Led Zeppelin: Coda (1982)

Coda compiles eight unused tracks and fulfills a contractual obligation with the record company. It's not a bad collection, but I do not view this as a Led Zeppelin album. It's just a haphazard collection of tunes. Perhaps the expanded edition is a much better collection, but I have never heard it, for some reason. I remember buying this one. I'm not fond of the album cover.

Led Zeppelin: In Through the Our Door (1979)

After a three year break, the mighty Led Zeppelin returned with In Through the Out Door, a record that really divided fans. To be sure, there was a definite change in direction in sound, most notably prominent keyboards and diminished guitars. I have always had mixed feelings about this LP. If I am in the right mood, I really like it, but it's not the first Zeppelin record I would reach for.

Sadly, this was the band's final studio recording. Coda came later, but that was a collection of odds and sods, two or three of which would have improved ITTOD immensely. Even more sadly, John Bonham died about a year after the record was released, and that killed my plans to somehow get to Toronto and finally see the band in concert. He was only 32 years old.

I've read that the change in sound had a lot to do with the greater influence of John Paul Jones and Plant, while Bonham was struggling with alcoholism and Page was in full heroin mode. It made for an odd record in some ways, yet it was very popular. I really do love this record, but I prefer the heavier Zeppelin. Also, I kind of hate the song Hot Dog.

"The original album featured an unusual gimmick: the album had an outer sleeve which was made to look like a plain brown paper bag (reminiscent of similarly packaged bootleg album sleeves with the title rubber-stamped on it), and the inner sleeve featured black and white line artwork which, if washed with water, would become permanently fully coloured. There were also six different sleeves featuring a different pair of photos (one on each side), and the external brown paper sleeve meant that it was impossible for record buyers to tell which sleeve they were getting (there is actually a code on the spine of the album jacket which indicated which sleeve it was—this could sometimes be seen while the record was still sealed). The pictures all depicted the same scene in a bar (in which a man burns a Dear John letter), and each photo was taken from the separate point of view of someone who appeared in the other photos. The walls are covered with thousands of yellowed business cards and dollar bills. The photo session in a London studio was meant to look like a re-creation of the Old Absinthe House, in New Orleans, Louisiana^.

The album artwork was designed by Hipgnosis. Storm Thorgerson recalls the design in his book Eye of the Storm:

The sepia quality was meant to evoke a non-specific past and to allow the brushstroke across the middle to be better rendered in colour and so make a contrast. This self same brushstroke was like the swish of a wiper across a wet windscreen, like a lick of fresh paint across a faded surface, a new look to an old scene, which was what Led Zeppelin told us about their album. A lick of fresh paint, as per Led Zeppelin, and the music on this album... It somehow grew in proportion and became six viewpoints of the same man in the bar, seen by the six other characters. Six different versions of the same image and six different covers.

And:

Did you ever notice you could affect the dust jacket by putting water on it? If you applied spittle to it or a bit of water, it would change colour, like a children's colouring book we based it on. But we didn't tell anybody. I don't think Zeppelin told anybody, either.

In 1980, Hipgnosis were nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Album Package for In Through the Out Door." [source]

I have a 'C' album cover, by the way. Everything Zeppelin did was awesome, but this is a little less awesome that what cam before it.

Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (1976)

Somewhat bizarrely, the record labels claim that the band's name is Led Zepplin. I am not sure how that got past quality control. This is in of the records that mysteriously sister had, and so it reminds me of her. She had many of the others, but this one always captivated me, for whatever reason. I did not see the film until ears later and, let's be honest, it's not that good. I guess I should listen to the later version:

Upon its initial release in 1976, the album received some mixed reviews, with a number of critics considering it to be over-produced and lumbering. Indeed, the band's members themselves have since expressed a lack of fondness for the recording. Page has admitted that the end product was not the best representation of Led Zeppelin as a live band. 

In contrast, the 2007 reissued version received generally much more positive reviews. In a review published in Mojo magazine in December 2007 James McNair gave the album four out of five stars... [source]

I actually love this record. For ages, it was the only live Zeppelin available, so maybe that is why. 

Led Zeppelin: Presence (1976)

I suppose there are two Led Zeppelin records (not including Coda) that some fans are not so enamoured with. These records are In Through the Out Door and Presence. I used to rank Presence as my least favourite Zep record, but I think my opinion changed over the years. I will say that the record has grown on me.

