Jimmy Page Promises 'Quite Different' Direction With New Music

Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page says that he is taking his music in a 'quite different' direction and discussed the 40th anniversary of 'Physical Graffiti' in a public Q&A. Kevin Winter/Getty

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Jimmy Page says he's "warming up on the touchlines" for a live comeback.

Speaking at the West London launch of the 40th anniversary deluxe reissue for Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, the guitarist said he was making steady progress on a return to the stage. With any thoughts of a Zeppelin reunion on hold, he had previously announced plans to put a new .

The Physical Graffiti package includes an early mix of "Trampled Under Foot" entitled "Brandy & Coke"; a "rough orchestra mix" of "Kashmir" called "Driving Through Kasmir"; and a radically different take on "In the Light" from when the song was still called "Everybody Makes It Through."In the meantime, Page has been concentrating on the Zeppelin reissues, which he has personally remastered. "The response has been phenomenal," he said. "I knew all of the material was really great, but it was really important to set the scene right from the beginning and explain the fact that they were companion discs. It's been a real fun project to do because I know what's coming – and there's some great surprises."

In a good-natured public Q&A, Page said such alternate versions showed the band's huge creativity at the time. "Everyone was really shining," he said. "It's so good to be able to present this, because you can see the bare bones of it, but you also know what it becomes. It's a really good illustration of why this whole companion disc series is so good."

"There was a baby grand piano in the main sitting room," said Page. "John Paul Jones had gone over hoping it was going to be a great concert grand, and it was just impossible. It probably hadn't been tuned for 20 years and it was really dusty, but Stu just sat there and started rolling out this wonderful boogie-woogie – he was a master at that style of piano, he had an incredible knowledge and understanding of it. Stu wouldn't make a solo album – he was very shy about that – so I thought, 'Here he is, let's just get him recording' because it was just such fun."Page also reminisced about recording the album at Headley Grange in Hampshire, England, remembering how a visiting Ian Stewart, former keyboard player and road manager with the Rolling Stones, inspired the album's "Boogie with Stu."

Zeppelin's status as the biggest band in the world also influenced what ended up on the record. "Traveling the world was a constant thing, rich with experiences," he said. "But all of it was relative to being able to play live onstage and really stretch out. The whole thing was becoming a creative process and we were living it."

The deluxe edition of Physical Graffiti will be released on February 23rd, almost 40 years to the day after the original's February 24th release.