Do you like their later albums?

[Evster2012]

It's sad to me that some people think they should have just kept churning out 1971 or whatever. That was never the intent of the band. It was always forge ahead. It was always about the journey.

Anything else is like buying a year's subscription to Playboy, and whacking off for 12 months to Miss January, while February through December lay in a pile of unread mail.

[Zepaholic]

It's sad to me that some people think they should have just kept churning out 1971 or whatever. That was never the intent of the band. It was always forge ahead. It was always about the journey.

Anything else is like buying a year's subscription to Playboy, and whacking off for 12 months to Miss January, while February through December lay in a pile of unread mail.

L(aughing)M(y)F(ucking)A(ss)O(ff) at that analogy.

[Evster2012]

L(aughing)M(y)F(ucking)A(ss)O(ff) at that analogy.

I guess I'm just saying that when the four of them layed it down, I always got it. Even when they were goofing off, it resonated within me. In fact, the goofing (Royal Orleans, Hot Dog) brought me in closer.

[ally]

It's sad to me that some people think they should have just kept churning out 1971 or whatever. That was never the intent of the band. It was always forge ahead. It was always about the journey.

Anything else is like buying a year's subscription to Playboy, and whacking off for 12 months to Miss January, while February through December lay in a pile of unread mail.

I'll never listen to Zeppelin in quite the same way again Ev

[Mangani]

It's sad to me that some people think they should have just kept churning out 1971 or whatever. That was never the intent of the band. It was always forge ahead. It was always about the journey.

Yes but even 1971 was a forging ahead/journey onwards from what they were doing on LZ1 and LZ 2....and Houses of the Holy and PG again was substantially a forging ahead/journey onwards from 1971.

I think there was a massive amount of forging ahead and change from LZ 1 through PG which is matched only by the Beatles.

That doesn't mean those who don't like Presence and ITTOD as much can't take change or Zep being different. That's what Zeppelin did on EVERY SINGLE album.

The biggest change was from LZ 2 to LZ 111 in my opinion.

I just don't think the all round song quality on the last two albums is as strong as it generally is on the first six albums and at the end of the day that's what it ultimately comes down to, Page's playing quality of the production sound nontwithstanding. They just don't have as many great songs on either. The albums are still good and I still listen to them so don't get me wrong but to me they aren't as magically complete albums as the first six.

If you looks at Remasters and Mothership respectively, even Page and co only picked 4 songs total from the last two albums to represent them.

Anything else is like buying a year's subscription to Playboy, and whacking off for 12 months to Miss January, while February through December lay in a pile of unread mail.

I prefer Voluptuous or Juggs myself.

[Mr E]

Presence was anything but forging ahead to me. Led Zep 1 through to Physical Graffiti was definitely a band forging ahead and constantly breaking new ground. Presence, if anything is a step back. Tea For One, though a decent song, is a reworking of Since I've Been Loving You. All of the songs are electric, no way near the amount of variety and different styles on previous albums. Perhaps the album also needed more input in the song-writing department from the mighty John Paul Jones and the great John Bonham.

I've always admired Led Zep's ability to explore new sounds on each album and Presence just doesn't do that for me. Their weakest album imo. ITTOD is far more fun. Although the synths are a little dated, I'm glad they experimented with them.

[tom kid]

I find myself listening to the later albums and the later live shows more to be honest. It's amazing to see how much they evolved from one album to the next. Even the difference between I and II is astounding imo.

[illestkeith]

Presence was anything but forging ahead to me. Led Zep 1 through to Physical Graffiti was definitely a band forging ahead and constantly breaking new ground. Presence, if anything is a step back. Tea For One, though a decent song, is a reworking of Since I've Been Loving You. All of the songs are electric, no way near the amount of variety and different styles on previous albums. Perhaps the album also needed more input in the song-writing department from the mighty John Paul Jones and the great John Bonham.

I've always admired Led Zep's ability to explore new sounds on each album and Presence just doesn't do that for me. Their weakest album imo. ITTOD is far more fun. Although the synths are a little dated, I'm glad they experimented with them.

Considering that they had less time to produce Presence than any other album (except LZ I), they weren't able to incorporate "different styles" (whatever that means) and the circumstances didn't allow for JPJ and Bonzo to have as much input into songwriting. Also, I think a great injustice is done by comparing Tea For One and Since I've Been Loving You in any respect other than that they are blues numbers. The tracks on Presence sound nothing like their other albums, so I think you should admire "Led Zep's ability to explore new sounds" in Presence. Describing an album as "weak" has essentially no meaning. The energy put into Presence could arguably surpass all of the other albums. So if you are looking for evidence of Led Zeppelin "forging ahead" (again, whatever that means), you need to look no further, because Presence contains the proof.

