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Re-doing Physical Graffiti...


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Since Physical Graffiti already used unused songs from prior sessions, I thought it might be fun to re-do the double album making available ALL unreleased songs that have been officially released. In other words, create a double album that includes your favorite tracks from the actual album and/or tracks from Coda and the 1990 box set. Unreleased tracks from the recent companion discs are also eligible for use.

For example, mine would look like...

PHYSICAL GRAFFITI - RE-MODELED

SIDE ONE

Kashmir

The Rover

White Summer / Black Mountain Side

SIDE TWO

Travelling Riverside Blues

Trampled Underfoot

In The Light

SIDE THREE

Custard Pie

Down By The Seaside

Hey Hey What Can I Do

Ten Years Gone

SIDE FOUR

Houses Of The Holy

Poor Tom

Bron-yr-aur

The Wanton Song

Key To The Highway / Trouble In Mind

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Well, as this thread has been here a couple of days and still no responses, I think that it's safe to say that everyone considers Physical Graffiti to be perfect as is. One thing that Jimmy was a master at was the placement of songs. Everything just flowed. And side three of PG is - in a word - perfection! In The Light - Bron-Yr-Aur - Down By The Seaside - Ten Years Gone...

Why would anyone want to change perfection??? :dont:

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Most of PG is a masterpiece, but it has flaws which appear to be little more than filler to my mind. If I had to pick one song it would have to be Boogie With Stu it's the one song of questionable quality that just seems to be stuck on the album with no real purpose.

The album doesn't flow as it really is a collection of songs with no real sequence (not in the same way as the acoustic songs on Zeppelin lll or side one of HOTH). The music on PG is too diverse in styles from one track to the next to flow in a perfect sequence. The Rover to In My Time of Dying may not be such a leap, but Trampled Underfoot to Kashmir? Great album all the same which can't be said about most of the mess that was In Through the Outdoor sadly even if it did have some gems tucked away on it.

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I'm actually one of the few, apparently, that doesn't find Graffiti to be a perfect album. Sure, it's a four star effort and I love it, but I always felt some of the songs sounded a bit out of place sequencing-wise. I would have showcased Kashmir more by using it as a side OPENER rather than a closer. Page did this to open disc three on the 1990 box set and I always felt it worked much better. The opening lyric benefits from being the first thing you hear lyrically and the atmosphere of the song really sweeps away the listener and announces to them that this album/side is going to take you on a wondrous journey. Somehow, tucking it way back as a side closer makes it sound a bit anti-climatic to my ears.

Page is indeed a master at sequencing, for the most part. But I always thought a few of the tracks on Graffiti could have been re-shuffled. I'd say Led Zeppelin IV is the finest sequencing-wise. There isn't a single track I would shift on that one. I also feel the opening to Houses Of The Holy is sheer brilliance with The Song Remains The Same fading into The Rain Song. Led Zeppelin III is also near perfect.

Edited by The Love That I Found
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OMG I love Boogie with Stu!

Most of PG is a masterpiece, but it has flaws which appear to be little more than filler to my mind. If I had to pick one song it would have to be Boogie With Stu it's the one song of questionable quality that just seems to be stuck on the album with no real purpose.

The album doesn't flow as it really is a collection of songs with no real sequence (not in the same way as the acoustic songs on Zeppelin lll or side one of HOTH). The music on PG is too diverse in styles from one track to the next to flow in a perfect sequence. The Rover to In My Time of Dying may not be such a leap, but Trampled Underfoot to Kashmir? Great album all the same which can't be said about most of the mess that was In Through the Outdoor sadly even if it did have some gems tucked away on it.

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The only way to properly "re-do" Physical Graffiti is to make it a single album that only includes the songs recorded during the 1974 sessions. So....

Custard Pie, Sick Again, The Wanton Song, IMTOD, Ten Years Gone, Trampled Underfoot and Kashmir in whatever order you fancy.

Love,

Mackey

No love for In The Light? Possibly the best track on the album

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Most of PG is a masterpiece, but it has flaws which appear to be little more than filler to my mind. If I had to pick one song it would have to be Boogie With Stu it's the one song of questionable quality that just seems to be stuck on the album with no real purpose.

The album doesn't flow as it really is a collection of songs with no real sequence (not in the same way as the acoustic songs on Zeppelin lll or side one of HOTH). The music on PG is too diverse in styles from one track to the next to flow in a perfect sequence. The Rover to In My Time of Dying may not be such a leap, but Trampled Underfoot to Kashmir? Great album all the same which can't be said about most of the mess that was In Through the Outdoor sadly even if it did have some gems tucked away on it.