I really love the opening track, Achilles Last Stand, which clearly needs an apostrophe. Other highlights are For Your Love, which was resurrected for that famous O2 concert, Royal Orleans, Nobody's Fault But Mine,

It's weird to think that of all of the Zeppelin records, I have two copies of this one, both Canadian pressings. I have no idea why. I've been curious about the remastered vinyl that came out a while back. I'm sure they must sound better, but the prices have kept me away.

Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (1975)

In terms of LZ records, this one lands somewhere in the middle of favourites. I was never blown away by it, though there are some great songs, most notably, Kashmir, which would fit in my top five Zeppelin tunes. Clearly, I am on the minority position here:

"Physical Graffiti was the first album to go platinum on advance orders alone. Shortly after its release, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart.

"In March 1975, Billboard magazine's reviewer wrote: "[Physical Graffiti] is a tour de force through a number of musical styles, from straight rock to blues to folky acoustic to orchestral sounds." Similarly, Jim Miller stated in Rolling Stone that the double album was "the band's Tommy, Beggar's Banquet and Sgt. Pepper rolled into one: Physical Graffiti is Led Zeppelin's bid for artistic respectability." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was less impressed, writing that except for side two, the material often wanders into "wide tracks, misconceived opi, and so forth", and "after a while Robert Plant begins to grate". Reviewing the album for BBC Music in 2007, Chris Jones described it as "a towering monument to the glory of Zeppelin in their high-flying heyday".

"In 1998 Q readers voted Physical Graffiti the 28th-greatest album of all time; in 2000 Q placed it at number 32 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever; and in 2001 the same magazine named it as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time. In 2003, the TV network VH1 named it the 71st-greatest album ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 70 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The album is also listed in Robert Dimery and Stevie Chick's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2005)." [source] 

Oddly, this record contains a tune called Houses of the Holy, which does not appear on the eponymous record.

I have a vivid memory of buying this record. My sister had a few Led Zeppelin records (Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin IV, The Song Remains the Same, In through the Out Door), but she never owned a copy of this one. I wanted to hear it, so I decided to pick it up one day. I carried it with me back to residence.

Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy (1973)

"They used to think it was so cute when she said dyer maker.
All the boys knew it was a joke about Jamaica"

"Dancing days. Houses of the holy. Hot child in the city in the middle of the prairie."

- Joke About Jamaica, The Hold Steady

Sometimes, I am convinced that this is my favourite Led Zeppelin record. Is there any song that sounds better than The Song Remains the Same, especially when turned up very loudly? The answer is no. Back in the day, I would really crank up that song when no one was home.

Although the cover seems harmless to me, the album artwork caused some controversy:

Like Led Zeppelin's fourth album, neither the band's name nor the album title was printed on the sleeve. However, manager Peter Grant did allow Atlantic Records to add a wrap-around paper title band to US and UK copies of the sleeve that had to be broken or slid off to access the record. This hid the children's buttocks from general display, but still the album was either banned or unavailable in some parts of the Southern United States for several years. [source]

I think many would argue that the first four records are the band's best, but I would say that this one is at least equal. It's fabulous.

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin [AKA Led Zeppelin IV or the Four Symbols logo, Four Symbols, The Fourth Album, Untitled, Runes, The Hermit, ZoSo] (1971)

Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.
 - The Battle of Evermore, Led Zeppelin

I'll just say it now to get it out of the way. Stairway to Heaven, although a fine song, is not my favourite Led Zeppelin song. In fact, it wouldn't even make my list of top 25 Led Zeppelin songs. It used to be my favourite song, but I think that was when I knew very little about the band's catalogue. There are way too many great songs to allow this one to take a preeminent places.

Back in high school, Stairway to Heaven was often the last song at school dances (it was either that or Babe, that awful piece of shit from Styx). Those songs served as a signal that the dance would soon be over, and it was your last chance to get close to a female. But, let's face it, this is a difficult song to have a slow dance to. The beginning works, but once the track speeds up, most kids were at a loss as to how to deal with the tempo change. Most just clung to their dancing partner until the song ended.

The album jacket for this record omits the band's name. It's a curious thing to do, but I imagine a hype sticker would have alerted people to the contents. My copy is a Canadian pressing from 1979, and it's in great shape. I think there were close to twenty Canadian pressings of this record.

This record is packed from start to finish with awesomeness. It contains some of my favourite Zeppelin tunes, like Black Dog, Four Sticks, and When the Levee Breaks, all of which are in my top 20 Zep tunes.

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin III (1970)

The hammer of the gods
Will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying,
Valhalla, I am coming!

