Led Zeppelin II was released on October 22, 1969, around the same time as the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' and represented a seamless changing of the old guard to the new driving force in music with this, their follow-up to their debut album, Led Zeppelin. With this album, the band distanced themselves ever so slightly from their blues roots, and adopted a more mainstream, commercial style, though slightly more raucous than anything else out there. That is not to say that there is no blues music on this album, because there is--just not as much as on their first album.

I'll do a brief bio on each member of the band and will list their contributions in the following section to start with:

Jimmy Page, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric twelve-string guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals

Born in Heston, Middlesex in 1944, James Patrick Page learned to play the guitar at the age of 13 after listening to the Elvis Presley song 'Hey Momma, let's play house'. Like John Lennon before him, Elvis inspired Jimmy to get into music (though Jimmy's take on Elvis was a hell of a lot different to Lennon's). After only six lessons, young Jimmy stopped attending his lessons and began to teach himself. During the '60's Jimmy was London's foremost session guitar player and it was estimated that at any time between 1963 to 1966 Jimmy had played on 50 to 90% of the records recorded at any one time. In 1966 he joined the Yardbirds and played a dual lead guitar with Jeff Beck. When the Yardbirds split up in 1968, Page decide to form a band of his own, which came to be the second biggest band in music history, behind the beatles. Page was not only the band's leader, he also produced all of their records himself, retaining total artistic control of their music.

Robert Plant, lead vocals, harmonica

Several years younger than Page, Robert Plant was first recommended by Jimmy's original choice for vocalist, when that fell through Jimmy was told to go to the Midlands and see Plant's band Hobstweedle. After making an outstanding impression, Jimmy decided to offer Plant the job.

John Paul Jones, bass guitar, organ, backing vocals

John Paul Jones joined the band when Jimmy's original bassist choice, Chris Dreja fell through. Jones was another top session player in London and had recorded a few times with Page.

John Bonham, drums, percussion, gong

Bonham was recommnded to Jimmy by Robert Plant after Jimmy failed to persuade Keith Moon to leave 'The Who'. Bonham had a reputation as the loudest drummer in the midlands and at one point, needed to change his drumskins every week due to the ferocious power with which he hit them.

Their name was born after Keith Moon summised that they would 'go down like a lead balloon!'.

And now to the album, possibly the most essential in any rock fan's collection. In 1968 they recorded their debut, an album packed full of blues standards. Enjoying some success at home, but more notably in America, the band wrote the lyrics for this album and recorded five of the tracks whilst touring the States. This gives the album an energetic, live feel with plenty of drive. It's nine tracks long and comes in at about the forty minute mark.

Here are the titles on the album, and a brief description of each:

1. Whole Lotta Love

This song signals the start of heavy metal (though no metal band has ever been able to equal it) and kicks in with an unforgettable guitar riff that opens this song and continues to drive it forcefully along throughout. Bass and drums add to the driving beat. Robert Plant really stretches it out by singing at the very top of his range.

"You need coolin', baby, I'm not foolin',"
"I'm gonna say it, yeh! Go back to schoolin',"
"Way down inside honey, you need it,"
"I'm gonna give you my love,"
"I'm gonna give you my love."
"Woooaaahh"
"Wanna Whole Lotta Love?"
"Wanna Whole Lotta Love?"
"Wanna Whole Lotta Love?"
"Wanna Whole Lotta Love?"

The breakdown in the middle is very interesting, the distorted sound achieved by Jimmy's famed use of a violin bow to play his guitar. Add to this Plant's orgasmic (I can't think of any other way to describe it!) shrieks, with a quick burst of a theremin added for effects and you'll think your hi-fi will explode. The first time I listened to this on my dad's prized (Son, you touch this record, you die!) LP I thought that it was scratched and I contemplated the grizzly end I was facing. After being reminded of my psychological trauma, the song kicks back in with a drum solo. When the band comes back in and lands on the double notes, Jimmy Page shines, with a short but intense guitar solo that will test your eardrums.

The song then moves back into the driving riff and Plant continues his warbling with lyrics which are deliciously unpolitically correct.

"You've been coolin', baby, I've been droolin',"
"All the good times I've been misusin',"
"Way, way down inside, I'm gonna give you my love,"
"I'm gonna give you every inch of my love," (I wonder what he means?)
"Gonna give you my love."

The vocal solo at the end really demonstrates Robert Plant's tremendous talent at the high end of the range an also adds a few more things for the PC police to chew over.

"Shake for me, girl,"
"I wanna be your backdoor man."
"Hey, oh, hey, oh,"
"Oh, oh, oh!"

So there you have it, a song about rutting like wild beasts. Brilliant! I don't expect Westlife will be covering this song for the next comic Relief, at least, I hope not!

2. What Is And What Should Never Be

This tune has a dreamy, almost jazzy feet to it. During the verses, all instruments are reserved and somewhat tame. At the choruses, the band kicks into high gear, with Robert Plant really airing it out on the vocals.

