The Bomber Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Sorry i took so long guys! this is a very diverse album,so here i go!: So,after 2 hugely successful albums and a well established live show critics really want to brutalize LZ for being so popular,so in 1970,they jump at the chance to assault a largely acoustic album,the truth is it's a hidden gem,one of Zep's best artistic attempts,and that's saying something!So,without further delay,the album: 1.Immigrant Song-Hmmm,so,this kicks off the so called "acoustic" album,interesting,well i'd say it's the best song on the album,great opener!Acoustic my ass!Bonzo counts it in Then Page brings in one of the most ferocious,growling guitar riffs imaginable,and then Plant's supersonic wails come in,he wails out a fearsome war cry in possibly his best vocal performance,only a castrato could match this,which Plant certainly is not,amazing power in that voice.Then itmoves into the verse,Page's relentless riff bashing throughout,Bonzo flailing about like a man possesed and JPJ,just being JPJ really.It builds back again to the classic voice & guitar battle to the death,conjuring up images of Viking conquest and glory,every note is an assault on your sanity,and when the last verse is reached the band go into overdrive,chord smashes and vocal wails everywhere,on listening to this album opener one would be forgiven for thinking the world was at an end. 2.Friends-A change of tone,highlighting Zep's versatility,opening in the strange tuning,swirling eastern mysticism is called to mind,the sound pioneered on this track would later be refined and developed into the epic "Kashmir".Page goes through the chordsin hillbilly mode,happilly strumming along mechanically as Bonzo goes groovy and Jones takes to exotic string sections,Plant's wailing falls in perfectly here,always bringing the band just sitting around a campfire to mind,it builds up to pure merry chaos as Plant wails "Mmmm,i'm telling you now!The greatest thing,you ever can do now!Is share a smile,with someone who's blue now!" and so on,a very enjoyable and exotic track. 3.Celebration Day-Another electric track,opening up with Page's feverish chords and Plant just talking over it,then the band enter and it turns into an awesomely groovy jam,an autobiographical track referring to America as "The promised land",about when Zep came to America,Page's riff and Plant's wails being supported by the amazingly tight rhythm section,Page taking a solo in the middle,and then returning to mindless,brutal Rock & Roll,a very aggressive track,good song! 4.Since I've Been Loving You-Ah,the obligatory blues epic,SIBLY,it opens with a beautiful cry from Page's guitar,it sounds as if it's weeping,he builds into this wonderful blues trackfor a minute or so and then Robert comes in,wailing over Page's guitar,JPJ subtly guiding the song on his organ as Bonzo keeps it together at the back,the entire band make their instrument's weep on this track,the verse keeps going on a steady rhythm as Page gives out some of his greatest licks,then it builds with the organ to the chorus,a complete wail of depression,and then falls back to the verse,JPJ bringing it around on the keys,and then Page takes a solo,arguably the greatest solo of his career,he takes every concievable emotion and puts it into this solo,if a guitar could cry,it would sound like this,Jimmy breathes life into every note,and then the band come in again to the chorus,amazing wails,rolling drums,delicate organ work,everything,this is an amazing blues track,it builds to a climax of total depression as Robert laments what has been going on "Since he's been loving you",a true classic. 5.Out On The Tiles-Born of a tune Bonzo used to sing to to himself,Page retooled it into the song riff and Plant replaced Bonzo's lyrics with his own,this is a wonderfully funky number that moves along with beautiful fluency and elegancy,this song just flows out of the speakers in the way only Zep can,Page's guitar rambles along to the groove in a great riff,Plant wails some amazing hight notes,JPJ keeping it funky on the bass and Bonzo creating mayhem,it builds to a sing-along chorus and then just oozes back into that flowing,funky verse,effortlessly moving along to a chaotic groove.Then it moves into an extremely heavy break with Jimmy jamming around the break riff until the song fades out. 6.Gallows Pole-An ominous,dark,brooding acoustic track,originally a Lead Belly song,Zep blew the original out of the water,Page's dark acoustic strumming is the perfect foil for Plant's sinister vocals,it then builds up as the band come in in a crescendo,building louder and louder from acoustic alone to have vocals,drums,bass,mandolin and banjo as Plant tries to escape from the "hangman" in this heavy,acoustic jam,JPJ's mandolin,bass and Banjo in the song make it what it is,he seems to be in a hillbilly trance,just riffing through the song,Page eventually brings in the electric and so ends the tale of the Gallows Pole. 7.Tangerine-An amazingly beautiful song,based on an old Yardbirds song,the song is almost entirely Page's work,lyrics and music.It starts off with a beautiful acoustic intro and then moves into the chord progression,then Plant's tender vocals come in,caressing your ears,through the beautiful lyrics,then the band comes in,bass drums,and a very cool psychedelic electric guitar part,vocal harmonies and such in a kind of heavy,beauty,light and shade,then the near perfect,beautifu