ITTOD - Why is this the most disliked album of Led Zeppelin?

[Mr.BilboUncleofFrodo]

After reading a fare amount of post regarding ITTOD I am amazed. Truly. For to be in a fan type club , and I have seen Zepp, to Humble Pie, King Crimson deep Purple Stones, Hawkwind, Straubs, ELP,Clapton,Tull, Gental Giant The Pink Floyd, and many more, and most of theese numerous times. Hence to join a club and hear rubbish about this LP was no good or the band was ashamed makes me sad. No, Zepp was not burned out, other than Plants loss of child,a terrible car accident in which we all know he sand mostly in a wheel chair while recording Presence, and other personal issues we will never know about concerning the members and ther families, I like every song they made because I truly concider Zeppelin my favorite band. I , when Bonham passed on had tickets to see them and it was a turning point in the music, the music industrie and they where going on the road to promote, In Through The Out Door! They had did some well recieved gigs in Europe and were heading to North America.Without a doubt they would have, like they had so many times before, and this is a great thing about Zepp, every show would have enhanced the songs,and withot a thought they would have changed on there next LP, just like the stones did and still do.But this is about Zeppelin, the best Rock and Roll Band ever. Rock On

[juxtiphi]

I would gauge it as follows : were it not by Led Zeppelin would as many people feel the need to try and justify it as being better than it really is? Often with bands with a track record we, myself included, feel the need to justify their entire output, perhaps through some strange loyalty resulting from a deep seated enjoyment and respect for earlier performances. I think we've all been there, we really rate earlier work and so look much harder, perhaps through perseverance or some measure of blind loyalty, to find positive aspects in substandard work.

We can look at the themes covered in the album, and perhaps seek to justify advancements in the band through use of synthesisers and so on. Looking beyond this, and in my opinion, the majority of the album screams out "filler". The well was dry by this point in proceedings.

I disagree. As a music fan in love with bands like Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, ELP, Jeff beck and a lot of other bands and styles of music too but my fav is the best and thats Led Zeppelin. I do not pull any punches when it comes to their music. I love 99.999% of what they did. The one song I really do not like and its only because its from a genre I dont really go for (Rock A Billy) is Hot Dog which is on ITTOD but its still a perfect example of the style and I have to give them credit for that. Lets look at Floyd. I love them but if we look at two albums for comparison, Learning To Fly and the Division Bell. I would say Love LTF and strongly dislike TDB just because I love a band doesnt mean I will automatically love their next endeavor. Early Yes is also one of my fav bands but without Bruford they do nothing for me. I tried and I tried to love Sound Chaser and Tales Of Topographical Oceans but just couldnt get into it. As a drummer Alan White bores me to death. Love me some KC have many albums and boots never really liked In The Wake Of Poseidon. Take Clapton, Most would say he is genius with a guitar and they may be right but his music does absolutely nothing for me. Dont know why, but that doesnt mean I run around yelling he sucks.

I dont just love Zeppelin no matter what the idea is although I haven't heard too many I didn't like but I think its because I get them.

[juxtiphi]

After reading a fare amount of post regarding ITTOD I am amazed. Truly. For to be in a fan type club , and I have seen Zepp, to Humble Pie, King Crimson deep Purple Stones, Hawkwind, Straubs, ELP,Clapton,Tull, Gental Giant The Pink Floyd, and many more, and most of theese numerous times. Hence to join a club and hear rubbish about this LP was no good or the band was ashamed makes me sad. No, Zepp was not burned out, other than Plants loss of child,a terrible car accident in which we all know he sand mostly in a wheel chair while recording Presence, and other personal issues we will never know about concerning the members and ther families, I like every song they made because I truly concider Zeppelin my favorite band. I , when Bonham passed on had tickets to see them and it was a turning point in the music, the music industrie and they where going on the road to promote, In Through The Out Door! They had did some well recieved gigs in Europe and were heading to North America.Without a doubt they would have, like they had so many times before, and this is a great thing about Zepp, every show would have enhanced the songs,and withot a thought they would have changed on there next LP, just like the stones did and still do.But this is about Zeppelin, the best Rock and Roll Band ever. Rock On

