Led Zeppelin III
(Atlantic 1970)

1. Immigrant Song
2. Friends
3. Celebration Day
4. Since I've Been Loving You
5. Out on the Tiles
6. Gallows Pole
7. Tangerine
8. That's the Way
9. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
10. Hats Off to (Roy) Harper

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So, what do you want me to say about this album? That it's the first unplugged metal album, heralding the way for Nirvana some 20 years before the word 'unplugged' even was invented and that it let the beer-drinking crowd down in its lack of electric onslaught at the time of release? Blah blah blah, you know the drill; the Zepsters took off to the countryside and wrote an album's worth of acoustic folk ditties in order to express their artistic independence and came out with something that over time has been regarded as quite a controversial move. Well, as is the case with tenacious rock myths, that's only partly true; first of all, it wasn't very controversial at all, because they had always had that folk heritage in them, as present on songs like "Black mountain side", "Babe, I'm gonna leave you" and "Ramble on" so it was only natural to expand on that formula. Besides, this album has its share of crunching heavy rock as well, some of it among the heaviest they ever did, so screw the generalizations!

When I think of it, "III" actually contains what I consider to be their highest percentage of good songs yet, interspersed with only a handful of relative letdowns, and the acoustic approach manages to bring forth some of the prettiest melodies ever to have passed through any mixer table under Page's supervision. "That's the way" and "Tangerine", the two mellow ballads, are simply gorgeous and especially the former manages to conjure up images of laid back summer evenings in a setting of lush foilage. That resort to the Bron-Y-Aur cottage wasn't such a bad idea, after all. The song it gave name to, "Bron-Y-Aur stomp", is just a lot of fun, once again perfectly matching the cheerful lyrics about such earthbound subjects as countryside walks. The arrangement of "Gallows pole" is in the same vein, featuring celtic overtones and some rednecky banjos toward the end, and then there's the mantraic "Friends" with drones of violins drawing upon arabic influences, making it sound very plaintive. All of these tracks set a certain 'foresty' mood which I can't help but digging, especially on a summer's day when rain hangs in the air, and as far as acoustic folk shuffles go, they would never surpass this batch of songs ever again. Oh, and to get it over with, "Hats off to (Roy) Harper" is just a piece of tuneless, ear-piercing crap and I don't care if it's supposed to sound like 'authentic delta blues'; this ain't no Mississippi delta in the 1920's, it's countryside Britain 1970 damnit! But it's tacked right onto the end, so it doesn't really spoil the picture.

But even with all this, there's still the metallic side left, and it doesn't disappoint. "Immigrant song" slaps you right in the face with chasmic wailings from Plant over an instantly recognizable rythmic octave riff, fully compatible with the norse imagery it displays during its mere two minutes. The somewhat similar "Celebration day" and "Out on the tiles" work just fine as album tracks, both sporting surprisingly uplifting choruses, but the real treat comes with their finest take on the classic blues ever; "Since I've been loving you". That one is simply breathtaking on every count, and they obviously took good care of the chord structure as well as the stunning build-up of tension throughout. The guitar solos are top-notch, Plant is fully adequate in his roaring and the organ adds that final touch that makes it one of their absolute masterpieces. This is heavy blues-rock taken to its absolute height, I tell ya!

Now that I've seen it written before me, I can honestly say that apart from that Roy Harper disgrace, this album contains no low point at all even if the overall atmosphere is quite laid-back (despite outbursts like "Immigration song" and "Since I've been loving you") and most of the tracks ranging from mediocre to just good. But like I already mentioned, it's the overall mood that really captures me this time, and that reminds me what really attracted me about Led Zep once upon a time, and still attracts me for that matter: The songwriting may be so-so, but as mood setters they simply can't be beat.

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.