electric guitar solo,short and sweet,an absolutely beautiful piece,John Frusciante once said if he could have written any solo,it would have been this one.It goes back to the mellow,psychedelic chorus,and a lovely vocal harmony before the song ends in a beautiful crescendo,and slow fade. 8.That's The Way-A lovely acoustic piece,inspired by how Zep were treated in America,guns were drawn on them,they were spat at,and generally mistreated,Page & Plant play the opening verse on their own,beautiful lyrics and brilliant guitar,JPJ puts a lovely mandolin over it,creating some beautiful sounds over the heartbreaking lyrics,it builds to a mellow,lovely chorus,it just goes around in a beautiful circle,Page,Plant and JPJ just playing a lovely little ballad,simple and beautiful,Jimmy and JPJ close off the track together with some brilliant interplay,and then it ends. 9.Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp-A definate favourite of mine,Jimmy opens it up in a hillbilly trance,strumming along like a young Sheldon,the village idiot,possessed by satan.The picking is mind-blowing.He strums out his chord progression and Bonzo comes in with the bass drum,stomping down at a walking pace,then Bonzo and Robert come in with a vocal harmony and Plant goes into the lyrics,then clapping along rhytmically,you can just see hime sitting around a campfire with the rest,clapping his hands.This is a really good,ramblinng track,trundling along at a walking pace,and getting heavier and heavier,bit by bit.Then Jimmy takes an acoustic picking solo,utter brilliance,strumming along in a trance before the band comes back,a wonderful campfire jam. 10.Hat's Off To (Roy) Harper-This is my only quibble with this album,Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp would have made a much stronger closing track,but this is a good song in it's own right,often forgotten or ignored by Zep fans,i think that it's a pretty cool song,but it drags on,the biggest regret about this is the absence of Bonzo and JPJ.Jimmy starts it off promisingly with a slide,Robert delivers a very underrated vocal performance,wailing and screaming,but it's not Robert that is forgotten,its the song.It's a medley of old blues tunes,arranged by Page under the name "Charles Obscure" and dedicated to Roy Harper,personally i'd dedicate a better song to the guy,but this is what he got,a cool slide blues tune.The lyrics are inaudible,but very funny (Something about shotguns) Jimmy's slide is cool,funky,but repetitive,Plant's vocals as well,repetitive,a good song,weak closer. So,there it is,overall,i rank this one below the first two,but i love it,it's a classic. Up next,my favourite of all time,Led Zeppelin IV check out my reviews of LZ I & II as well,tell me what you think,always ready for criticism. Led Zeppelin I: http://forums.ledzeppelin.com//index.php?s...ic=3527&hl= ...and Led Zeppelin II: http://forums.ledzeppelin.com//index.php?s...ic=3778&hl= Enjoy and tell me what you think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Thanks! I not just what you say, it's HOW you say it that I enjoy so much. SIBLY has the best guitar solo I've ever heard, and That's the Way can turn me into a blubbering idiot. I could go on, but not as well as you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderguy Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 It is obvious you understand what you are reviewing. No disagreements. This album should have sold better than it did. Sometimes I would sit and listen to the album and play with that wheel on the album cover, and view the pictures through the perforations. There was a song on there for every mood you could have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 I not just what you say, it's HOW you say it that I enjoy so much. SIBLY has the best guitar solo I've ever heard, and That's the Way can turn me into a blubbering idiot. I could go on, but not as well as you! Yeah,thanks,it's a lot of effort,these reviews take forever to do,i spend a good few days on them!I go in,listen to the album a million times,write up the first few songs,save it,and repeat the process for a few days,my advice to anyone who wants to do album reviews like this would be to leave your body,become emotionally dead,this is far more work than a professional critic,they do a loose review,i do every track!it's a lot of work,so yeah,it's nice to be complemented for doing it. I promise i'll go through all the albums,nexy LZ IV,then HOTH,then Physical Grafitti (That one will take some time) then Presence,then ITTOD,then Coda,then TSRTS,then the BBC sessions,then HTWWW,then TSRTS DVD,then the DVD,damn that's a long list!I might have left something out,but i'll do all those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 It is obvious you understand what you are reviewing. No disagreements. This album should have sold better than it did. Sometimes I would sit and listen to the album and play with that wheel on the album cover, and view the pictures through the perforations. There was a song on there for every mood you could have. Good point,but when people say it was Zep's lowest selling album,remember they mean it sold only 6 million copies in America alone,most bands entire catalogs never sell that much worldwide,Zep's lowest selling album goes x6 platinum. And you're so right about the moods,if you wanted to murder some englishmen,you played the immigrant song and got out your longboat to invade