Night Flight for me. What a bore. :zzz:

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No love for In The Light? Possibly the best track on the album

Inexcusable oversight on my part. Arguably my fave track on the album and I left it off. I'm so ashamed. Serves me right for posting on company time in a rush.

Absolutely has to be on there, which probably pushes the running time beyond the parameters of a single LP.

Love,

Billy

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  • 3 weeks later...

Physical Graffiti is about as perfect as it gets as is, but if I could change one thing about it (and only one thing), I would add Hey Hey, What Can I Do to it's tracklisting... there's room for it, and it's simply too fantastic a song to have been left off any LZ album.

Other than that, leave PG alone.

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I had all of zep on vinyl back in the day. I bought the two boxed sets in the 90's but hated that the tracks were out of order. I went to great lengths to piece together the songs in their original running order and burned cd's to replicate that order. As the remasters come out I have been buying them on vinyl so I can recapture the original albums in order on an official release. For me the albums are best heard as whole pieces, so I like that the extra material does not interrupt the original flow. I say leave them separate! As far as content... I would like to see more live material included...

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  • 1 month later...

Yes Yes Yes! Let us second guess the most brilliant producer of his time and suggest how his masterpiece should be remade to suit our own sensibilities. What a load of Bollox!!

Mackey is as close to "correct" as you can get on this, ehem, subject and its the only other way it could have/should have happened.

The only way to properly "re-do" Physical Graffiti is to make it a single album that only includes the songs recorded during the 1974 sessions. So....

Custard Pie, Sick Again, The Wanton Song, IMTOD, Ten Years Gone, Trampled Underfoot and Kashmir in whatever order you fancy.

Love,

Mackey

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I took a slightly different approach by limiting the song selection to just newly recorded stuff (1974) and making it fit on a single-album vinyl. This was the best tracklist I could think of in that scenario: https://play.spotify.com/user/123343771/playlist/2P35LPYYQLm80LALphMvYy

Who knows how close the band was to taking this approach? They had already had to make hard cuts for Houses of the Holy (including the title track) so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that they might have done the same thing with Physical Graffiti. In fact, the only reason I've ever seen for why they expanded to a double album was that they had too much music for a single-LP.

By that logic, I wonder if they considered making Houses of the Holy a double album first...the amount of music recorded in 72 is about a minute MORE than what was recorded in 74!

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Physical Graffiti is about as perfect as it gets as is, but if I could change one thing about it (and only one thing), I would add Hey Hey, What Can I Do to it's tracklisting... there's room for it, and it's simply too fantastic a song to have been left off any LZ album.

I wholeheartedly and unreservedly take back my above previous posting, this new remaster shows off just what a monumental achievement Physical Graffiti is... in writing, in performance, in production, and in tracklist sequencing; it just ebbs and flows with such beauty and lightness of touch, it doesn't have to pummel you over the head, it knows it's great and doesn't feel the need to prove it, and the sparkling new spit-and-polish that Jimmy Page and John Davis have given it only reinforces why this magnum opus has endured these last four decades.

No, I wouldn't touch, change, or alter PG one iota; not a song, not a note... it's perfection as it stands.

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Just noticed that Rolling Stone gave Physical Graffiti a great review and many on their forum were pointing out that on its original release it got a kicking which apparently was the norm for the band and their LP's back in the day. Why was the music press so negative.

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Just noticed that Rolling Stone gave Physical Graffiti a great review and many on their forum were pointing out that on its original release it got a kicking which apparently was the norm for the band and their LP's back in the day. Why was the music press so negative.

...Innovative artistic vision is seldom recognized, not just LZ, remains universal truth in the world over to date presently; the publications have to present point of view that is current "trend"

for that matter poets are truly appreciated when they are no more, only few would have seen felt and realized their expression... and sometimes the publications want to present a futurisitc viewpoint, but they cannot, as their writings must conform to the audience who are of certain demographs;

Journalism is a very noble profession; it takes visionary to unite past, present, and future that would serve the extra ordinary journey of life.....there are some very interesting viewpoints posted here the Random Articles/Original Album Reviews by our Webmaste and Dedicated Fans...some fascinating writers...

..and absolutely last! There is a Reason for Everything, Nothing happens before its' time! Future Generations now realize what others did not before...

I will add Jimmy's own expression that "Truth comes to you at various stages of life"..

the review from RollingStones

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/led-zeppelin-physical-graffiti-deluxe-edition-20150224

Edited by PlanetPage
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Why mess with perfection?

In my opinion, the OP's version is inferior to the original. Too weighted towards acoustic stuff...and White Summer/Black Mountain Side in 1975? Too backward looking.

Physical Graffiti is fine as it is, thank you very much.

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