Led Zeppelin II (Vinyl Replica Edition) [Digipak] [Remastered] - Led Zeppelin > Reviews > Way down inside..............

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Classic rock
Disadvantages:	Thank You

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Led Zeppelin II sees the greatest band of all time expanding on the crushing heavy blues of their debut. This was the album that turned Jimmy Page's 1968 one-album studio supergroup (Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham & John Paul Jones) into a bone fide stadium act, topping the US album charts and setting them on course to become the most revered, and yes sometimes the most reviled, hard rock act in music history. Whilst of course still relying heavily on the blues that made up much of their debut, a spacier sound on many of these tracks increases their appeal greatly. Mind you before the sound gets too spacey Page lets rip another power chord to bring things back into line.

Whilst overall this is one of the very best albums in the genre, it does have a slightly strange running order. The crush of Whole Lotta Love nestles uneasily next to the meandering bass of What Is And What Should Never Be; John Bonham's worship at the altar of skin Moby Dick sits with the heavy pop of Ramble On; the insipid Thank You leads into the hoary thud of of Heartbreaker. The band were touring all over at the time with the result that tracks were recorded in studios on both sides of the Atlantic. Hence the different sound and atmosphere herewith.

Whole Lotta Love, the best known song here, a straight, albeit powered up, rip of Willie Dixon's "You Need Love" showcases this band in their classic posture of taking one riff and expanding out on it. The famous Middle Section with its cymbal keeping time and Plant's vocals coming in and out of the mix turns this from A.N. Other rock song into a timeless classic. What Is And What Should Never Be starts with said meandering bass before exploding into life as Page delivers power chords before settling back into the kind of light / heavy song that was this band's trademark. The Lemon Song, an updated take on Howling Wolf's "Killing Floor" has John Paul Jones putting down an astonishing wandering bass whilst Robert Plant pleads for his woman to "squeeze me baby, till the juice runs down my leg" well of course his lemon is his testicles, hey hey! Again alternate fast and slow sections on this take.

Well the one track that lets down an otherwise textbook example of how to make hard rock music is the pitiful "Thank You", a rather limp Plant love song written for his wife. "inspiration’s what you are to me, let me kiss the rain, we shall no pain la la la la la" etc etc, all coming from the pen of the man with the biggest libido in rock. JPJ throws in an amusing coda with a jarring organ sound. 26 years later this song was bizarrely covered by Duran Duran of all people, who named their album after it. You couldn't make it up. Heartbreaker with its chilling swing beat - typical of much late 1960's "heavy music" - brings the album back to life. Page jars things to a stop with his 1-2 1-2 1-2 guitar line along the way. The heavier pop sound of Living Loving Maid sees Plant tell the tale of a groupie who followed the band everywhere and I get the feeling Zeppelin were having a ball with this song, just enjoying playing it.

Ramble On has a lighter feel with its acoustic intro before Page again leads the band into a harder sound. Plant's vocals are excellent on this track. Moby Dick starts off with a good hard R&B groove, probably something the band got from just jamming in the studio, before Bonzo takes over with what was to become his trademark drum solo. In those days any band worth their salt had a drummer who did a solo, and here he is pretty much left to get on with it. A drummer friend of mine says if you are going to do a solo this is how to do it. So I guess he would know. On the studio version it's 4.20 long but live Bonham was known to stretch this out to nearly half an hour when the mood took him. Bring It On Home does just that, it's another light / heavy tune with some strange slurred singing and harmonica to finish.

LZII overall is a powerful set of songs yet interesting enough to hear over and over again, and along with their debut and the later 1973 Houses Of The Holy remains my favourite album of theirs. Anyone wanting to take up guitar and play rock music could do no worse than pick this up and hear how it's done. Pretty much essential rock music - 5 stars no question, even with Thank You.