[Buford T Justice]

I disagree. I think that those who love the album are perplexed by those who do not, and are trying to share their observations to help others have that "ah ha" moment. ITTOD is one of my fave Zep albums, and ranked above albums such as LZ II. The quality and content is lost on many people who have trouble seeing beyond formula Zeppelin, but a world full of Black Dog's does not a creative catalogue make.

If you enjoy it then no one can comment otherwise, that's your opinion.

I agree that any advance beyond a standard formula is to be applauded however would that album, were it a single album by a new and unknown band, be considered as favourably? I don't believe it would.

Is it accepted more because of who it's by or because of a comparison that can be made with this album against previous albums (the level of difference versus previous albums being used as a "positive" to measure it by rather than the actual quality of the material)? That kind of thing is often used to highlight the quality of Zep - the different styles used, and does this album, perhaps more than most of the others, provide ammo for this particular "argument"?

If the band had petered out following Presence would their legacy be any less than it is? I don't believe it would, the legacy had already been cultivated and the quality of material on ITTOD added nothing to this.

Again though, respect to those who enjoy it.

[ListenToThis]

I love the album. That being said I will partially agree with the above closing statement that the album did little to further cement Zeppelin's already legendary status, but it did further cement Bonham's continued finesse and maturity and thus the status as rock's greatest drummer. FITR, ITE and Carouselambra were landmarks for him.

[The Dark Lord]

I disagree. As a music fan in love with bands like Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, ELP, Jeff beck and a lot of other bands and styles of music too but my fav is the best and thats Led Zeppelin. I do not pull any punches when it comes to their music. I love 99.999% of what they did. The one song I really do not like and its only because its from a genre I dont really go for (Rock A Billy) is Hot Dog which is on ITTOD but its still a perfect example of the style and I have to give them credit for that. Lets look at Floyd. I love them but if we look at two albums for comparison, Learning To Fly and the Division Bell. I would say Love LTF and strongly dislike TDB just because I love a band doesnt mean I will automatically love their next endeavor. Early Yes is also one of my fav bands but without Bruford they do nothing for me. I tried and I tried to love Sound Chaser and Tales Of Topographical Oceans but just couldnt get into it. As a drummer Alan White bores me to death. Love me some KC have many albums and boots never really liked In The Wake Of Poseidon. Take Clapton, Most would say he is genius with a guitar and they may be right but his music does absolutely nothing for me. Dont know why, but that doesnt mean I run around yelling he sucks.

I dont just love Zeppelin no matter what the idea is although I haven't heard too many I didn't like but I think its because I get them.

I have to agree with you about Clapton. The most boring concert I have ever seen, next to Dylan. As a huge Floyd fan, I take exception to a studio album called Learning to Fly. Perhaps you meant Momentary Lapse of Reason. I love both MLoR and TDB, and saw both tours. Excellent stuff. We share many of the same tastes in music.

[juxtiphi]

I have to agree with you about Clapton. The most boring concert I have ever seen, next to Dylan. As a huge Floyd fan, I take exception to a studio album called Learning to Fly. Perhaps you meant Momentary Lapse of Reason. I love both MLoR and TDB, and saw both tours. Excellent stuff. We share many of the same tastes in music.

Oh snap!! My bad, Yes, Learning To Fly was on Momentary lapse Of Reason, Its been a long time since MLOR has been played but when it came out we listened to it a lot. I saw the Division Bell tour and was blown away! it was the most visually spectacular show I ever saw. I'm just not a huge fan of the Division Bell album. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

I saw the wednesday show at Foxboro Stadium. It was overcast and there was a slight mist in the air which caused the light show to look even more scintillating. The clouds acted like a screen and the lasers looked as if they were dancing on the clouds. My seat was on the 50 yard line about half way up. From my viewing angle the half shell looked like a 3 dimensional dome i was blown away. We could actually feel the heat from the fire pots they used all the way out to the 50 yard line ! imagine how hot it must have been on stage!!!