with your trusty army,if you were stoned you played Hat's Off,etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterMcLov1n Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 A little off topic, but did you get your username from the James Gang song, the Bomber? Anyway, yeah. LZ3 gets alot of crap just for Hats of to Roy Harper, but the rest of the album is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 A little off topic, but did you get your username from the James Gang song, the Bomber? Anyway, yeah. LZ3 gets alot of crap just for Hats of to Roy Harper, but the rest of the album is fantastic. Actually i tried Brown Bomber first after LZ II's nickname,but it was taken,i then went for bomber because Zeppelins were intended to be Bombers. It is a fantastic album,I personally feel that it fall just below the first two because it closes badly,Hat's Off is a good song,but i would have ended the album with Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 I just started work on the LZ IV review,i'll be careful with this because it's my favourite,it has alot of great songs on it as well,Black Dog,R & R,Stairway,WTLB,etc.. It'll be ready in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hudson Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 This was the first Zep album I heard. I had just got into stuff like Guns and Roses, Iron Maiden and Metallica and an uncle said I would like Zep. But the only album he could find was Zep III. What a shock. I really didn't like it. All the acoustic stuff and the 'Hats off' track just seemed weird. A year or so later the Remasters sets came out and I decided to give Zep another chance and the new CDs blew me away. The ironic thing was, that it was the stuff from Zep III that stood out the most. I assume that I'd mellowed in that year, but I suspect that Jimmy's arrangement of tracks across the fours CDs played a big part in allowing the acoustic work to have the elbow room to stand as tracks on their own. It goes without saying that Zep III is now my favourite album! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 And you're so right about the moods,if you wanted to murder some englishmen,you played the immigrant song and got out your longboat to invade with your trusty army,if you were stoned you played Hat's Off,etc... Sigh...good times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 This was the first Zep album I heard. I had just got into stuff like Guns and Roses, Iron Maiden and Metallica and an uncle said I would like Zep. But the only album he could find was Zep III. What a shock. I really didn't like it. All the acoustic stuff and the 'Hats off' track just seemed weird. A year or so later the Remasters sets came out and I decided to give Zep another chance and the new CDs blew me away. The ironic thing was, that it was the stuff from Zep III that stood out the most. I assume that I'd mellowed in that year, but I suspect that Jimmy's arrangement of tracks across the fours CDs played a big part in allowing the acoustic work to have the elbow room to stand as tracks on their own. It goes without saying that Zep III is now my favourite album! It's always been my favorite. It just really gets to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Sigh...good times. Ok,it might be a little bigoted to only mention those ones,let's not forget this album produced two of the greatest jacking off anthems of all time,SIBLY and Tangerine are good ways to let your ex know that your "Thinking" about them,the consequence is a restraining order but then as you are about to be hung,your sister comes,riding many a mile,and saves you thanks to Gallows Pole,then of course you have to flee,but Friends is all the company you'll need,while playing OOTT you may happen to find yourself hitchhiking,playing BYA Stomp you might chance upon a Welsh cottage,lose your best friend listening to That's The Way,then come back to haunt and eventually kill your ex to Celebration Day,"her face is cracked from smiling,all the fears that she's been hiding"... then,while playing Hat's Off,you offer her a $20 bill,if that don't get her your shot,shot,shotgun will! (It's all in the lyrics,believe me) course then you go to jail and we're back to Gallows Pole again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 You are as MAD AS A HATTER! Yeah, I love Celebration Day- it grabs me right from the beginning, and that rushing sound as the drums are coming in- wow! And that guitar solo! My brother used to do some mighty air guitar to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suz Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 You are as MAD AS A HATTER! Yeah, I love Celebration Day- it grabs me right from the beginning, and that rushing sound as the drums are coming in- wow! And that guitar solo! My brother used to do some mighty air guitar to that. I forgot the bass! That part between "I'm gonna join a band," and "We're gonna dance and sing in celebration".....I LOVE that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 You are as MAD AS A HATTER! Yeah,i get a lot of that. Celebration Day kicks much ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bomber Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Right lads,the LZ IV review is up!: http://forums.ledzeppelin.com//index.php?showtopic=4775 Tell me what you think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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