Look. I think is their second worst studio record, ahead of only Presence. Maybe that’s actually good news — that’s how many great songs this band did.
But I don’t think I’ve heard a back-to-back acoustic blues/folk song pair committed to vinyl that’s better than “Tangerine” and “That’s The Way.” They are so beautiful and airy they float away on clouds. They’re such moving, glorious songs. I never have been and won’t ever be tired of them.
With few exceptions this is a campfire record. It’s blues and folk, not rock and roll. It’s not hard-edged, it doesn’t crunch. Bonham and JPJ have their occasional moments, but this is a thoroughly Page/Plant effort.
With one of rock’s best rhythm sections and best set of Marshall stacks effectively shelved, and since I love both those elements of LZ so much, I find it hard to even consider this part of their catalogue, even though obviously this digs so deep into the roots of rock and roll’s core it hits the earth’s mantle. But if anyone wants to argue their ability to make these roots songs sound so good just expands their legend, I won’t quibble.
“Immigrant Song” — damn, if only they’d saved this or “Out on the Tiles” for Houses of the Holy and replaced the horrific “No Quarter” with one or the other, that’d be a near perfect record. They feel out of place here I think.
“Celebration Day” is possibly their most underrated song. It’s so dirty and jumpy at the same time. But I can’t handle the length nor pace of “Since I’ve Been Loving You” — lugubrious nightclub blues will always be lost on me. Zep is good for at least one real clunker a record, and for me this is it.
“Gallows Pole” I’ve always liked for the strange little two note pick-up in the main chord (the one that goes “Da-ding” at the end) and Bonham gets a chance to pull the train along at his pace.
And then “Tangerine” — if you’ve ever seen “Almost Famous”, one of the best movies about rock and roll ever made, and the best one ever made about music criticism — you recognize how poignant this is when it starts playing.
But “That’s The Way” is my favo(u)rite here. I haven’t narrowed down my funeral songs yet, but this will be a finalist. It has always made me weep.
Honestly after that the record ends for me because nothing can compare and while “Stomp” and “Harper” are fine, they feel anti-climactic to me.
Uneven as all LZ records are, this is a 7/10 for me — and a lot of that is because I am not as focused on true blues, even great blues when it comes to preferences — but I’ll repeat what I’ve written before: when at their apex musically, I don’t know that another band can compare.