Although it stands against prevailing opinion, my favourite Led Zeppelin record is the third. It wasn't always that way. In fact, in the early days, I felt that the record fell apart after the lead-off tack, Immigrant Song. Later, my thinking shifted 180 degrees. I think that Immigrant Song is the weakest track on the record, though I still love it. After all, the track is only 2.5 minutes, and Page somehow manages to play that riff over 100 times.

My copy is a later (probably 1980s) repress in absolutely mint condition.

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II

I learned the following after reading Wikipedia. "The advertising campaign was built around the slogans 'Led Zeppelin – The Only Way to Fly' and 'Led Zeppelin II Now Flying'." [source]

This is a heavy album from start to finish, filled with heavy guitar riffs, tireless vocals, thundering drums, and some delicious bass sounds. As usual, the critics were confused:

Critical reaction to Led Zeppelin II was not positive originally. John Mendelsohn wrote a negative review of the record for Rolling Stone, in which he mocked the group's heavy sound and white blues, while writing that "until you've listened to the album eight hundred times, as I have, it seems as if it's just one especially heavy song extended over the space of two whole sides". Robert Christgau jokingly referred to the band as "the best of the wah-wah mannerist groups, so dirty they drool on demand", while complaining that "all the songs sound alike". He nonetheless conceded that "Led Zeppelin simply out-heavied everyone" in 1969, "pitting Jimmy Page's repeated low-register fuzz riffs against the untiring freak intensity of Robert Plant's vocal. This trademark has only emerged clearly on the second album, and more and more I am coming to understand it as an artistic triumph." [source]

I have a Canadian pressing (not the original) that I think came out sometime after 1978. The jacket of my copy looks mint, and the record is in fabulous shape too. I think there are more than 20 Canadian pressings of this LP, plus numerous 8-track, cassette, and CD issues.

The only track I am not crazy about is Moby Dick, partly because I think extended drum solos are kind of stupid. The guitar part of that song is great, though.

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin [aka Led Zeppelin I] (1969)

"Tired eyes. Trampled under foot. Dazed and confused. C-c-c-c-Cocaine blues.
She hasn't gotten any eye contact tonight"

- Joke About Jamaica, The Hold Steady

In answer to the question -- often asked in musical circles -- the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?, I always answer Led Zeppelin. As much as I like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, it's the New Yardbirds for the win. When I was in public school and junior high, I was often teased for liking Led Zeppelin. I attribute my early interest to a couple of my older siblings. One year, I forgot it was photo day, and I wore a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. Oops.

This is a massive record. It begins pleasantly enough, with the brief Good Times Bad Times, but it's the second track that really lays claim to a new sound. It's hard to pick a favourite, but for me, it's Dazed and Confused, a song that would be in my top five Zep tunes. Ages ago, when I was living in a certain place, I would often play Dazed and Confused as loudly as possible when no one else was home. Every song on this record is amazing.

For me, this record is the defining statement about why critics are often wrong. Many critics dissed this record, and that is something I have always had a hard time wrapping my head around. Perhaps the music was so out-of-step with the music of the day, that it left them mystified. Who knows? In hindsight, I think some critics have corrected their opinions.

Figuring out which vinyl version I have is quite difficult. For the vast majority of artists, there was generally only one, and sometimes two, Canadian pressings. For this one, there are something like fifteen, or close to that. I wish I had a red Atlantic pressing or a Canadian red Atlantic pressing, rather than my mundane, later Canadian green Atlantic pressing from 1976. Oh well, it still sounds fine and my copy is mint, or very close to it. Needless to say I also have a copy on CD.

I have pretty much everything officially released from LZ on CD as well as some DVDs. By the way, check out Lez Zeppelin and Zepparella.

Overrated, part 6 of 10

(see: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)

I acquired a few CDs at a lawn sale recently. I am especially enjoying the two Decemberists CDs that I got for essentially no money. What else did I get from that sale? .... oh, a Van Morrison CD, the Concretes, a couple of FemBots discs, a Flaming Lips CD and DVD, for example. There was also some punkier stuff, like Ikara Colt, The Hives, and the Fatal Flying Guilloteens. So, you see I have nothing against harder stuff with electric guitars, well some of it at least, which brings us to number 5 on my top ten list of overrated acts.

5) Guns 'n Roses - When I first heard that Axl Rose was working on Chinese Democracy, I took it literally and thought this was an admirable post-pock thing to do. Why him, I wondered? It makes no sense. I was quickly disabused of my false notion. Chinese Democracy is, in fact, a long-promised new album. I fear the worst for the legions of G 'n R fans awaiting an album that has been in production for 10 years. It will have to be a huge letdown once it finally sees the light of day. The weight of expectation will certainly overwhelm whatever they manage to put out on CD.

