Filler Zeppelin

[Knebby]

Ok then - they can call the songs "paint".

[Electrophile]

Ok then - they can call the songs "paint".

Whatever floats their tuna boat.

[Knebby]

Ha!

[BenRassmu]

Was the term "filler" applied then? I don't believe it was.

Maybe Jimmy's word at the time was just a matter of semantics then. It's been well known that he didn't like the song. People change though and he could now be embracing the riff for his future tour or at least his upcoming China appearance.

I'm glad radio programmers know better though and can look at an artist's work, determine what will work for airplay and put the needle on the record. Living Loving Maid has well worn grooves!

[Matjaz1]

Well filler songs are basicaly songs, that are not really good, but are on a certain album! Basicaly all the songs on an album are there to fill the space, but filler songs are there to fill the space with less good music, because a band had no better songs to use instead!

So less good songs of Zep, were perhaps not intentionaly created just to fill the space, but they would probably not be used on records, if the band had anything better. Of course people and even band memebers have different opinions on which zep songs are less good, but i think we could all agrre on a few, which were not really that bad, but it would certainly be better, if they would be replaced with songs zeppelin didn't really have at the time! And almost all of this songs came after Grafitti!

So filler songs of led zeppelin are the songs, that someone things are really not good. So the only way that zep has no filler is, that all of their songs are really great and i and some other people think, that this is not the case! But they certainly don't have a lot filler, atleast not to fans!

Songs i think are filler:

The crunge, Royal orleans, candy store rock and walters walk.

[kaiser]

Was the term "filler" applied then? I don't believe it was.

I agree with you Knebby. Just because Page was/is not particularly entralled with the song, supposedly because of it's subject matter, doesn't mean it's "filler". He just wasn't thrilled with it for his own personal reasons, yet he still stood behind it's release. I can honestly say I don't think the boys in Zep put out anything when they were a functioning band that they didn't stand behind. Just look at the "older" tracks on "PG". They're all great tracks but didn't necessarily fit the albums that they were working on at those moments. For goodnees sakes they left "The Rover" off of "HOTH", most bands would release that as a single immediatly, forget about delaying it's release for 3 years. I think Zep, like the Beatles, were masters at quality control & I think that's why in part their legacy is what is.

That's why I said the only Zep release I consider filler is "Coda". It's not an album they would have released under the best of circumstances, & unfortunately they had to do just that under the worst of circumstances. Even in that sense it's some what debateable if it's filler, but technically I guess it is.

[Magic Fills the Air]

I agree with you Knebby. Just because Page was/is not particularly entralled with the song, supposedly because of it's subject matter, doesn't mean it's "filler". He just wasn't thrilled with it for his own personal reasons, yet he still stood behind it's release. I can honestly say I don't think the boys in Zep put out anything when they were a functioning band that they didn't stand behind. Just look at the "older" tracks on "PG". They're all great tracks but didn't necessarily fit the albums that they were working on at those moments. For goodnees sakes they left "The Rover" off of "HOTH", most bands would release that as a single immediatly, forget about delaying it's release for 3 years. I think Zep, like the Beatles, were masters at quality control & I think that's why in part their legacy is what is.

That's why I said the only Zep release I consider filler is "Coda". It's not an album they would have released under the best of circumstances, & unfortunately they had to do just that under the worst of circumstances. Even in that sense it's some what debateable if it's filler, but technically I guess it is.

The first paragraph of your reply I completely agree with. Yes, Zeppelin were very conscientious about which songs were put on an album, and like you, I can't understand why they didn't have enough faith in the Rover to put it on HOTH since it's such a brilliant song. I think it's this drive for prefecttion that Page had, as well as the other band members, that's makes Zeppelin so distinctive in rock music.

I'm not sure I agree with Coda being called a filler album. I agree with you that it doesn't have the same sense of completion that the other albums had, obviously because of the circumstances under which it was released. I remember when I first listened to Coda, after listening to all of their previous alubums, and was aware then that it sounded different to the other albums.

[kaiser]

The first paragraph of your reply I completely agree with. Yes, Zeppelin were very conscientious about which songs were put on an album, and like you, I can't understand why they didn't have enough faith in the Rover to put it on HOTH since it's such a brilliant song. I think it's this drive for prefecttion that Page had, as well as the other band members, that's makes Zeppelin so distinctive in rock music.

