Los Angeles / give me Norfolk, Virginia / dial one oh four ten oh nine / tell the folks back home th...
Los Angeles / give me Norfolk, Virginia / dial one oh four ten oh nine / tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling / and the poor boy is on / the line
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My 50th review. Cue applause, marching bands, street parties etc. For the half century I've saved up this milestone for my op on one of the biggest, longest, loudest and most influential rock albums ever made. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I offer to you, Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti".
In the days before CDs were invented, you had yer actual double album, guvnor. A favourite format for 1970's rock bands, allowing them to stretch out their ideas over 80+ minutes of vinyl. This is probably the definitive rock double album.
Strangely enough it didn't come in the standard double-album gatefold sleeve, having instead a single album format, but with two vinyl covers, which when placed into the top of the album insert cleverly shows different scenes going on in a New York tenement block, such as pictures of the band, Lee Harvey Oswald, Elizabeth Taylor, a Zeppelin and a giant cat amongst others. Aaah, the old vinyl album covers. Some of them were better than the music contained therein.
Stephen Davis in his very readable book "Hammer Of The Gods" describes this as the "hardest hard rock album ever made", and whilst that certainly applies to all of sides one and two, there are parts of sides three and four that don't quite live up to that billing. The running order doesn't help in that respect, although you must bear in mind this is not an "Album" in the normal manner; it is a series of remastered outtakes and previously unreleased material, much of it from the 1971 Headley Grange and 1972 Stargroves sessions that produced "LZ IV" and "Houses of the holy" respectively, even to going back as far as 1970's acoustic "III" album.
Physical Graffiti came out in spring 1975 and was a massive seller, staying
at no 1 on the US charts for much of that year. It is a colossal record and most Zepp fans will have either this or the "Runes" album as their favourite. Mine is actually "Houses", but hey, you pay your money and take your choice.
CUSTARD PIE Zeppelin raid Bukka White's "Shake Em On Down" for the rythym track, although with a clever bit of keyboard work spicing things up. A very simple but effective rocker. The "Custard Pie" that Robert Plant is singing about appears to relate to a certain part of the female anatomy. I'll leave you to work it out for yourselves.
THE ROVER Taut, driving, menacing tight but loose. The rythym section hold the song down whilst Jimmy Page spreads a glorious guitar over it. Robert sings of joining hands and dark sides of the globe. It's a plea for unity. Bloody brilliant it is too. Legend has it that the guitar bit was lost in the original sessions but was saved "With the grace of Harwood" - Keith Harwood the engineer.
IN MY TIME OF DYING An old standard recorded by Bob Dylan amongst others. Zepp's version is a blistering 11 minute rollercoaster, beginning with slide guitar, building up slowly with electric blues guitar before hitting the bridge, after which Jimmy delivers an awesome riff as the tune hurtles along. John Bonham's drumming on this track is by itself worth the price of admission. The band slow it down a little towards the end, with a touch of black humour "it feels pretty good up here", sings Robert. A real blockbuster that for me defines heavy metal.
HOUSES OF THE HOLY Title track of the preceding album, that for some reason was left off of it. Perhaps the band thought it sounded a little too much like "Dancin' Days". It's still a thumping good in your face rocker, Pagey lays down another simple riff before letting loose 100 note fill-ins at regular intervals. "From the houses of the holy, we can watch the white doves go".
TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT A fast and furious hard rock track that throws in a surprise cameo keyboard at the bridge. It's a song describing a woman as if she was a car. "I'm so glad I took a peek inside your showroom doors", for instance. Hmmmmm. A little overlong perhaps, and not quite the all-time classic some may have said it is. Pretty good nonetheless.
KASHMIR The tune that has now attained almost mythical status. Those of you who've heard it won't need a description, but for those who haven't, it is 9 minutes and 41 seconds long, a fairly slow but stately Middle East-meets hard rock number with epic travelogue lyrics. The band would attempt to replicate this track on all of their next albums, but never matched the sheer towering sound of this one. That old rascal Jimmy Page reworked the rythym track for this on his collaboration with Puff Daddy, or P Diddy, or whatever he's called these days, for 1998's "Come With Me" from the Godzilla soundtrack.
