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Led Zeppelin II


The Bomber

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After the unprecedented success of the 1st album,Zep are touring and have decided to record the new album between gigs,the result is every track sounds fresh since it was recorded in different studio's.This also spawned the bands biggest (Out pof only a few) singles ever,WLL.So without any further delay,the album

1.Whole Lotta Love-This is my personal favourite track on the album,it's the heaviest thing i've ever ran into,or more accurately,has ever run over me.It starts off with that grinding riff,one of Jimmy's best and JPJ comes in with the bass and Robert wails the first verse without drums,then Bonzo enters,bringing down the hammer of the gods with brutal heaviness then it goes to the chorus and Jimmy really grinds the axe here,making that truly brutal scream off the guitar,the wailing continues and y the end of the second chorus Jimmy slides his guitar down into infinity and it's Bonzo's time to shine,he get's a drum solo of sorts,going insane on the cymbals and then Jimmy enters with a grinding bowed attack and Robert wails his heart out over the increasingly trippy jam,each screach on guitar and vocals getting heavier and heavier until it becomes a call and response master class,Bonzo get's a drum-roll in and Jimmy blasts out an incredible solo out over repeated E chords and it comes back to the riff,honestly,if that riff can survive the apocalyptic midsection of the song than all that will be left after the nuclear holocaust will be a bunch of cockroaches jamming to Whole Lotta Love.Bonzo goes crazy behind the kit,JPJ plods along with the bass,Jimmy has the riff (Sorry,THE riff) and Robert wails in a desperate effort to get lucky and then the slide down to infinity and (Ahem) WAAAAAAAAAAY DOWN INSIIIIIIIDE!YOU NEED!LOOOOOOOOOOVE!Back to the riff and the band knocks around the riff in a jamming session till the end and Plant has obviously gotten lucky judging by his screaming.

2.What Is And What Should Never Be-This a jazz rock mini-epic that starts off with Jimmy gently caressing his guitar,JPJ giving it all like a true jazz bassist and Robert's hushed vocals,Bonzo then breaks the cycle and the band erupt into the chorus with Robert wailing,Jimmy smashing out the chords and the old "Jazzy" bass work from JPJ has mysteriously disappeared,it sounds like a different song.Then it manages to return just as easily to jazz as it was to leave,Page get's a solo that follows the dynamics of the song,starting off tenderly and turning into a slidy,bluesy monster.Then they come back again with disturbing fluency to the quiet part and Plant comes this close to crooning.At the guitar-break,Jimmy knocks out a great riff over Bonzo's gong smashes and it builds into a palm-muted,heavy blues romp over Plant's feverish screams and fades out on a high.

3.The Lemon Song-Starting off with a great riff and the smash of a gong,the band enter's and this cover of the Robert Johnson tune is rolling along nicely,with Page breaking out brilliant fills and licks over Robert's wails,the chorus is much faster and makes an insane solo,the band rushing along at full speed and Page's killer,orgasmic licks roll back to a huge Plant scream and the riff over a groovy bass-line,during the bridge,Robert wails over the funky bass-line and Bonzo plods along at the back.Plant is screaming about his unfaithful girlfriend and reveals "Lemon" as a clever metaphor for penis while Jimmy oozes out some great bluesy licks,it turns into a wonderful expertly executed call and response section,the band take a quick jam as Jimmy simply rolls out a solo and Robert comes in to wail and the entire band are doing enough for Robert Johnson to feel ashamed that he never reached this level with the original,it breaks into a sheer frenzy at the last chorus as Plant "Leaves his children down on this killing floor" and is now single.

4.Thank You-A truly beautiful song,opening with Jimmy Page's accoustic guitar strumming out the chords,and then the band comes in,JPJ playing a beautiful keyboard and Robert tenderly singing the mushy,but not wimpy lyrics,it builds to the chorus,JPJ shining on keyboards and Bonzo keeping it together on the kit with Jimmy playing that same,mellow,lovely riff and some great harmony vocals and then goes back to that stripped down verse section,then Jimmy's accoustic guitar solo is simply spectacular,beautiful and well measured,then the first verse is repeated and another chorus,JPJ get's to lead the outro with the keyboards in this lovely track.

