Very nice day today.
In terms of music stuff, I have some goodies to share. Tomorrow, going into the studio with S::S, getting drum sounds all right and tight, should be great fun. In terms of reviews etc., I have a bit of a treat. If you like rock. Here we go!
Quick rundown of grading:
0.0 - 2.0/10 - Shit Purchase
2.1 - 4.0/10 - Poor Purchase
4.1 - 6.0/10 - Average Purchase
6.1 - 8.0/10 - Good Purchase
8.1 - 9.0/10 - Great Purchase
9.1 - 10/10 - Excellent Purchase
Led Zeppelin - Discography
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So I'm just going to assume people know the story here with the group, there's nothing really that I can share that would be much more insightful than a quick wiki and internet dig. So, Led Zeppelin (1). Everyone remembers when they first heard this album, such a unique musical sound to the whole thing. Heavy but wholesome, so many nuggets of awesomeness and modest displays of musical ability. Essentially there's not a bad song on here, and I realise even doing this review is extremely cliched. But I haven't listen to Led Zep properly for a good couple of years, and when you actually sit down and listen to the albums objectively, you can really fall in love with them all over again.
Speaking of love, and a lotta love, this brings me to Led Zeppelin II (2). Pretty bad-arse, thick guitar tones, wicked drumming, very sexual lyrics and imagery, I remember blushing when I listened to this all the way back in grade 7 or something. The whole album exemplifies Zep's 'tight but loose' approach to live performances, especially seeing as this was recorded on the road during 1969. Some of these songs are blogs in themselves, Heatbreaker, Ramble On...all classic. Basically, all the live versions of these songs shit all over the studio ones, just because they don't sound as proper and are so much more raw and energetic, not to say that there aren't moments of brilliance, of course. The most bizarre track is surely Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman), which should have come about 5 years before this album did. Drums sounded better on Led Zep I, in my opinion.
Led Zeppelin III (3) is a tough one, but at the same time an easy one. Let me just say very quickly that I was never a fan of their acoustic stuff save for a couple of songs. And let me say that Friends, Hats Off To (Roy) Harper, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Gallows Pole aren't among them. I respect the idea and of course they are quite good songs, but Since I've Been Loving You has got to be the highlight. This is one of the ultimate sad songs for me. It brings you down with the start, then by the guitar solo something is definitely brewing inside you, resulting in one of the greatest climactic guitar solos I've ever heard. Plant's delivery is flawless, the drums sound amazing, the organ is so moody it's unreal. Out On The Tiles could probably be my theme song. Unless it was Houses Of The Holy, but we'll get to that.
Led Zeppelin IV/Zoso/whatever (4). Don't really need to say anything about this one, other than that if Going To California wasn't on there the album would be perfect in every way. I wish they would've fucked off the acoustic stuff onto one album so they didn't have to screw up my enjoyment of the finest-crafted heavy music on the planet.
Houses Of The Holy (5), I thought this was probably their most consistent album since the debut, no lame acoustic pandering, just all prog and rock. This album sounds like fun. And it is fun! The opening double of The Song Remains The Same/The Rain Song couldn't have been done better, atmospheric and powerful, I've listened to these songs on repeat many many times. Over The Hills And Far Away sucks compared to what it became live, a grooving, heavy beast of a tune, here it just sounds too tame. Bonzo's drums are too low in the mix, too much acoustic guitar...blah blah.... The Crunge is on par with Eddie Murphy in terms of humourous tribute to James Brown: "I'm just trying to find the bridge!". When I heard the drums I made sure I learnt it straight away and could play it perfectly by the next week's band practice back in grade 11. So great to hear musicians having fun, especially as seeing Robert's crooning and uber dorky keyboards may not be to everyone's tastes. No Quarter is the best track on here by a mile. I can't believe they had to resort to ripping of Sean Kingston for D'yer Mak'er though, really guys, I expected more. The Ocean is a fun song, much more powerful live though.
Ok. Let's talk about some real shit. Physical Graffiti (6). From the fuzzy guitar and clavinet opening of Custard Pie, it's clear something epic is about to happen. Basically the first 7 songs are absolute classic (this includes Kashmir, In My Time Of Dying, Trampled Underfoot, Houses Of The Holy), that has to be some kind of streak. If you ignore Bron-Yr-Aur and Down By The Seaside I personally don't think you'd be missing much. Ten Years Gone is every bit sad and moving as Stairway, The Rain Song or Since I've Been Loving You. A great story combined with watery guitars and excellent songwriting makes this an absolute treat. Night Flight sounds like it could have been sung in Motown by someone like Clarence Carter. I really like what they've done with it. The Wanton Song is a favourite of mine, particularly because of the chorus, that chord progession is amazing, nothing comes close to comparison or describing what I feel when I hear it. Forget Boogie With Stu and Black Country Woman, Sick Again is a solid rocker which was a great staple in their sets from '75 - '77. Despite some interesting experimentation, this album is solid gold, the only one being heavier or more bad arse being.....