[Mr E]

"different styles" (whatever that means)

Different styles of music. For example, Physical Graffiti contains the Eastern influenced Kashmir, Trampled Underfoot = funk, Down By The Seaside = country, Bron-Yr-Aur = Folk, In My Time Of Dying = blues etc, etc. I'm also aware of the circumstances that prevented Bonzo and Jonesy from contributing more and for me the album lacked their songwriting 'presence'.

Describing an album as "weak" has essentially no meaning.

I said I think it's their weakest album. I think it's a good record, just not a great one and not their best.

Led Zeppelin "forging ahead" (again, whatever that means)

I took the phrase "forging ahead" from Evster. I was essentially replying to what he said. I believe it's the same as 'moving forward' and 'trying new things' when it comes to music.

[dpat]

I think a great injustice is done by comparing Tea For One and Since I've Been Loving You in any respect other than that they are blues numbers.

Jimmy Page has acknowledged that those two songs are very similar:

"... the only time I think we've ever gotten close to repeating the mood of another of our numbers, "Since I've Been Loving You." The chordal structure is similar, a minor blues ..."

-Dave Schulps interview with Jimmy Page, Trouser Press, October 1977

[illestkeith]

Jimmy Page has acknowledged that those two songs are very similar:

"... the only time I think we've ever gotten close to repeating the mood of another of our numbers, "Since I've Been Loving You." The chordal structure is similar, a minor blues ..."

-Dave Schulps interview with Jimmy Page, Trouser Press, October 1977

I have lost all hope in other Led Zeppelin fans because they are so dense.

[goldenguitar]

I really like the In Through The Outdoor album, it s one of my favourites(although I don't like Carouselambra).I think it 's a very under-rated album, and Im gonna crawl, for instance is a fantastic song.I don't know why so many people look down on this album.

[mightyzep247]

Physical Graffiti=Greatest album of all time. At least in my opinion

[Electrophile]

By later, do you mean Physical Graffiti onward? Yeah, I do. I think their later work is more chunky and experimental than the stuff they did in the very beginning. I like when bands take risks.

[ninelives]

By later, do you mean Physical Graffiti onward? Yeah, I do. I think their later work is more chunky and experimental than the stuff they did in the very beginning. I like when bands take risks.

So do I

[Mangani]

By later, do you mean Physical Graffiti onward? Yeah, I do. I think their later work is more chunky and experimental than the stuff they did in the very beginning. I like when bands take risks.

Presence isn't half as risky as Led Zep III.

[Mangani]

Presence was anything but forging ahead to me. Led Zep 1 through to Physical Graffiti was definitely a band forging ahead and constantly breaking new ground. Presence, if anything is a step back. Tea For One, though a decent song, is a reworking of Since I've Been Loving You. All of the songs are electric, no way near the amount of variety and different styles on previous albums. Perhaps the album also needed more input in the song-writing department from the mighty John Paul Jones and the great John Bonham.

I'm 100% in agreement with you. I couldn't agree more.

I've also always felt that Tea For One was an obvious attempt to recreate SIBLY.......and I know which one I prefer by a country mile.

[ninelives]

Presence isn't half as risky as Led Zep III.

Don't think you can really compare them - stylistically they are so different so IMO it's hard to say one would have been considered more risky than the other.

[Evster2012]

I've also always felt that Tea For One was an obvious attempt to recreate SIBLY.......and I know which one I prefer by a country mile.

One person's "recreation" is another's "revisitation". I know it's semantics, but it goes to intent. One can say they "attempted" to rekindle an old fire (which can imply an act of desperation), while on the other hand one can say they went to a happy place, and it came out so good they put it on the album (i.e. That's a fookin keeper mate!).

Point is, I don't think they were desperate. Robert was in a wheelchair. The whole album was a primal scream. A minute seems like a lifetime when you don't know if you'll ever walk again. SIBLY just provided a convenient framework in the moment. Sometimes you just pick it up and run with it. "Roll tape! I've got an idea!"

And there you have it. Tea For One. A fanastic Zeppelin journey, and a personal favorite. I'd rather have it just the way it is than imagine what may have come about if someone had said "Oh mate, can't do that. Sounds too much like SIBLY".

Just my opinion.

[timothy5151]

One person's "recreation" is another's "revisitation". I know it's semantics, but it goes to intent. One can say they "attempted" to rekindle an old fire (which can imply an act of desperation), while on the other hand one can say they went to a happy place, and it came out so good they put it on the album (i.e. That's a fookin keeper mate!).