Learning To Fly was probably the most played song on the radio at the time hence my foggy memory.

True story, 1988 David Gilmour and Nick Mason were on rock line. We called up and got in line to ask a question. The guy on the other end was telling me what could and couldn't be asked and as he was oking my question the current caller on the radio asked my question! I didnt have a back up so I missed my opportunity to speak with them. I was really bummed out. You might ask how hard could it be to come up with a question for Floyd as there's so much to ask about. Well thats the problem, the guy screening the callers had a list a mile long of stuff you couldn't ask about. So it wasn't so easy to come up with another on the spot..

[geekfreak]

right on dark lord, back in the day music was moving forward, not backwards...

[Charles J. White]

I actually saw Dylan play in Halifax a number of years ago, and I actually walked out of the gig about 30 minutes in. It was boring, his voice was shite, and I don't mean Bob Dylan jokes, it was just crap, there was no interaction with the crowd, and he may as well have been playing by himself in his living room...

[Charles J. White]

In Through The Out Door is truly one of the great albums of all time, it might not be the best Zeppelin album, but it lay the ground work for what I believe could have been a great follow up for the 1980's.

[Melcórë]

right on dark lord, back in the day music was moving forward, not backwards...

Seems a very limited view of the musical landscape, no?

[The Dark Lord]

I actually saw Dylan play in Halifax a number of years ago, and I actually walked out of the gig about 30 minutes in. It was boring, his voice was shite, and I don't mean Bob Dylan jokes, it was just crap, there was no interaction with the crowd, and he may as well have been playing by himself in his living room...

Indeed. I saw that tour too, and horrible is being generous when describing the show I saw.

In Through The Out Door is truly one of the great albums of all time, it might not be the best Zeppelin album, but it lay the ground work for what I believe could have been a great follow up for the 1980's.

Yes.

[The Only Way To Fly]

In Through The Out Door is truly one of the great albums of all time, it might not be the best Zeppelin album, but it lay the ground work for what I believe could have been a great follow up for the 1980's.

When I think about In Through The Out Door & what would have come next I often look to Plant's first & second solo LP's. As the principal song writer with Zeppelin its easy (in my head anyway) to listen to Pictures At Eleven & Principal of Moments as something that would have been similar to what Zeppelin would have done next. I know with Bonzo, gone it would never be the same - its just a movie - a picture if you will, in my mind of what the early 1980's might have been.

[ledastray]

I like ITTOD overall but would love it if JP would remove the synthesizer from Carouselambra for the remaster. IMO that is the most out of place sound on any Zep album (with apologies to JPJ--I love his work usually). JP could add a guitar overdub in its place or get JPJ to rework the keyboard part.

[juxtiphi]

I like ITTOD overall but would love it if JP would remove the synthesizer from Carouselambra for the remaster. IMO that is the most out of place sound on any Zep album (with apologies to JPJ--I love his work usually). JP could add a guitar overdub in its place or get JPJ to rework the keyboard part.

[The Dark Lord]

+1

[ledastray]

Sorry to distress you guys. I'm glad *you* like it.

But I am a child of the 80s and given a time machine, I'd be tempted to go back and destroy all the evil synths before they had a chance to ruin the musical decade. People 10 or 15 years older had Zeppelin and other great bands while my generation had to cope with synth pop and hair bands and all kinds of non Zeppelin stuff.

I'm still bitter about it!

[The Dark Lord]

Sorry to distress you guys. I'm glad *you* like it.

But I am a child of the 80s and given a time machine, I'd be tempted to go back and destroy all the evil synths before they had a chance to ruin the musical decade. People 10 or 15 years older had Zeppelin and other great bands while my generation had to cope with synth pop and hair bands and all kinds of non Zeppelin stuff.

