Likewise, covering more current albums by bands that are still touring and offering their own music firsthand hasn't garnered much interest, he says, citing Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run as an example. He has received some compliments, albeit indirectly, from the musicians he's mined. "Brian May of Queen heard we were covering A Night at the Opera — which is like algebra; it's that tough — and told the person he was talking to, 'What were they thinking? The guy must have a drinking problem.' John Paul Jones heard we did Led Zeppelin IV and supposedly said, 'Good bloody luck. Good bloody luck!' "
With plans to tour Europe in 2010, Martin has huge hopes for the future. "My ultimate dream is that someday Paul McCartney or Jimmy Page will tell me, 'We want to thank you for treating our music with such respect and carrying it on.' " Maybe they'll also thank Martin for that nudge in their royalty checks as well. "People come up to us after our concerts and ask where they can buy a CD of the show," Martin muses. "I tell them go to the record store and buy the original album."
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