Jimmy Page plays some amazing slide guitar during his solo. The end of the song is a whole change of pace, with syncopated rhythms, and a lot of delay on Page's guitar. There is a lick on the gong at the ending lines which sets the tone for the change of pace.

3. The Lemon Song

This is a dirty, bluesy song is based on the Robert Johnson track, 'killing floor'. Robert Johnson is famous fo allegedly selling his soul to the devil for his ability to play the guitar. Jimmy Page never had to do this as he was already on first name terms with the Devil. This song was filled with plenty of sexual connotations.

"Squeeze my lemon, 'till the juice runs down my leg"

The entire song has an improvisational feel, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it had been recorded in one take, with a minimum of overdubs. This is the bluesiest song on the album with Page's majestic guitar playing, Jones' amazing lolloping basslines and the syncopated drums lending to the informal feel of a jam session.

4. Thank You

We've all heard our fair share of fadeouts. This tune features a fade in with Jimmy Page's electric twelve-string guitar. The melodic bass line played by John Paul Jones is the centerpiece of this song, complimented nicely by the kicks supplied by John Bonham on the drums. Page plays a nice acoustic guitar solo in the middle, and Robert Plant proves that he can sing in the lower ranges, too. The organ is somewhat haunting in this song.

5. Heartbreaker

This is a guitar-laden song, with a stirring guitar riff starting the song with an amazing swagger and again some fantastic lyrics.

"People talkin' all around 'bout the way you left me flat,"
"I don't care what people say, I know where their jive is at."
"One thing I do have on my mind, if you can clarify please do,"
"It's the way you call me by another guy's name when I try to make love to you!"

Jimmy Page plays a resplendent guitar solo (It's so fast you may not here all of the notes), with no other instruments in the mix, and just when you think the song has finished it kicks back in to the steady original riff of the start. This is truly a guitar afficiando's song. I would imagine that there has been a lot of 'air guitar' played to this one over the years.

6. Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)

This comes across to me as a pretty uncharacteristic piece of music for Led Zeppelin. The song is peppy and upbeat, almost "light", which is very unusual for the 'kings of heavy'. It's a song about a woman who sleeps around and uses the men in her life.

"Alimony, alimony payin' your bills,"
"Livin', lovin', she's just a woman."
"When your conscience hits you, knock it back with pills."
"Livin', lovin', she's just a woman."

A short but sweet classic.

7. Ramble On

A very interesting song; there's a lot going on here, with acoustic and electric guitars, loads of percussion, and a melodic, thumping bass line that pushes the song to the limit. It also has excellent lyrics.

"Mine's a tale that can't be told,"
"My freedom I hold dear;"
"How years ago in days of old"
"When magic filled the air,"
"T'was in the darkest depth of Mordor"
"I met a girl so fair,"
"But golem, the evil one crept up"
"And slipped away with her."
"Her, her....yea."
"Ain't nothing I can do, no."

Plant's vocals explore the entire range, and the delay on Page's electric guitar solo give this one a rather stuperous feel. This song is cited by a lot of Zep fans as their favorite Led Zeppelin tune. It also pioneered the quiet/loud thing a full twenty years before the likes of Nirvana and The Pixies.

8. Moby Dick

An instrumental tune which makes you think 'big'; say, Moby Dick, Godzilla, or King Kong. Page's guitar riff is matched by Jones' bass line, and Page has some brilliant, albeit brief, solo guitar licks. An extended solo is played by Bonham on the drums, and for the drum afficiando, this is drum heaven. Bonzo displays all his skills, but his double-bass licks are the best. John Bonham influenced a generation of drummers, and here's why.

9. Bring It On Home

As the last chords to Moby Dick ring out, suddenly we are into Bring It On Home, a song with two separate and distinct parts. The first part is pure blues, with a classic blues guitar line, excellent blues harmonica, and very muddy vocals. This portion of the song is very reminiscient of the early blues recordings by people like Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Leadbelly, and I think this is precisely the kind of effect that Led Zeppelin was trying to achieve; sort of a tribute to the masters, if you will. In the second part of the song, the band reverts to the rock n' roll style, with a driving guitar riff by Jimmy Page, mimicked on the harmonica by Robert Plant. Plant screams the vocals over some compact rock n' roll chords played by Page. Eventually, this portion of the song runs out of steam and the song is concluded with a return to the first part and its' bluesy feel.

The cover features a photo of the band and what I originally thought were bikers but upon closer inspection appear to be WW1 German officers (With biker's heads). Also in the background is the exploding airship. Inside, is an illustration of a temple with a gold zeppelin atop and four pillars with the names of the band members on them.

Overall, it's my favorite Zeppelin album and is a true showcase for the band's extraordinary talent in every facet of music. A milestone record with which no record collection is complete without and a record that deserves to be played every day.