5.Heartbreaker-This kicks off side 2 with one of the meanest riffs on the album,then the band come in and things start to groove,Robert screams his heart out and that riff comes back in,building with the key-change and returning to that dirty,heavy verse riff and more wails about it being "10 years or maybe more" since he saw the heartbreaker in question (Sadly,10 years or maybe more was the time the band would remain in existence) Then the riff builds up,the key changes up every run through of the riff until Jimmy's orgasmic guitar riffage leads into a killer solo,when the song was originally recorded it had no solo,after it was recorded they realized what was missing and sent Jimmy in to record a single take of pure improv,the results are spectacular,the completely unaccompanied solo is incredible,Page pulls out a short lick,then unleashes all hell off the guitar in a brutal flurry of notes until it returns to the song,the chords slamming out,Bonzo beating the shit out of the kit and Jimmy giving it another big flurry till it goes back to the riff and closes up abruptly with the final,stabbed chord.

6.Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)-Jimmy Page hates this song,i personally think it's the albums low-point,but i still love it,it follows off from Heartbreaker's sudden ending and Jimmy's itchy,funky riff and Robert's nonsesical wailing (Purple umbrella's and 50c hat's,what the hell?) Jimmy does backing vocals on this which is very rare,the only other time is Communication Breakdown.Despite the weird lyrics,this is one of Robert's best vocal performances,his wailing is amazing.The trippy section that takes it back to the riff is really freaky,then Jimmy get's a freaky and very cool solo.I believe the reason Jimmy doesn't like it is twofold,1)He is not confident about his backing vocals and 2)The ridiculous lyrics.

7.Ramble On-The quintessential travelers anthem about life on the road,it starts off with Bonzo's deceptively fast drumming which sounds so quiet and Jimmy's accoustic riff,Robert sings the mournful words of a vagabond,it builds with a folksy build up to the heavier electric chorus with Jimmy going for the les paul and Robert wailing in classic Percy style,it returns to that accoustic intro in classic Zep style,folk to blues to rock seamlessly,Robert's soulful lyrics come back to to an electrical interval to the chorus and a small solo and then som Lord Of The Rings lyrics that would sound cheesy in the mouth of anyone other than Plant and then that last,powerful chorus and closes on a high.

8.Moby Dick-If any comparison is to be made between the post-Yardbirds careers of those 3 great guitarists,it should be made between Zeppelin and Cream,and this proves once and for all that Zeppelin reign supreme,this is to Bonzo what Toad is to Baker,in fact this shows that he could shut Baker down without sticks.Robert is absent here,the rest of the band jam here as a power-trio,basing themselves on one hell of a riff going through a blues chord progression.Opening up with Bonzo giving a thunderous drum-roll and going to the riff,then Jimmy lashes out a few truly wonderful blues-licks in the solo and then (then) there's the drum solo,drum solo's are usually a feeble attempt for the drummer to justify his existence in a 10-minute space of pure self-indulgence while the actual musicians of the band go back stage to have a cup of tea and discuss the meaning of life and wondering why their neanderthal friend would except such an obvious bathroom break in the setlist.This is the exception that proves the rule.He starts off with a tribal rythm and builds much the same way of Jimm'y's solo on Heartbreaker until it becomes a relentless flurry of pure Hammer-Of-The-Gods fury.With his hands.It then returns to the riff and Bonzo blasts out some heavy fills and ends with the final chord smashes.

9.Bring Ot On Home-This is the ideal album closer,you would never believe this is a Willie Dixon original!It opens up with the dirtiest,meanest opening blues riff imaginable,Jimmy takes the 12 bar progression and palm-mutes it and Robert comes in with the backwards harmonica and sludgy vocals singing "Wadge da train go down da track" and Page takes one mean lick and expands it out in harmony with the harmonica.The verse riff is immeasurably heavy over Plant's wails and it's brought home with another perfect lick and back to the heavy,plodding,crashing riff and crashes along with immense heaviness,the riff getting heavier and heavier until it reaches a massive,orgasmic cod and ends with the same opening riff,bringing the album on home! :thumbsup:

I prefer this album to the first,it's heavier,bluesier and IMHO,just better!