I have never appreciated the high-pitched vocals of the heavy metal set. I am aware that the blame for this might lay with Led Zeppelin, a band I have always admired. It may be so. And yet, there are major differences, I think, between Robert Plant's vocals and those of the heavy metal acts that followed. Plant's vocals have a lot of blues in them, at least to my ears, while the vocals of G 'n R sound more like the screeching of someone who really cannot sing.

Apparently, Appetite for Destruction is the second biggest-selling debut album of all time, just behind the first Boston album (no, I am not a Boston fan either, but I like the city very much). Maybe I was listening to the wrong radio station, but it was several years before I finally heard a song from G 'n R. At the time, I was TV-less, and paid no attention to commercial music, like G 'n R, so I missed it all. In hindsight, I am happy to say that I didn't miss anything, except for an interesting wedding gown.

As always, I like to branch out to the web to gather other opinions of acts. The Urban Dictionary is an unlikely place to look for opinions on bands, but in this case, it informs. I provide a few choice excerpts:

1. guns n roses

A REAL rock band. Unfortunately some people listen to a single song and say they suck, but you're wrong.

Over 9.6 million Guns 'n' Roses fans CAN'T be wrong!

Of course, s/he meant to write "they're wrong" so that it agrees with "some people." What I'd like to say to this person is: "500 million Michael Jackson fans can't be wrong! (Thriller has sold over 108 million copies alone). So there!" Of course, I hate Michael Jackson's music.

2. guns n roses

The Best Band Of The 80's, they made me feel so good about myself, before Nirvana came along (gives Nirvana Deathstare). Nirvana made 80's metal look artificial, when really, it was F**KING AWESOME! Axl's a babe! They're all babes!

How can you say Nirvana and metal in the same sentence, dude? But, it does beg the question as to why certain women, and I think they are largely teenagers, fall for long-haired men who wear make-up and skin-tight leather or leopard-skin pants? And that brings us to definition number 9:

9. guns n roses

lame shitty 80's hair metal band
really big among teenyboppers

That's exactly what I am saying. And, on to definition number 11:

11. guns n roses

Worst band of the entire 80's!!!!
And that's saying something because the 80's sucked Satan's balls!!!!!!

Note the number of exclamation points! I wouldn't use such vulgar terms to describe the 80s, and I don't like the image of Satan being all dog-like, but you have to admire the passion in this person's definition. S/he seems to know music.

By the way, Knockin' on Heaven's Door was written by Bob Dylan, in case you G 'n R fans missed it.



See: part 7

Overrated, part 5 of 10

(see: parts 1, 2, 3, and 4)

I hope you are not bored yet. I am reminding myself of those long countdowns I used to listen to on the radio, especially at year's end. We'd get the top 500 songs of the year or the top 500 songs of all time. Either way, the lists were completely wrong. I recall that Stairway to Heaven seemed always to top the list of best songs. I am a Led Zeppelin fan, and I have to say that it is not the best song ever; it's not even close to the best Zeppelin song. In fact, it wouldn't even make my top 25 list of best Zeppelin songs. But, on to number 6 ...

6) Van Halen - Eddie Van Halen is known for his musical technique of tapping, in which he uses both hands on the guitar neck. Tapping has been around for as long as we have had stringed instruments. Lots of other guitarists have used this technique as well. The thing about Eddie Van Halen is that his style is really all about speed, which is bound to impress certain people.

Perhaps the most irritating thing was Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo in Michael Jackson's Beat It. I didn't like the song, but I have to say that it is very appropriate to place a masturbatory, self-indulgent guitar solo in a song called Beat It. Wikipedia notes that Beat It "is regarded by many as one of Jackson's masterworks." That really isn't saying too much.

Here is the mercifully-short Eruption highlighting his style:



There is nothing musical to me here. It's just speed and self-indulgence. If you want an excellent example of instrumental rock music in under 2 and a half minutes, check this out:



By the way, even though I am not a fan, I was unhappy when David Lee Roth left the band because that led to the inevitable solo career. One summer, while planting trees in southern Ontario, I must have heard Just a Gigolo about ten thousand times in my uncle's old Dodge Dart that only had an AM radio. I can still recite the lyrics. Sadly, science has not figured out how to regrow dead brain cells.

