Led Zepplin's whole lotta love

Led Zeppelin may experience a whole lotta love for the group's new DVD and live album projects, but guitarist Jimmy Page cautions fans against getting their hopes up for a reunion of the legendary hard rock band.

"I promise you, with my hand on my heart, that the members of the group have not discussed ... actually getting together," says Page, 59, who formed the group in 1968 in England and subsequently disbanded it after the 1980 death of drummer John Bonham.

In between, Led Zeppelin blended blues, rock 'n' roll, rhythm and blues and Indian and Middle Eastern styles into a thunderous sonic stew that continues to be revered more than two decades later.

Page, interviewed by phone from New York, says he, vocalist Robert Plant and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones have been so busy compiling the 5-hour "DVD" and the three-CD "How the West Was Won" collections -- which hit stores May 27 -- that there's been little time to consider any sort of music-making endeavor.

The trio played together only sporadically after Led Zeppelin broke up, and not since the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Page terms the prospects for a reunion "a long shot" but doesn't necessarily rule it out.

"First we'd need to discuss it, and then we'd need to go into a room with the instruments and play some Led Zeppelin material," says Page, who also worked with Plant from 1994-98. "And then, if we can look each other in the eye and there was a smile behind those eyes, then I'd think `Yeah, there's a good possibility it might be worth considering it.'

"But until such time as that happens, it's just something which is all in the lap of the gods, really."

"DVD" and "How the West Was Won" certainly show why so many fans would like to see the group together again. The DVD compiles footage from various concerts between 1970-79; the album stitches together two June 1972 shows in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. More than the 1976 concert film "The Song Remains the Same," these projects display the explosive energy of Led Zeppelin in concert, capturing the propulsive punch of "Immigrant Song" and "Rock and Roll" as well as the lengthy improvisatory flights of "Dazed and Confused" and the majesty of the classic "Stairway to Heaven."

Page, who spent six months overseeing the two projects, says he was not immune to their virtues and had no problem letting himself appreciate what he was seeing and hearing.

"It was totally hypnotic to watch, just mesmerizing," he says. "Somehow, the four of us were so different as personalities ... but the four elements would actually create a fifth element that was so good it was eerie. And that aspect was with us from that first day to the last."

Page says that except for a few odds and ends that will likely never come out, "DVD" and "How the West Was Won" represent the entirety of Led Zeppelin's storehouse of live material. The means the next logical project would be much --desired reunion -- but, he repeats, don't hold your breath.

"Everyone wants to see it happen," he acknowledges, "but you've got to make sure you're doing it for the right reason. I know what the right reasons are, because I've been witnessing it by looking at all this footage and listening to all this old material. I know what made the band tick.

"But I won't do it because somebody says `Oh, they've booked a tour for you to do,' and I wouldn't do it because somebody said `Oh, you can make multi-million dollars out of it,' either. The real reason would be because of the music, and we'd have to see if everyone was in agreement with that."