Saturday, September 17, 2011

Led Zeppelin in a day

Not long ago I decide to listen to all of the Led Zeppelin albums back to back in a single day and write a couple of micro reviews on Facebook.

Led Zeppelin - "I" thoughts: The album starts off with a bang, the sound of a revolution beginning. It's a band that's already found it's sound but not quite it's voice. Lot's of covers, songs that are heavily based on existing blues standards, or direct rip offs with one or two originals mixed in. But, since they play them so amazingly well it's all easily excusable.

July 22 at 10:49am ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin "II" - It's a frenetic album that shows the chaos and creativity of being recorded while touring. The influences are less obvious and are more assimilated. The bands style is expanding and they are becoming more self-assured in abilities.

July 22 at 11:36am ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin - "III" Jimmy Page and Robert Plant solidify their rolls as the creative engine of the group. The band lets off of the accelerator a bit creating an album with both calm and frenzy. There's very little musical "borrowing" on this album. Hats Off to (Roy) Harper is the only song to "lift" lines from blues classics.

July 22 at 1:51pm ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin-"IV" Jimmy Page begins to "paint" with sound using a multitude of guitars and different tones within the same song increasing the sonic palette exponentially. Robert gains confidence in his lyrical abilities. The group creates a fully realized coherent style that raises this above just a collection of songs and makes it a true album that must be listened to start to finish to truly enjoy.

July 22 at 2:48pm ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin - "Houses of The Holy" The musical complexity greatly increases compared to previous releases. Not a single song on the album has a simple riff. The band is challenging themselves and pushing each other to their creative limits. If Zeppelin ever made anything close to a progressive rock album this is it.

July 22 at 3:48pm ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin - "Physical Graffiti" The album is a bit like an quilt cobbled together from other, older items. Half of the songs on the album were recorded for previous albums. While there are lots of great songs the album lacks a certain coherent focus. It's more of a book of short stories as opposed to a novel.

July 22 at 5:36pm ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin - "Presence" It's the sound of a band eager to re-invent itself. The album is full of melancholy and uncertainty. The songs all fit together well to present a satisfying total picture. It's a great listen while alone late at night or during a rainy day.

July 22 at 6:21pm

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin - "In Through The Out Door" It's the sound of a band struggling to be as great as they should. While Page and Bonham are present, they really aren't "there." Plant and Jones work hard to pick up the slack. For the first and only time Jones Keyboard take center stage in many if not most of the songs.

July 22 at 8:13pm ·

Thoughts on Led Zeppelin - "Coda" It's not really an album more just a bunch of left-overs. In fact "Poor Tom" sounds like the drums were added after the fact by taking a bit of left over drums and looping them. The guitar on "We're Gonna Groove" is clearly an overdub done most likely after the end of the band. All of that having been said, Led Zeppelin's leftovers are better than most band's best efforts.

July 23 at 12:30am ·