See part 6

Music Notes

I think it was on the drive back to the hospital to pick up mother and baby when I switched on the radio of the borrowed car, thanks to the neighbours across the street. The radio was already tuned to Q107 and so I decided to listen. It turns out that I was in the midst of the completely misnamed "80's Music That Doesn't Suck Classic Rock Weekend." Clearly, Q107 and I disagree on what music from the 80s sucked and what didn't.

Let me say that Queen's Another One Bites the Dust sucks with a capital S. For a moment, I felt like I was in a bizarro world, where everything bad was good. I had to change the station quickly, because the announcer promised that we would be subjected to KISS, from the unmasked era. Yikes. I also worried that they would play, inevitably, Van Halen's Jump, which I nominate as the song with the most infantile use of keyboards in musical history.

But that isn't the worst of the musical news. I was shocked and appalled to hear a The The song used in a Dockers TV commercial. I thought that only the dinosaurs were selling their songs. Frankly, I think it is far more fitting to hear Led Zeppelin selling Cadillacs. That makes sense to me.

This is the Day

Technorati Tags: radio, Q107, Queen, KISS, Van Halen, The The, Dockers, Led Zeppelin, Cadillac

A Lunchtime Walk

Music World (a generally lame-ass store) has an inventory clear-out sale that seems only to apply to about 3 dozen DVDs. So much for that. But, I noticed that MW classified Leonard Cohen's latest Disc as "adult contemporary." I wonder what Leonard would think of that? I have reviewed that CD (briefly) and concluded that he might be getting old. Anyway, he is launching a world wide tour, so that is good news. Oh, and a new book from Lenny is on the way. So, that is more good news.

Back out on Yonge Street, I passed a guy standing over his little shitty boom box (remember when these were called ghetto blasters?). It seemed that he was bent on adding to the general noise pollution. Stairway to Heaven was blaring as I walked by. I couldn't conceive of a reason for him to be standing there offering distorted music as if he was proselytizing the passersby to the joys of Led Zeppelin. I wonder if he was pissing off the Dundas & Yonge bagpiper. It was sort of like stereo wars, but only one guy had a minor stereo.

HMV has a sale. No, this one is not the misnamed Biggest Sale Ever, which happens with alarming frequency, and it is always disappointing. They have a whack of CDs for $4.99. Trouble is, I can't imagine anyone wanting any of them, unless you are into the top hits from 1978 or, bizarrely, need a copy of a BTO CD or perhaps a b-list classical recording.

And this unrelated thought:

Although the new Pope has two rather unfortunate nick names (God's Rottweiler and Panzerkardinal), I have to say that I am mildly jealous, for I am notoriously difficult to nick name.

Technorati Tags: Music World, Leonard Cohen, Yonge & Dundas, HMV, Pope

Zep

I started writing this three days ago, and then I got sidetracked.

As a kid, I was hassled a lot for admiring Led Zeppelin. Partly, it had to do with the fact that I once wore a Led Zeppelin t-shirt on school picture day. Somehow, I completely forgot about the pictures. If you have a class picture with a kid in a Zeppelin t-shirt, that might be me. My brother, almost ten years older than me, had some influence on my music choices. And so, I was well-armed to deal with the disco invasion. When my other brother, just 1 & a half years older, put on Gloria Gaynor or the Bee Gees and others, I turned up Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

Today, I can say that I still enjoy Led Zeppelin, more so than other bands of that era. I think the music has aged well. The Rolling Stones are boring, save for a few songs scattered here and there. I never liked The Who very much. I like LZ for several reasons. It has fantastic rhythm and some really excellent drumming. It's music to have sex to, seriously.

A few friends wonder how I can reconcile liking Led Zeppelin with the more avant-garde selections in my collection, like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. For some reason, I have appreciated this band even as I passed through various musical phases, like punk, New Wave, the Neo ska revival, post-rock, minimalism, etc.

But, I have to add that Stairway to Heaven sucks. Sorry to those who like this song, but it really awful. Oh, and I hate heavy metal, and I don't think it's fair to blame Zeppelin for that blight, as some people do.

The Office

The Office is coming to the USA in the form of a re-make. It is clear that the US networks have run out of ideas. I don't really mind the fact that it is being re-made; it just bugs me that many people will never see the original, which, no doubt, will be far superior.

Alias

Speaking of being out of ideas, I wonder how many people noticed that they borrowed heavily from a Kurt Vonnegut novel in the last episode?

Technorati tags: Led Zeppelin, music, TV, The Office, Alias, Kurt Vonnegut