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Song Transitions on the Studio Albums


John M

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I searched for this topic and could not find it so here goes.  Zeppelin had some amazing song transitions on the studio albums.  I have always been fascinated by them.  I am thinking about the transitions with little or no space between songs.  There are many great transitions due to song order, but in many cases there is some silence at the end of one track and or at the beginning of the next, which can lessen the impact.  I am focusing on those transitions with little or no gap at all.

Here is a list of my favorite such transitions.  How about you?  Other favorite studio transitions?

Black Mountain Side - Communication Breakdown breathtaking, abrupt transition


I Can't Quit You Baby - How Many More Times    seamless flow but the musical mood changes


Lemon Song - Thank You  - a fade out into fade in, from ominous to beautiful


Heartbreaker - Living Loving Maid - well, obviously


Moby Dick - Bring it on Home - seamless transition


Friends - Celebration Day  - all based on a studio accident?  Love that spiraling "airplane" sound


Boogie with Stu - Black Country Woman - laughing into talking


Nobody's Fault - Candy Store Rock  - from one abrupt ending into an abrupt start.  I always thought Nobody's Fault was one of the great Zeppelin song endings, like a black hole collapsing in on itself.   
 

 

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  • 6 months later...

Also on the first album and the first great transition is from You Shook Me to Dazed and Confused... which is probably what would happen to you after you were proverbially shook all niiiiiiiiight loooooooooooong. 

Edited by Peter Tea
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All the ones mentioned already... But especially Friends into Celebration Day is pretty awesome.. and as mentioned all from an accident. Studio pros at their best.

On the 4 CD Boxed set, there was a cool transition from the Bonzo's Montreaux / Moby Dick remix right into I'm Gonna Crawl. 

On the Walking into Clarksdale tour, they went from How Many More Times (the descending part right before "Oh Rosey") into What Is and What Should Never Be. perfect transition..I know it says Studio but this really stood out...

Edited by the chase
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On 10/16/2020 at 11:32 AM, Zep Hed said:

Song Remains the Same > Rain Song.

So many great comments here. I would agree with this one, though, because while all the albums (except maybe ITTOD) have tremendous sequencing, this is the best 1-2 punch that I feel really counts as having a song transition. Even though there's no crossfade like they did on the '73 tour, the two tracks clearly feel like a single suite. For me, that makes it special.

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The cassette version of II had ‘Heartbreaker’ at the end of side 1 and ‘Thank You’ as the opening of side 2. As such, the transition from the echo effect at the end of ‘The Lemon Song’ into the opening riff of ‘Heartbreaker’ is virtually seamless. I still prefer that to ‘Thank You’ ending side 1.

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  • 4 weeks later...

One of my favorites is the transition from "Heartbreaker" to "Living Loving Maid".  It was so short, radio stations couldn't cut it off so we got two songs for the price of one every time "Heartbreaker" was played.  One guy at work actually thought is was one song! 

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5 hours ago, Stryder1978 said:

One of my favorites is the transition from "Heartbreaker" to "Living Loving Maid".  It was so short, radio stations couldn't cut it off so we got two songs for the price of one every time "Heartbreaker" was played.  One guy at work actually thought is was one song! 

Kind of like Journey's Feelin that Way & Anytime combo

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One of my favorites is the Transition from “Going To California” into “When The Levee Breaks” (the contrast / light & shade: the serenity into the bombast).
 

R😎🎸👍🎶

 

Edited by reids
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/2/2021 at 1:43 PM, John M said:

There is a gap of a second or two, but the transition from NIght Flight into Wanton Song is great.

This is a super memorable song transition to me also, it’s not one of the epic ones, but it’s one that illustrates how great zep were and what great albums they made

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