Well that's sides one and two covered, as we over 30s say. If the album was left at that it would be the greatest rock record ever made. Sides three and four have their brilliant moments too, but a couple of tracks are a bit of a let down.
IN THE LIGHT Following on in the same vein as "Kashmir" but without the eastern influences, another epic piece of music (8 mins 46 secs) that starts slowly, reaches the point where the band are just about to let rip, then slows down again before multilayered guitars over a huge backdrop bring it to its conclusion. Wonderful.
BRON-Y-AUR An acoustic guitar piece from Jimmy Page. Short, sweet and to the point.
DOWN BY THE SEASIDE Good heavens, Zeppelin throw in an almost country and western song in the hat. This is a slower tempo number about going to the seaside (never!!!!) that has an unexpected faster middle section. Not my favourite track on here but certainly a change in direction.
TEN YEARS GONE "Did you ever really want somebody, really need them bad", sings Robert in this sad ballad of lost love in times gone by. Things get heavier towards the end with more overlaid guitars. At nearly seven minutes it's a little overlong, but quite a nice sounding tune.
NIGHT FLIGHT A slower record, all stop start rythym this one, restrained yet with an optimistic lyric. The only heavier track on here that lets Robert showcase his vocal talents. Jimmy lays down a workmanlike guitar and ol' Percy does the rest. There's a bit halfway into the song where he just goes "oooooaaaaahhhhh" in that time honoured rock singer way. Some fansites I've read have Robert as the weak link in Zeppelin. There was no weak link in Zeppelin.
THE WANTON SONG Things get a little bit lost in the production here, I've never been able to make out the words, but judging by the rest of this album it's either about (A) shagging or (B) travelling somewhere. Probably A. It's a hard as nails rock song with climbing scales on the bridge and keyboard colouring. The wheel rolls on.
BOOGIE WITH STU This is what happens when the record company get to the fag end of a double album and realise they've run out of songs. In its own way it’s a jolly little bop, with almost music hall piano provided by the "Stu" of the title (Ian Stewart, sometime pianist with the Stones), but there is no way it should end up on such a powerful album as this. The music stops and we are left with Bonzo flailing away, after which the band collapse about laughing. The joke seems to be on the listener, however.
BLACK COUNTRY WOMAN Recorded in the garden at Stargroves, this begins with the sound of an aeroplane overhead and the band joking about leaving the sound of it in the mix. That's the interesting bit. It's a pity that the song, an acoustic jam, is not so interesting itself. Cliched lyrics "whats the matter with you momma" etc. A disappointment.
SICK AGAIN Now this is more like it. Another hard as nails rock track, a simple up and down scale job. This is about the groupies that followed Zep around everywhere they went in LA. Halfway through Pagey's solo Robert calls out "Jimmy, oh, Jimmy" - great stuff and the perfect ending to this record.
Not quite worthy of five stars - four and a half, maybe three quarters at a pinch - because of the pace, and quality, flagging a little in sides three and four. Still, a monumental record in its own right and worth a place in rock musics all-time top 5. Zeppelin would never reach these creative heights again, and in all honesty I don't think any band, however good they were, could expect to. For any young rock fans who've heard of Zepp but never actually heard them, this is the perfect starting point.
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Very informative stuff - I'm actually listening to this album as I write. I doubt if many of today's bands could make an eqiuvalent selection of outtakes sound so rivetting. Paul
suspectdevice 23.03.2005 18:54
Lol...definatly worth 4 3/4 stars. Great review. Jeremy
This 1975 release came smack in the middle of a long and nearly mythic career.Physical ... more
Graffitiis the last great Led Zeppelin title, recorded before the influences of the day (synthesizers, disco) ended Zeppelin's reign as the kings of loud and sexy bl...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
This 1975 release came smack in the middle of a long and nearly mythic career. Physical ... more
Graffiti is the last great Led Zeppelin title, recorded before the influences of the day (synthesizers, disco) ended Zeppelin's reign as the kings of loud and sexy ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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