Wither Jimmy Page?

Are artists most productive in their 20's to mid 30s and "dry up" afterwards? I noticed the quality of many of my favorite "60-70's classic rock artist" began dropping as they got deeper into their 30's. (Even the individual Beatles never reached the same heights as their collective younger works.) I think Page fits here. His first 5 Zep records rank among the rock canon of classics while the latter Zep albums were forgetable as he entered his 30's. With a few exceptions of this era, many artists simply ran out of "hook lines, memorable riffs, and revelancy" comparable to their 20's output. This leads me to encourage teens and 20-somethings to use this window of life to take chances - be daring, push the boundries, and follow their own muse, just as Page, Dylan, Beatles, Elvis, Simon & Garfunkel, Allman Brothers, Santana, The Who, Stones, and others did. For most artists the most fertile period is a window of a short decade or two. After that, you pray the royalty checks will carry you through to hopefully your next career. Audiogoners, what do you say?

It's surely easier to live on the cutting edge of a genre like rock when you're young.

Many classic rock artists have managed to evolve their music and hone their craft effectively though as they "live and learn".

The Moody Blues are often acclaimed as better in concert in recent years than they were back in their heyday. They also managed to adapt the themes of their new music releases well over the years, particularly Justin Hayward.

Then there is the codgey ol'Bob Dylan who just goes out there and does what he feels like doing at the moment, concert after concert, and has managed to produce some top notch material as only he can over the last 10 years. I hope I can remain as independent yet relevant as him somehow when I reach his age.....

Santana is a chameleon, able to retain a distinctive identity yet able to adapt to the times and forge new collaborations that work with most anyone. I admire his art and accomplishments more than ever these days. BTW, his music is often extremely well recorded as well, audiogoners.

I know for some time Page was doing alot of soundtracks for movies and such. His talent never withered, but the generation that saw and appreciated his talent did and the newer generations are into much different music than we rockers of the 70's and as mentioned by others some have managed to stay current and do it well. Cheers

It's not about their age. It's more about their bank account. When your rich your not near as hungry and just don't care as much any more.

Tastes change as you get older. Some artists evolve, some can't. This may be particularly true with rockers who didn't really have anything like a complete musical education, they are one-trick ponies. I just wish we could have had Hendrix and Vaughan into old age, to see what was possible. Robbie Robertson can barely play at all now. That Page isn't playing like classic Zep now should be no surprise. He's probably even sicker of Stairway than the rest of us. I admire Plant's adventurousness, but even he admits on the public television show with Raising Sand performances that he is a fish out of water, he doesn't really get what modern bluegrass is about. He may get better, I think the problem with Sand is that he tried too hard to tone down the things he is good at. I don't think he needs to pay the rent, I think he's just a wealthy musician staying busy and trying new things; besides, who would pass up a chance to play with Alison Krause? Anyone who wants to argue in favor of what the Stones are now...