10/10

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After the unprecedented success of the 1st album,Zep are touring and have decided to record the new album between gigs,the result is every track sounds fresh since it was recorded in different studio's.This also spawned the bands biggest (Out pof only a few) singles ever,WLL.So without any further delay,the album

1.Whole Lotta Love-This is my personal favourite track on the album,it's the heaviest thing i've ever ran into,or more accurately,has ever run over me.It starts off with that grinding riff,one of Jimmy's best and JPJ comes in with the bass and Robert wails the first verse without drums,then Bonzo enters,bringing down the hammer of the gods with brutal heaviness then it goes to the chorus and Jimmy really grinds the axe here,making that truly brutal scream off the guitar,the wailing continues and y the end of the second chorus Jimmy slides his guitar down into infinity and it's Bonzo's time to shine,he get's a drum solo of sorts,going insane on the cymbals and then Jimmy enters with a grinding bowed attack and Robert wails his heart out over the increasingly trippy jam,each screach on guitar and vocals getting heavier and heavier until it becomes a call and response master class,Bonzo get's a drum-roll in and Jimmy blasts out an incredible solo out over repeated E chords and it comes back to the riff,Bonzo goes crazy behind the kit,JPJ plods along with the bass,Jimmy has the riff,Robert wailing in a desperate effort to get lucky and then the slide down to infinity and (Ahem) WAAAAAAAAAAY DOWN INSIIIIIIIDE!YOU NEED!LOOOOOOOOOOVE!Back to the riff and the band knocks around the riff in a jamming session till the end and Plant has obviously gotten lucky judging by his screaming.

2.What Is And What Should Never Be-This a jazz rock mini-epic that starts off with Jimmy gently caressing his guitar,JPJ giving it all like a true jazz bassist and Robert's hushed vocals,Bonzo then breaks the cycle and the band erupt into the chorus with Robert wailing,Jimmy smashing out the chords and the old "Jazzy" bass work from JPJ has mysteriously disappeared,it sounds like a different song.Then it manages to return just as easily to jazz as it was to leave,Page get's a solo that follows the dynamics of the song,starting off tenderly and turning into a slidy,bluesy monster.Then they come back again with disturbing fluency to the quiet part and Plant comes this close to crooning.At the guitar-break,Jimmy knocks out a great riff over Bonzo's gong smashes and it builds into a palm-muted,heavy blues romp over Plant's feverish screams and fades out on a high.

3.The Lemon Song-Starting off with a great riff and the smash of a gong,the band enter's and this cover of the Robert Johnson tune is rolling along nicely,with Page breaking out brilliant fills and licks over Robert's wails,the chorus is much faster and makes an insane solo,the band rushing along at full speed and Page's killer,orgasmic licks roll back to a huge Plant scream and the riff over a groovy bass-line,during the bridge,Robert wails over the funky bass-line and Bonzo plods along at the back.Plant is screaming about his unfaithful girlfriend and reveals "Lemon" as a clever metaphor for penis while Jimmy oozes out some great bluesy licks,it turns into a wonderful expertly executed call and response section,the band take a quick jam as Jimmy simply rolls out a solo and Robert comes in to wail and the entire band are doing enough for Robert Johnson to feel ashamed that he never reached this level with the original,it breaks into a sheer frenzy at the last chorus as Plant "Leaves his children down on this killing floor" and is now single.

4.Thank You-A truly beautiful song,opening with Jimmy Page's accoustic guitar strumming out the chords,and then the band comes in,JPJ playing a beautiful keyboard and Robert tenderly singing the mushy,but not wimpy lyrics,it builds to the chorus,JPJ shining on keyboards and Bonzo keeping it together on the kit with Jimmy playing that same,mellow,lovely riff and some great harmony vocals and then goes back to that stripped down verse section,then Jimmy's accoustic guitar solo is simply spectacular,beautiful and well measured,then the first verse is repeated and another chorus,JPJ get's to lead the outro with the keyboards in this lovely track.

