It certainly has been a long time, as the members of the newly reformed Led Zeppelin are finding out. The band has been working overtime on new arrangements for many of their classic tunes, because Robert Plant can't hit the high notes anymore. To head off any pubescent vocal wavering, Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page have been moving the songs down to a lower key. Perhaps to offset disappointment about the concert's muted level of caterwauling, Page said that Zeppelin would debut an "intense" new song live.
This is an interesting development. On the one hand, it's cool because nobody really wants to see a bunch of rock dinosaurs trying to recapture the seventies as they edge toward their seventies. The new arrangements give a little leeway for Zeppelin to showcase some artistry and give the audience something more than a retread. The other part of the argument, however, is that maybe the band should have had more than one "intense" new song before stepping back into spotlight. Nothing would take the edge off that E-minor take of "Black Dog" like a little bit of new material. [NME]