Jimmy Page hopes reissuing Led Zeppelin's albums will ''inspire'' young musicians.

The 70-year-old rocker is incredibly proud of his band's music and has enjoyed trawling archives for rare and unheard material that will accompany the remastered 'I', 'II' and 'III' which are set to be released, followed later in the year by the group's other six albums.

He said: ''It's just so important to remind people what a f***ing good band Led Zeppelin was.

''I hope young musicians find it a source of inspiration. That's how I learned, and that's what's so seductive about doing this nerdish thing. Led Zeppelin have real serious musical mastery and this is passing it on. It's a cool thing to do.''

The 'Whole Lotta Love' hitmaker believes his band were so much better live than their peers, even in the early days of their career.

He said: ''You had superstars in other bands at that time. But you didn't have four who were real masters of their craft, who could play as a band like that. Not at this time. We were an amazing live band from the start and I don't mean that in an arrogant way.

''There were elements of trance music in it, repetitive riffs that rock you into a trance. We were on top of the game,. Anybody's game. Each and every one of us could have been in a band, but none would have amounted to what Led Zeppelin was.''

And Jimmy still feels privileged to have been part of the band.

He added to NME magazine: ''Led Zeppelin is the dream band anyone would want to be in. Whether by divine intervention or luck, that's what it was.''