I first heard this album when I was at primary school, and was visiting a friend's house when he put this on, telling me this lot were the 'heaviest band in the world'. From the first howl on Immigrant Song I could hear what he meant. And that's before we get on to the psychedelic sleeve with its rotating wheel!
I finally bought a copy, dirt cheap in excellent condition, for a couple of quid in the early 80s and sold the vinyl for much, much more about 20 years later. I finally got round to acquiring the CD a couple of weeks ago from EBay, after decades of asserting that this was my favourite Zeppelin album.
So, is it? And why?
The power of Immigrant Song speaks for itself, Plant's roaring howl setting the scene for another heavy rock album, but when you've got over this, we're into Friends, Page's acoustic guitar over the Jones string arrangement mimicking an African drone. The rest of the first half consists of two standard rock numbers, Celebration Day and Out On The Tiles, fine without inspiring, but punctuated by the gloriously bluesy epic Since I've Been Loving You, possibly my highlight of the album.
The second half opens with the traditional (as opposed to shamelessly stolen from old blues artists) Gallows Pole, a great song with some tantalising banjo in the middle, then the lovely Tangerine, a simple, but pleasing listen. The acoustic feel continues with the ordinary That's The Way, and the bouncy Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, ending with the blues riff Hats Off To (Roy) Harper.
I think I still prefer the acoustic feel of III to the more rock-based albums, and while not faultless, it's still a great album, always worth a listen.
4* - a great slice of Zeppelin, especially their acoustic bits
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