5.Heartbreaker-This kicks off side 2 with one of the meanest riffs on the album,then the band come in and things start to groove,Robert screams his heart out and that riff comes back in,building with the key-change and returning to that dirty,heavy verse riff and more wails about it being "10 years or maybe more" since he saw the heartbreaker in question (Sadly,10 years or maybe more was the time the band would remain in existence) Then the riff builds up,the key changes up every run through of the riff until Jimmy's orgasmic guitar riffage leads into a killer solo,when the song was originally recorded it had no solo,after it was recorded they realized what was missing and sent Jimmy in to record a single take of pure improv,the results are spectacular,the completely unaccompanied solo is incredible,Page pulls out a short lick,then unleashes all hell off the guitar in a brutal flurry of notes until it returns to the song,the chords slamming out,Bonzo beating the shit out of the kit and Jimmy giving it another big flurry till it goes back to the riff and closes up abruptly with the final,stabbed chord.

6.Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)-Jimmy Page hates this song,i personally think it's the albums low-point,but i still love it,it follows off from Heartbreaker's sudden ending and Jimmy's itchy,funky riff and Robert's nonsesical wailing (Purple umbrella's and 50c hat's,what the hell?) Jimmy does backing vocals on this which is very rare,the only other time is Communication Breakdown.Despite the weird lyrics,this is one of Robert's best vocal performances,his wailing is amazing.The trippy section that takes it back to the riff is really freaky,then Jimmy get's a freaky and very cool solo.I believe the reason Jimmy doesn't like it is twofold,1)He is not confident about his backing vocals and 2)The ridiculous lyrics.

7.Ramble On-The quintessential travelers anthem about life on the road,it starts off with Bonzo's deceptively fast drumming which sounds so quiet and Jimmy's accoustic riff,Robert sings the mournful words of a vagabond,it builds with a folksy build up to the heavier electric chorus with Jimmy going for the les paul and Robert wailing in classic Percy style,it returns to that accoustic intro in classic Zep style,folk to blues to rock seamlessly,Robert's soulful lyrics come back to to an electrical interval to the chorus and a small solo and then som Lord Of The Rings lyrics that would sound cheesy in the mouth of anyone other than Plant and then that last,powerful chorus and closes on a high.

8.Moby Dick-If any comparison is to be made between the post-Yardbirds careers of those 3 great guitarists,it should be made between Zeppelin and Cream,and this proves once and for all that Zeppelin reign supreme,this is to Bonzo what Toad is to Baker,in fact this shows that he could shut Baker down without sticks.Robert is absent here,the rest of the band jam here as a power-trio,basing themselves on one hell of a riff going through a blues chord progression.Opening up with Bonzo giving a thunderous drum-roll and going to the riff,then Jimmy lashes out a few truly wonderful blues-licks in the solo and then (then) there's the drum solo,drum solo's are usually a feeble attempt for the drummer to justify his existence in a 10-minute space of pure self-indulgence while the actual musicians of the band go back stage to have a cup of tea and discuss the meaning of life and wondering why their neanderthal friend would except such an obvious bathroom break in the setlist.This is the exception that proves the rule.He starts off with a tribal rythm and builds much the same way of Jimm'y's solo on Heartbreaker until it becomes a relentless flurry of pure Hammer-Of-The-Gods fury.With his hands.It then returns to the riff and Bonzo blasts out some heavy fills and ends with the final chord smashes.

9.Bring Ot On Home-This is the ideal album closer,you would never believe this is a Willie Dixon original!It opens up with the dirtiest,meanest opening blues riff imaginable,Jimmy takes the 12 bar progression and palm-mutes it and Robert comes in with the backwards harmonica and sludgy vocals singing "Wadge da train go down da track" and Page takes one mean lick and expands it out in harmony with the harmonica.The verse riff is immeasurably heavy over Plant's wails and it's brought home with another perfect lick and back to the heavy,plodding,crashing riff and crashes along with immense heaviness,the riff getting heavier and heavier until it reaches a massive,orgasmic cod and ends with the same opening riff,bringing the album on home! :thumbsup:

I prefer this album to the first,it's heavier,bluesier and IMHO,just better!

10/10

The Brown Bomber rules(not just Joe Lewis either)

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The next album review will have to wait a while,III was so sonically different from anything they did to that point,they could still smash out a Hammer Of The Gods war cry like Immigrant Song and do a mean blues like SIBLY,but they had expanded themselves vastly and it will be hard to review,i'm working on it though!

~Bomber

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