Presence. (7)
Achilles Last Stand is probably one of the greatest songs ever written. Epic in every way, an extremely complex and difficult song, you can't pause or stop this song once it plays, it's instantly captivating and the perfect way to start off Page's guitar swan song (no pun intended). For Your Life is a fantastic song and ridiculously heavy, bluesy romp. Royal Orleans/Hots On For Nowhere/Candy Store Rock are good songs and feature impressive riffing, but unfortunately not as strong as Achilles or Nobody's Fault But Mine or Tea For One. The former is a phaser-heavy guitar-glory jam, the latter, a heavy-starting shimmering desert blues. Brilliant. Have to be in the mood for it though.
The movie mostly sucked, but the performance pieces are where it's at, and that's just what the Soundtrack To The Song Remains The Same (8) is all about. I think it's superior to the reissue mainly because of the version of No Quarter, featuring one of Page's best solos (live or studio) without a doubt, which is chopped and changed on the reissue. A shame. The recording does sound a bit dated but does keep the theme of the film and having heard the bootlegs it's a fair representation of their fabled performances at the Madison Square Garden in 1973.
Led Zeppelin Vs. Impending 80s doom. In Through The Out Door (9) is the venue. How do they fare? Well if you were listening to the album for the first time and heard In The Evening, you'd be chuckling to yourself gleefully. However after South Bound Saurez starts up you find yourself in unfamiliar territory. Not in the sense that they're having a bit of harmless fun with a boogie down, but it actually seems like a lot (too much) serious thought went into this song. A shame. Fool In The Rain is great for two reasons: 1. The drums. 2. That octave/fuzz pedal Jimmy uses for his solo. Not a huge fan of the street-party fiesta break down, but I can live with it with all the other incredible musicianship on display. Hot Dog. A turd. A Turd Hot Dog. I actually quite like Carouselambra, I mean, if I was limited to the number of presets on a synthesizer that John Paul Jones probably was back in 1978, I would've thought the opening sounded pretty cool. It seriously dates the recording though, which sucks, because you don't have that problem with almost all of their other work. The bridge is amazing though, a suitable reward for listening to 10 minutes of keyboard work most bands would imitate nowdays to be funny. If you just cut to 4:05, you'll be fine, that's where the glory starts. Trust me. All My Love is a great song, but it suffers from the god awful synths again. Everything else is fine. Closer I'm Gonna Crawl is a track I nearly always skip, and I can't find any justification to reverse that decision.
Coda (10), you really either love or hate this one. I personally think the new songs that they were working on fucking sucked, I'm kind of glad they appeared on here rather than squeezed out as the turd-twin to In Through The Out Door. It's good for a couple of old rarities and Bonzo's Montreux, but not really essential. Which makes sense because it's not really an album. Sigh.
The first disc of BBC Sessions (11) is great; a collection of various early radio spots for the BBC in 1969 (mostly, I think). Some hot and not-so-hot versions of classics such as You Shook Me, Communication Breakdown and my favourite The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair (which would later become Moby Dick). A good document of the early bluesy live sound of the band if you're not keen on straying from the official releases. Disc 2 is a concert from 1971, warts and all. A very raw and revealing recording, probably didn't help that Robert's voice wasn't in great shape. It has its moments though.
How The West Was Won (12). I'm not saying anything about it. Discover it yourself, then see what happens.
Finally, The Song Remains The Same reissue (13). Now, you can't have the reissue and not the original, so you really should get both, because they're both great in their own ways and together they form a more complete document of the performances. I'd still go the original over this any day, but I've got both so it doesn't really matter. Yay!
I do realise I've left a lot out about the albums, but I'm leaving it to you to discover them and enjoy them in your own way, that's the best part.
Ok. So how do Zep Score? (I'm scoring them relative to each other)
(1)::: 10/10 - Excellent Purchase - Led Zeppelin
(2)::: 9.4/10 - Excellent Purchase - Led Zeppelin II
(3)::: 8.9/10 - Great Purchase - Led Zeppelin III
(4)::: 9.7/10 - Excellent Purchase - Led Zeppelin IV
(5)::: 9.5/10 - Excellent Purchase - Houses Of The Holy
(6)::: 9.6/10 - Excellent Purchase - Physical Graffiti
(7)::: 9.7/10 - Excellent Purchase - Presence
(8)::: 8.5/10 - Great Purchase - The Song Remains The Same Soundtrack (Original)
(9)::: 6.8/10 - Good Purchase - In Through The Out Door
(10)::: 5.9/10 - Average Purchase - Coda
(11)::: 8.0/10 - Good Purchase - BBC Sessions
(12)::: 28/10 - You can't not have this. - How The West Was Won
(13)::: 8.0/10 - Good Purchase - The Song Remains The Same Soundtrack (Reissue)
Thanks for reading, go forth and listen!
- James
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