Review: Led Zeppelin - s/t

Led Zeppelin
(Atlantic/Polydor 1969)

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
3. You Shook Me
4. Dazed and Confused
5. Your Time Is Gonna Come
6. Black Mountain Side
7. Communication Breakdown
8. I Can't Quit You Baby
9. How Many More Times

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So, what do you want me to say about this album? That it's the first heavy metal album, released at least one year before Sabbath's debut? Forget it, I won't say that. Not because it isn't true or anything, it's just that it doesn't matter since I'm setting out to write about the contents and not its historical importance (which nonetheless is quite big, and that's how much we're going to talk about that). What matters though, is that it hits you over the head from the press play in such an astonishing way that even today in the year 2011, with all the metallic waters under the bridge, it's not that hard to imagine its impact when it was released over 40 years ago. I even remember my first impression when I, after careful investigation of my musical preference conditions visavi the first generation of heavy rock during my teens, installed it into my CD player; from the very first few thumping bars of "Good times, bad times" I knew that I had discovered a band that would rarely let me down (for a few years). It may be but a bagatelle, but I still think it's one of the best tracks on here. Short, sharp and crisp with a blistering guitar assault after the second round, as well as showcasing Bonzo's lightning-fast bass pedal in the verses, albeit not making that much of an impression these days as I since has learned how to emulate them myself but nonetheless having quite an impact upon me as a newly aspiring drummer boy way back when. All in all, a killer tune.

Already on the second track you're greeted with a thorough display of Page's alleged amibition of his 'light-and-shade' juxtaposition, with their rendition of an old folk tune in "Babe, I'm gonna leave you". I'd say that if anything, it successfully heralds the way for "Stairway to heaven", not least since the intro pattern is almost the same, but on here it's much more tense and foreboding and indeed alternated with full frontal assaults with an amount of power and frenzy that was rarely matched ever since, all the while with Plant plaintively assuring you that he is gonna leave you, and there's nothing you can do about it! The best known track on here is no less dramatic; "Dazed and confused" is undoubtedly one of the all-time Zep classics, showcasing just about everything that makes them worth your while. An ominous bass line, the pinging wahwah picks, Plant's battle cry which by the way is right up to the point on this studio version; I've never cared much for the live rendition which later on would showcase his off-melody ramblings, not to mention the lack of tightness which is all but present here (although it sure was a visual highlight with Pagey's bowings and all). Oh yeah, and the fast mid-section which showcases their ability to do fast mid-sections. You should be aware though, that a lot of these songs, "Dazed" included, are merely reworkings of older songs so their strength doesn't lie as much in the composing as in the arrangement, and quite a lot of their best songs get along mainly on the blistering performance and not on the melody. Whatever, "Dazed" is worth the entire album alone.

The lack of actual songwriting though becomes apparent on most of the remaining tracks where the excitement is all hung up on how much they can twist the ol' folk 'n blues to their advantage. See, after the massive impact of "Babe" and "Dazed" (and possibly "You shook me") there isn't that much going on here after all. "Communication breakdown" is a classic, of course, but I'm not a big fan of its punkish abandon really. "Black mountain side" is a nice showcase of Page's acoustics, but once again carried over from his Yardbirds days. The two slow blues workouts "You shook me" and "I can't quit you baby" are just dull, although the former at least displays some very impressing chops on their part, especially Plant going in total overdrive. "Your time is gonna come" isn't worth shit apart from the very moody and very unfitting church organ intro (on courtsey of Jones, who else would save the day?), and the closing "How many more times" is based upon exactly one riff which they overabuse ad infinitum.

At the end of the day, what saves this record is the band's sheer power and dexterity which hold even the weakest tracks above the water (apart from "Your time is gonna come", that one was beyond repair from the start) and that may as well be enough. And nothing in the world will ever prevent it from being one of the most exciting debut albums in the history of rock. Or death metal.

