Happy Saturday! I’ve spent the day
making creative playlists for a music listening club I belong to. It is hard to
think about just one album after jumping around so much and through so many
genres, but here goes nothing.
Disc 607 is….III
Artist: Led
Zeppelin
Year of Release: 1970
What’s up with the Cover? Apparently the
sixties came back from the dead to barf on this cover. Not good.
How I Came To Know It: This was just me trying another
Zeppelin album out, and it was the one ‘original four’ album I still didn’t
have. It was also recommended to me by my friend and fellow music lover Spence,
who thought its folksier feel would appeal to me. I do like it, even if not
quite as much as the others in my collection.
How It Stacks Up: I now have five Zeppelin albums (the first four plus
“Presence”). Of those five, I must reluctantly put III at the bottom of the heap.
Rating: 3 stars but almost 4
And so my ongoing quest to love
Led Zeppelin continues unresolved, with another “just really liked it” album.
As I’ve said in many previous
entries on Led Zeppelin, while I appreciate the band’s musical ability,
innovation and importance to the history of rock and roll I can’t
wholeheartedly love them. “III” is another example of this.
To “III”’s credit, this feels a
lot more original. Much of their early work has direct rip offs of early blues
tracks, and while “III” remains heavily influenced by the blues, it has its own
distinct feel very separate from that. Like the cover suggests (albeit poorly),
the band has synthesized some of the sixties more folksy elements into their
blues-rock sound and the result are songs that are generally more tightly
focused.
The exception to this is “Since I’ve Been Loving You” which is a
meandering seven and half minute noodle fest. Fortunately, Jimmy Page’s guitar
is magnificent on this song and solidly holds together an otherwise listless
song. Even though “Since I’ve Been Loving
You” is not one of my favourites on the record, I think it is some of Page’s
finest work.
Last night when this album came up
in conversation my friend Casey said matter-of-factly that “Tangerine” is the best song on the
record. Giving it my third consecutive listen as I write this, I can’t
disagree. “Tangerine” is pretty much
a perfect song, with Page seamlessly adapting to a folk guitar style, which
plays in perfect tension with Plant’s rock and roll voice. “Tangerine” shows Zeppelin branching out
and going their own distinct direction; a combination of proto-power ballad and
fantasy adventure that bands like Queen and Blue Oyster Cult would soon
emulate.
“Tangerine” is a song that I’d love to learn on the guitar when my thumb heals and I can get back to playing.
It has such a relaxing groove and chord progression. I can feel my whole body
relax while I listen to it, like I’m having a cold beer on a summer evening.
I had a different reaction to “Bron Y Aur Stomp” which felt more like a
musical exercise to me than an honest emotional effort. There are times when I
feel like Zeppelin is just trying something new for the sake of innovation, but
they’re not really feeling it. “Bron Y
Aur Stomp” is one of those times. That said, without songs like this, it is
hard to imagine a young Jack White being inspired to write some of his stuff,
so I appreciate Zeppelin forging the way.
I admire some of the brave
production decisions on “III” as well, including the use of a banjo on “Gallows Pole” that aids in the song’s
breathless build toward its bluesy climax. Again, not one of my favourite
Zeppelin songs, but I admire the skill of it, particularly the exceptional
display of rhythm the band displays throughout.
I like that “III” has a mix of
lighter songs and heavy rock songs that makes for a more relaxed listening
experience. Despite the fact that I prefer the album’s construction and
production to their first two records, overall I found less standout tracks,
and for that reason I think it trails them slightly.
While I have never been able to
love Zeppelin the way I’ve wanted to, “III” is another reminder that after five
albums they’ve yet to deal me a bad turn. I think I’ll work on some of their
later records that I’m missing, like “Houses of the Holy” and “Physical
Graffiti”
Best tracks: Immigrant Song, Out on the Tiles,
Tangerine
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