An ever-present album throughout my teenage years, even though I was only eleven when it was released. Every mid-seventies party would feature this album, so I became quite familiar with it. My CD copy has a home made insert, so I assume it was among a batch of about 20 I bought at Our Price years ago, without cases for £1 each.
I’ve long maintained, possibly out of sheer cussedness, that their third album, much more folky and acoustic, was my favourite. But I wonder if I’m being honest!
Black Dog opens, the interplay between Plant’s voice and Page’s guitar masterful, before Rock and Roll, a no nonsense rocker. The first deviation from hard rock Zeppelin comes on The Battle Of Evermore, mandolin and acoustic guitar, with some wonderful vocals from Sandy Denny, despite the Tolkienesque lyrics. Stairway To Heaven is one of those songs that I’ve heard so many times, that I can’t remember if it’s great or not. The guitar work is lovely, the building of the sound throughout the song is powerful and the lyrics are the veriest bollocks, although that never spoiled a good song - otherwise Jon Anderson would never have had a career. The song lasts over eight minutes without dragging, so that’s in its favour.
The second half opens with Misty Mountain Hop, a decent enough song, which fails to inspire, and while the unusual time signatures on Four Sticks, and the almost Eastern feel in the middle section offer interest, it’s not a strong enough song to sustain that. The quieter, acoustic Going To California revives the second half, much more listenable, before the finale When The Levee Breaks. I’m a sucker for Zeppelin’s reworkings of old blues songs (who said “isn’t that their whole catalogue”?) and despite the somewhat plodding feel, this old Memphis Minnie song ends the album on a high.
It’s as good as I remember, a great album, sitting alongside many other 1971 greats.
4* - a bona fide classic - not flawless, but a great listen.
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