I'm still bitter about it!

We can't re-write history, nor should we. I was there when this album was released and it was very relevant at the time. I'm old enough to remember when music from the '60's and '70's had fallen from vogue, but that day has passed, and those eras are revered. Believe it or not, the sound that you malign, although dated by today's standards, will have its day in the sun again. Those synths document a musical era, and that era should be left intact, to stand as a documentary of what was happening at the time. For that reason, I have learned to love those synths, and not live in resistance to something that was meant to be heard exactly as it was first released. It's an exercise of looking deeper and not judging history.

[ledastray]

^I'm not likely to find or create a time machine so the decade from hell should be safe. And you're probably right anyway. The 90s needed something to rebel against.

[The Dark Lord]

^I'm not likely to find or create a time machine so the decade from hell should be safe. And you're probably right anyway. The 90s needed something to rebel against.

Haha. Well, musical taste is very personal, but I find it helps to appreciate at old music (good, bad and indifferent) for what it is, as opposed to how it could be made more relevant to a different era. I'm not a fan of a lot of music that you refer to, but I wouldn't change it either. It is what it is.....as they say.

[SteveZ98]

From a nostalgic standpoint, it's my favorite Zeppelin album. It's the only one they put out while I was into them and Bonzo was still alive. I was 14 at the time. I still remember talking with my friends about the lp before it was released. If you think the anticipation for the upcoming remasters is something, you should have felt the buzz back then when we heard a new Zeppelin album was on the way. I bought the lp the day it came and I still remember listening to it the first time and marveling at how strange and cool the beginning of In the Evening was. And I remember talking about it with my friends, none of whom were into Zep as much as I was, being glad that they liked the album. I also remember how much time I spent after the album came out figuring out how I was going to be able to get to see them play live. Sadly, Sept. 25, 1980 crushed that dream. However, I still remember how great it was to be part of that era, and I think of it whenever I listen to ITTOD.

[The Dark Lord]

From a nostalgic standpoint, it's my favorite Zeppelin album. It's the only one they put out while I was into them and Bonzo was still alive. I was 14 at the time. I still remember talking with my friends about the lp before it was released. If you think the anticipation for the upcoming remasters is something, you should have felt the buzz back then when we heard a new Zeppelin album was on the way. I bought the lp the day it came and I still remember listening to it the first time and marveling at how strange and cool the beginning of In the Evening was. And I remember talking about it with my friends, none of whom were into Zep as much as I was, being glad that they liked the album. I also remember how much time I spent after the album came out figuring out how I was going to be able to get to see them play live. Sadly, Sept. 25, 1980 crushed that dream. However, I still remember how great it was to be part of that era, and I think of it whenever I listen to ITTOD.

Great post. My experience was very similar, and I agree with you.

[dalsh327]

They just need to push Plant's vocals up more on "Carouselambra" (maybe an alternate mix was made back then), and there's something that bugs me about the echo on his voice on "I'm Gonna Crawl". The one song I've never been a fan of is "South Bound Saurez".

The album is great with some weak moments, but you can pick apart any Led Zeppelin album on any number of things.

[JohnnyGuitar]

I've heard some of Bonzo's drum tracks from that record and they sound GREAT, but on the actual album, the final mix truly sucked. Damn shame that the album's sonics are so awful. I was surprised Jimmy let it come out sounding the way it did, given all the amazing sonically majestic work he did on other Zep stuff. Then again, I hate the overall sonics on Presence, too, but I love those particular tunes.

[JohnnyGuitar]

For one thing, the album sounds like it was recorded in a cardboard box with cheap microphones covered by wet towels. Absolutely awful sound. That alone makes it hard for me to listen to. On top of that, most of the songs leave me flat. I was really disappointed when I first heard it. Ah well, I have all the other Zep albums to enjoy.