I'm not sure I agree with Coda being called a filler album. I agree with you that it doesn't have the same sense of completion that the other albums had, obviously because of the circumstances under which it was released. I remember when I first listened to Coda, after listening to all of their previous alubums, and was aware then that it sounded different to the other albums.

I didn't say "Coda" was a bad album, I like the songs on it myself, but it is a filler album. That album was never intended to be released as it was while John Bonham was alive. The only reason it was released was because Zep had one more album to deliver to Atlantic on their contract after Bonham's death. Page cobbled together what he could & released the album fulfilling their contract with Atlantic. By no means is "Coda" a regular Zeppelin album, it's a contract fulfillment & Page wasn't happy to release it. It's filler, good or bad.

[greenman]

The Crunge for me is a clear example of something that people might dislike but can't realy be called filler, It had afterall been worked on for months during DAC before being recorded. I think Page made a mistake giving in the smooth soul/funk production he did when it would have been much better off with a raw James Brownesque sound as we heard live.

Filler to me implies sub standard material put out quickly in order to fill space on an album, not experiments that go a little wrong.

Edited July 12, 2010 by greenman

[kaiser]

^ Exactly. I'm not a fan of "Candy Store Rock" pretty much for the same reasons you don't care for "The Crunge", but I wouldn't call either filler. I believe whole heartedly the band stood behind both of those songs & they were released on those albums because they fit their vision of those respective albums. As I posted earlier, "The Rover" could have easily been put on HOTH yet they chose to go with "The Crunge" & "D'yer M'aker" instead, songs that are somewhat silly but for whatever they wanted those songs on HOTH instead. When Zeppelin was an active band, from the songs on the album to the cover art, they knew exactly what they wanted to put out & how they wanted to be percieved. Nothing was done half assed.

[Magic Fills the Air]

The Crunge for me is a clear example of something that people might dislike but can't realy be called filler, It had afterall been worked on for months during DAC before being recorded. I think Page made a mistake giving in the smooth soul/funk production he did when it would have been much better off with a raw James Brownesque sound as we heard live.

Filler to me implies sub standard material put out quickly in order to fill space on an album, not experiments that go a little wrong.

I completely agree. I'm not fanatical about the Crunge either, and it's not a song I listen to an awful lot, but because of that I don't label it a 'filler' because it was obviously a significant record for the band at the time. I think some members here are confusing some songs they're not so keen on with 'filler' songs. That's what I've said since I first posted in this thread.

[greenman]

As I said for me the two tracks that come close to being filler are Royal Orleans and Candy Store Rock from Presense. Not actually bad tracks by most bands standards but they were likely thrown together pretty quickly and don't seem to cover ground that say Hots On For Nowhere didnt more sucessfully.

I actually think thats part of the reason Presense didnt ever establish itself with the fans the way the rest of the bands albums did. For all the metal/hard rock reputation there was generally something to please everyone on the other albums where as it was much more one note.

[Tripmender]

As I said for me the two tracks that come close to being filler are Royal Orleans and Candy Store Rock from Presense. Not actually bad tracks by most bands standards but they were likely thrown together pretty quickly and don't seem to cover ground that say Hots On For Nowhere didnt more sucessfully.

I can't get Hots On. I didn't mind it so much when it came out, but I was only 14 then and I didn't know any better. Nowadays, it makes me feel sea-sick just thinking about it. All those lurching riffs and stop-start stuff, well, it reminds me of when I taught my ex-wife to drive and she kept making the car judder. The Horror....

There's something badly wrong with that song, I tells yez. It sounds just like 'terminal bed-spin' feels, or that nasty effect you get when you start smoking joints after drinking heavily, instead of the other way round.

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

Wow! So, Led Zeppelin albums ACTUALLY have fillers in them???! :blink:

Woah! This is news to me!

[Pat McGroin]

The only Zep album with any filler is Coda, which is all filler really, I would say.

[zdr]

I can't get Hots On. I didn't mind it so much when it came out, but I was only 14 then and I didn't know any better. Nowadays, it makes me feel sea-sick just thinking about it. All those lurching riffs and stop-start stuff, well, it reminds me of when I taught my ex-wife to drive and she kept making the car judder. The Horror....

There's something badly wrong with that song, I tells yez. It sounds just like 'terminal bed-spin' feels, or that nasty effect you get when you start smoking joints after drinking heavily, instead of the other way round.

I feel about the same about HOFN. I don't skip it when in playlist, but I'm glad when it's over. The melodic line of the chorus (la la la) the "ooo" annoys me very much. But everything else on Presence is gold to me.