They hold no quarter: Led Zeppelin reviewed

The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands

Introduction

What is there left to say about the band that invented the 70's and ruined the 80's, 90's and 00's, that still is to be said? Well, apart from the fact that they were and still is a main pillar in my own perception of music in general and heavy metal in particular. Now, the term 'heavy metal' is as ambivalent as it's ridiculous, what with all the debate of wether or not metal was invented by The Kinks or Cream or Metallica or Cannibal Corpse, so let's just state the objective fact: Led Zeppelin pioneered heavy rock from the very beginning, but let's not forget that they were always above this their most infamous objective, never afraid of plunging into folk, prog and even synth-pop on occasion. They were also something of a 'supergroup', with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones already being seasoned musicians in their own right at the time of the commence of the starship. This, along with the extraordinary capabilities of Robert Plant and John Bonham, also meant that they were highly professional, not at all afraid of showing off on stage in lengthy improvisations, even if the ultimate yield may have been quite hit-and-miss in terms of listenability. And they did indeed embody the 70's as well as the image of the quintessential rock band (alongside The Who and Rolling Stones), which has since gone into legend, not least through films like "This is Spinal Tap" and "Almost famous".

Nothing of this matters of course, at least not when it comes to the actual music which is an issue all by itself. Metal or not, their output is mainly suspended in the guitarworks of Pagey, inventing one classy riff after another, albeit not all of them heavy; there are a lot of equally classy acoustic works to be found in their catalogue which tip their hats to the folk tradition he was deeply into throughout their career. But let's not forget the immortal vocal gymnastics of Percy, crowning the songs with his almost superhuman wailings, and the mighty poundings of Bonzo, relentlessly driving the behemoth forward with an untiring force unsurpassed in modern drumming history. Now, not to go overboard with the praisings (that all the same where firmly embedded in my conciousness from the very beginning of my fandom), they all had their limitations in all of their show-off...ness (is that a word?).

Pagey, good as he is, was a very limited songwriter, often rehashing old blues standards with less-than-satisfactory results that just don't work out that well on the albums. And sometimes he is just goddamn sloppy, cranking out the riffs at lightning-speed seemingly without a care in the world for the ensuing results, something his heroin-addiction may or may not have been a part in during the latter half of the 70's. Percy, good as he is, sometimes just goes overboard in his yearning for pussy, on occasion sounding like he's having a wank right in front of the mike and in the process totally loses trace of the main melody. On stage it works better though, because there you're supposed to throw a fit of an orgasm. And Bonzo, good as he was, just isn't that inventive on his drums, often resorting to his renowned hyperspeed triplets during his showcase "Moby Dick" (and I do think that the outtake "Bonzo's Montreaux" is a whole lot more entertaining as a percussion piece), and even when he restricts himself to straightforward beats, he often end up quite single-minded in his brontosauric approach, yielding some rather unfitting results on softer tracks which could have called for more subtelty. He had the drive for sure, but not the subtle swing, as opposed to fellow drummers Ian Paice or Mitch Mitchell for instance.

And Jonesy then, good as he is. There's a reason why I didn't mention his capabilities earlier, and that's simply because over time he has turned out to be my favourite of the four, not least since he didn't display that desperate need to show off all the time. He's just the most sensible and talented member, not only due to his bass guitar works which may not be that outstanding but on the other hand always appropriate. He's also responsible for all the keyboard works on their albums, in the studio as well as on stage, often pulling a Ray Manzarek and abandons the bass in favour of a Hammond organ, a Rhodes or a Mellotron, and thus ends up bringing quite a prog-ish flavour to some of their grandest songs like "No quarter", "The rain song" and "Kashmir". In addition to all that, he is no slouch on mandolin when needed and to top it all off he is responsible for many an arrangement on the albums, something for which he was often revered even before Zeppelin.

So, there you have it. One of the greatest and most overrated bands known to man, with all their flaws and benefits on full display from the word go. I do find it hard to pinpoint their peak, in contrast to most people who seem to go for their untitled fourth album at gunpoint, but I can't help but feel that they never really nailed a complete masterpiece like, say, "Deep Purple in rock"; there are just too many throwaway tracks on each and everyone of them. On the other hand, I do believe that they maintained a relatively high level of quality all the way through the out door, so to speak, and I may be alone to think that their last studio album contains just as much good music as their second album, for instance. And, apart from Beatles, I seriously cannot think of any other major band that never released a truly bad album throughout their career.