I have a rather odd take on Led Zep — it’s kind of like a mirror compared to the rest of the world. I don’t care that much for their earliest stuff, up until IV, but I think “In Through The Out Door” is wildly underrated (as I do Robert Plant’s solo stuff). Thankfully, it kind of all meets in the middle 70s — where this ambitious record sits — along with the aforementioned IV and Houses of the Holy.
Now — I do think they’re uneven. Plant’s lyrics sometimes veer toward early Neil Peart. One of their three best songs is a cover (the 300-foot high tsunami that is “When The Levee Breaks”, to go along with the other 300-foot high tsunami that is “The Ocean”. The third is noted below). But I could winnow down their collective output by 40-50% and what would be left — the meat — could be near the best rock ‘n’ roll humans have deigned to imprint on wax. And as such, the irony — as
@OB1 thoughtfully points out in his remark about Zep being so FM-friendly in the States — is that this WASN’T a singles band. Yet I think of them as a SONG band and not an ALBUM band. Weird, right? It isn't really to me, because there's so little thematic that ties the songs on their records together.
I think earlier comments on side 1 and 2 together being a 9 or 9.5 are valid for me too. Though I’m a little less enamo(u)red of “In My Time of Dying” , the other five are no-doubt-about-it classics that would represent the pinnacle of any band’s career. “Kashmir” is my favo(u)rite Zep song of all time and could be 20 minutes longer. The riff is so, so, so good. “Houses” and “Custard” and “Rover” are blockbusters, and just FYI — “Trampled” is a FUCKING GREAT DANCE SONG, you mugs :).
As much as guitarniks want to focus on Page — and I’ve got no issue with that — what makes Zep for me is Plant and Bonham. It’s hard for me to think of a rock singer I prefer to Plant. His voice is so unique. He strives for notes and sounds and just when you think he’ll break, he nails them. And no one has precisely the same thwomp on a snare or splash on a cymbal as Bonham. He pedals a bass drum like he’s (or it’s) in labo(u)r and he’s trying to get a baby bass drum to come out. It’s instantly recognizable. And that’s not to overlook JPJ whose keyboard noodling adds as much art and funk as his bass adds backbone. What a fucking band. Pound for pound, guy for guy, the best rock n’ rollers ever?
But their tunes didn’t always match their talent, and side 3 and 4 do falter (and I rarely play them). I get it. When you’re such masters you can just screw around and something good comes out, you just release it. But every top writer needs an editor. And too often I don’t think Zep had enough of one (which sometimes happens with total artistic freedom and your own label). This goes back to my comment that some of Zep’s output I could do without. Still, there’s plenty of good if not great stuff — “Night”, “Wanton”, “Sick”, “Light” and “10” all qualify — but in the company of record 1 they dilute the overall some. I might, however, argue that the variety such screwing around brings adds something ragged and unkempt that makes the whole thing a little more off-the-cuff, which is a positive.
It’s pretty easy to see why anyone would fall in love with this. For me, it’s a great reminder of what kings they were. It’s somewhere between an 8 and a 9 for me, but it's not quite consistent enough for a 9; we’ll go 8/10 and figure plenty of you lot will drag the average up. A great listen regardless.