Point is, I don't think they were desperate. Robert was in a wheelchair. The whole album was a primal scream. A minute seems like a lifetime when you don't know if you'll ever walk again. SIBLY just provided a convenient framework in the moment. Sometimes you just pick it up and run with it. "Roll tape! I've got an idea!"

And there you have it. Tea For One. A fanastic Zeppelin journey, and a personal favorite. I'd rather have it just the way it is than imagine what may have come about if someone had said "Oh mate, can't do that. Sounds too much like SIBLY".

Just my opinion.

Great post! In my personal opinion, I've always felt that it wasn't a "recreation" nor "revisitation"....just simply a continuation of SIBLY, sort of like a continuing chapter. With everything that happened to the band up to this point in time, I fell that TFO has much more raw emotion than SIBLY and more powerful, which is why I like it better.

[Evster2012]

Great post! In my personal opinion, I've always felt that it wasn't a "recreation" nor "revisitation"....just simply a continuation of SIBLY, sort of like a continuing chapter. With everything that happened to the band up to this point in time, I fell that TFO has much more raw emotion than SIBLY and more powerful, which is why I like it better.

SIBLY 2.0: This time it's personal!

[NickZepp]

Great post! In my personal opinion, I've always felt that it wasn't a "recreation" nor "revisitation"....just simply a continuation of SIBLY, sort of like a continuing chapter. With everything that happened to the band up to this point in time, I fell that TFO has much more raw emotion than SIBLY and more powerful, which is why I like it better.

I don't know if anyone can say SIBLY is less emotional or powerful. But both were great at their own time. Just listen to the band in 1970 or 71 and tell me that there isn't as much emotion or power. The band was all around better by 75 because of the experience with each other. I think Presence can be described as Page's best album.

[Mr E]

Don't think you can really compare them - stylistically they are so different so IMO it's hard to say one would have been considered more risky than the other.

I agree that they are stylistically very different but it's quite obvious that Zep III is one of the biggest risks the band ever took. With the first two albums they had established themselves as a hard rock band, the loudest band around and they had barely been around two years. Then suddenly they release a folk album! It got a bashing by the critics and its sales weren't as strong but it proved that Zep were much more than just heavy blues. It's now considered a masterpiece.

Zep IV was also very risky in terms of the album cover, which had no title and no mention of the band whatsoever. Houses Of The Holy also, with its dabblings of reggae and James Brown funk.

It's fine that people really love Presence but to claim that it is in some way 'risky' or more 'experimental' than previous albums is nonsense and does their early albums a huge disservice. Zep were taking risks right from the beginning.

[Mangani]

Don't think you can really compare them - stylistically they are so different so IMO it's hard to say one would have been considered more risky than the other.

After PG, Zeppelin were firmly entrenched as the biggest, most powerful band in the world. Essentially they could do anything they wanted and get away with it because their following was so encompasing and their fans (and critics) were by then used to Zep going off at tangents and taking their music to different places and levels. Very little (musically) was really a 'risk' for them by the mid 1970s. Presence wasn't half the 'risk' that LZ III was after LZ II. At the time LZ III came out the band only had a relatively short career up to that point. Yes they were huge after LZ II came out but really LZ III was seen by outsiders (and even many fans) as a big suprise and a major departure from the previous heavy blues albums LZ I and LZ II.

When you look at it from that point of view then LZ III (the difficult 3rd album) becomes the most 'risky' venture they ever did albumwise. They really didn't know how it was going to be received.

[Mangani]

One person's "recreation" is another's "revisitation". I know it's semantics, but it goes to intent. One can say they "attempted" to rekindle an old fire (which can imply an act of desperation), while on the other hand one can say they went to a happy place, and it came out so good they put it on the album (i.e. That's a fookin keeper mate!).

I would suggest it edges towards the former.

Point is, I don't think they were desperate. Robert was in a wheelchair. The whole album was a primal scream. A minute seems like a lifetime when you don't know if you'll ever walk again. SIBLY just provided a convenient framework in the moment. Sometimes you just pick it up and run with it. "Roll tape! I've got an idea!"

Well I wouldn't say they were desperate but for sure (in my opinion) TFO was a sign they had already reached their creative peak and were now slipping from it.

Don't get me wrong. I do Like TFO but it's nowhere near the classic that SIBLY is.

And there you have it. Tea For One. A fanastic Zeppelin journey, and a personal favorite. I'd rather have it just the way it is than imagine what may have come about if someone had said "Oh mate, can't do that. Sounds too much like SIBLY".

Just my opinion.

I like your opinion and it's cool.

I do think though that if you were to ask the Zep members themselves they would rate SIBLY over TFO. The inclusion of SIBLY and exclusion of TFO on compilations like Remasters and Mothership just go to show this.