Led Zeppelin II
(Atlantic/Polydor 1969)

1. Whole Lotta Love
2. What Is and What Should Never Be
3. The Lemon Song
4. Thank You
5. Heartbreaker
6. Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)
7. Ramble On
8. Moby Dick
9. Bring It On Home

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So, what do you want me to say about this album? That it's the second heavy metal album, still released one year before Sabbath's debut (or rather, the year before)? What would anyone want me to say about Zeppelin anyway? Let's get on with some more middle-ground controversy before someone discovers the sheer redundance of these reviews. This was actually my first acquaintance with the Zepsters once upon a time, which in turn means that what I initially had to build my notion on them on was undoubtedly their loudest and heaviest record ever, overflowing with crunchy, almost gravelly guitar histrionics. I guess one could hold the grainy and crackling production against it, but for one thing, it would be rather stupid since Page first of all already was a renowned production ace, and further on, he tried to - and did - produce heavy music in a time when there was no such thing as heavy music (almost, anyway) so it ends up being just as startling as, say, Hendrix's debut in all its calculated unpolishedness.

This is one album that first and foremost has to be judged from the point of view of the riffs rather than anything, and in that respect it doesn't disappoint. It commences with (a laugh, for about half a second before it proceeds with) one of the most classic heavy riffs ever in "Whole lotta love". Apart from that riff there is virtually no composing gone into it whatsoever, and the vocal lines are lifted from "You need lovin'" as performed by Small Faces three years earlier (which means that you'll have to check that one out), but oh my, what a performance! It continues the line of "Dazed & confused" with the psychedelic mid-section, only substituting the violin bowings with a Theremin, but the actual meat is as powerful as they would ever get and even if it's overplayed and overpraised, I for one cannot escape it being one of their most stellar moments. But don't let it overshadow "Heartbreaker" featuring yet another classic riff as well as a dexterious guitar break foreboding gazillions of future shredders, but let's not forget who's first and who's just a tasteless rip-off (*cough* Van Halen *cough*, who by the way didn't invent tapping, Steve Hackett did!). And then we have "What is and what should never be" which at gunpoint would be my bet for the best track on here, once again displaying the light-and-shade with quiet, almost jazzy, verses juxtaposed with the crashing descending chorus line.

A couple of notches below, but still on a relatively high level I'd put "The lemon song" in which they indulge in a dozen old blues tunes which all sound the same but are given a fierce guitar treatment which will give you a headache on first listen, and the sugary "Thank you" which is just a cozy little ballad with an inobtrusive melody and a tasteful organ (Jones again, of course). Then however, we're starting to tread some swampy water with the closing "Bring it on home" whose main riff is good but wasted on a rather meaningless song in the same vein as "How many more times", and the supposedly 'authentic' delta blues intro with a muddy harmonica doesn't do anything for me. Neither does "Living loving maid" whose main feature is that it's... fast, and "Ramble on" just plainly sucks. And of course, the piece de resistance "Moby Dick" is a drum solo and thusly cannot even be regarded as a song. I admit that it's impressive to bang the drumheads with one's bare palms and all, but from what I've learned this very track is assembled from bits and pieces of several different takes taped during various sessions and in that respect it seems all but totally useless. At least the live version was a bit more arranged on Bonzo's part (naturally) as well as more coherent.

It may be their heaviest record ever, but I wouldn't call it their best since I don't care that much for Zeppelin as a 'heavy' band. They were more about setting a certain 'mood', if you like, and they would indeed go on and explore that angle more effectively on the following albums. And if you're looking for something truly hard'n heavy you might as well skip to the next year and "Deep Purple in rock" for hard and Black Sabbath's debut for heavy.