Physical Graffiti [Remastered] - Led Zeppelin > Reviews > Let's get physical

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Some excellent songs
Disadvantages:	The band were becoming a bit of a dinosaur

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I love the earliest Led Zeppelin albums, up to and including this one. I'm not sure whether it's because it's a double album, so it lasts longer, but I would even go so far as to say that "Physical Graffiti" is my favourite album of theirs.

It has many styles, from out and out rocker, to boogie, to classical. First track Custard Pie is one of the rockers, with a wah wah guitar and even a Nutbush City Limits type organ sound in the background - what a way to start.

I found the inclusion of the track called "Houses of the Holy" very confusing, since the Zeppelin album called "Houses of the Holy" was released two years earlier, in 1973. When Plant sings "let me take you to the movie… can I make your garden grow" ("Houses of the Holy") we know he's not talking about helping out with a spot of rose pruning. Oh no, as he says in, he's "talkin' about LURVE" (to quote him again, from "Trampled underfoot"). Lines like this really should sound too arrogant for words, but we're talking about love-god Robert Plant here, never likely to be turned away by the girls, in those days. Only he could get away with it.

For me, the song "Trampled Underfoot" evokes those films they used to show on The Old Grey Whistle Test, with speeded up can can dancers from 20s movies, or black and white cartoons - showing my age now!
Kashmir is a tour de force, full of mysticism and almost orchestral in scale, at over 8 minutes long, and it's the kind of song that I feel I would be quite happy if it continued for another 30 minutes, I can't imagine me tiring of it.
The second CD starts off in a quiet and introspective vein, with 4 slowies.
There's the instrumental, acoustic "Bron-yr-aur", which is quite wonderful, and unexpected in a way - perhaps it was included just to prove that Page can do the classical music thing as well, but it ends up becoming a highlight of the whole album.
"Nightflight" is a track that really hasn't worn that well, with its boogie style - and Plant's voice sounds like it's strained, the "I saw a picture of a lady with… with a baby…" lyric only seems feeble too.
A favourite of mine is "boogie with Stu", which sounds like it was recorded as a bit of fun, a rock and roller, and the vocals passing more than a passing resemblance to Noddy Holder.

The CD version doesn't have the 'moveable' sleeve, where you can change what appears behind the tenement windows. The album is still on 2 discs, though, as at over 80 minutes long it was no doubt not possible to fit it onto a single CD. Essential listening for fans of R&B/old-style rock.