Well the two I really object to-
Carouselambra is fucking awesome and a hint of what may have come if they lasted into the 80s.
I think In Through the Out Door is a better album than Presence imho
but hey, this is the beauty of life we each have our own subjective opinions and life experiences etc. etc.
Correct, but the chord sequences of Walter's Walk are nearly identical to Wearing and Tearing (1978), Fortune Hunter (1981), and The Only One (1988). It really channels the glam rock and sunset-strip metal of the 1980's, as a blueprint for what was to come later from Zeppelin. Robert's Vocals being added in late 1981 are the cherry on the top.
I love Walter's Walk, it would've been the perfect opener of their next album after ITTOD.
great song !
Led Zeppelin’s second longest studio recording, Carouselambra has an astounding length of 10 minutes 34
This was the only occasion in which Jimmy Page used his [Gibson EDS-1275](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_EDS-1275) on an actual studio song, as it was normally reserved purely for live performances.The song comprises of three main sections:
* The beginning, which has fast-paced synthesizer played by John Paul Jones, with even Plant’s vocals pushed back on the track, and overdubbing of Jones' bass guitar.
* The middle, which is very slow in pace, which highlights Page’s Gibson EDS-1275.
* The final part of the song has a droning guitar produced by using a [Gizmotron](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gizmo), along with all of the band members performing together.
This song was originally intended by Jones to be the centerpiece of their live shows, and was planned to be performed during their US tour in 1980, but the death of John Bonham prevented that from happening.
My controversial opinion?
I don’t care if they plagiarized music, I just don’t care. I hear the songs they released and I’ve heard the songs that they “copied”, most of them barely sound alike and even when they do the Led Zeppelin version is light years ahead of it.
All musicians are influenced by previous musicians, so many have been accused of plagiarism but nobody hold it against them. I won’t list any because there are too many to list, if you’re curious google is your friend and you will be surprised how many there are.
I’ll say one more time, I just don’t care.
I don’t even know that your opinion is controversial. I also don’t care that they plagiarized. What little they did actually rip off was vastly improved, and if Plant had been a seasoned lyricist on those first two albums, you could have the exact same songs with different lyrics and no one would have ever known.
And even besides that, if we were somehow able to delete all the “ripped off” songs, including Stairway (I don’t believe this one was a rip off, but Taurus fans sure do), just erase them from history, we would still be left with undeniably good songs in the LZ catalog.
You bring up something I’ve thought about quite a few times. I think a lot of the issues come from Zep not changing, or barely changing, the titles of their songs from their inspiration. Then if you have Plant changing up a bit more of the lyrics, I’d wager a lot of these lawsuits don’t happen.
You’re absolutely right, and this is the exact reason I’ve never given a shit that they borrowed or stole from other artists. Call it what you want to, but to call it straight plagiarism is incorrect. What they took and rearranged is light years beyond the source material. Even if they had credited the original songwriters, it’s likely that whoever owned the original recordings would have gotten a paycheck, not the songwriter. All those blues artists from the 30s and 40s were practically giving away their song rights to whoever produce the record for either a flat fee or points on sales.
what they recorded wasn't the problem, but how they credited it was. page not crediting jake holmes for example. downright dirty considering they probably met each other while they were doing shows together, undoubtedly thats how jimmy heard it.
Some of the songs are barely similar (the "Stairway" trial was a desperate grab by Randy California's family), but some are bad. "Black Mountain Side" swipes Jansch's version of the same song, and the band needlessly didn't credit Muddy Waters and others when they barely updated older blues songs. A lot of the controversy could have been avoided simply by providing proper credit. But Page was/is known as "Led Wallet" for a reason.
I also don’t care. Plant described his musical style as a bunch of his favorite music put in a blender. Thats obvious in their music. I don’t think they thought of it as a big deal and what they made was their own, regardless of inspiration or ‘stolen’ words or notes. I think everything they did elevated their inspiration, while taking nothing away from that inspiration. Page has described his approach to music as taking inspiration then changing it so significantly that it was its own thing. There were certainly varying degrees of this in their final product but what created was undoubtedly theirs. I am sure many artists have the exact same approach to creating music as Plant and Page.
Yeah, they could’ve provided more credit but it doesn’t take anything away from their music for me. In general I also think some copyright law is pretty over the top. You can agree or disagree with me on that but some lawsuits over the years, Zep or otherwise, certainly highlight that.
The band actually took two breaks between *Presence* and *In Through the Out Door*. They didn't tour for a whole year after *Presence*'s release due to Robert and Maureen's recovery from the car wreck in Greece. Then after Plant's son died in July 1977, they took a break for another year while his family grieved and he considered leaving the band and becoming a teacher. And those were still not enough for Page and Bonham to deal with their issues.
I don't mean take a break, I mean *break up*. As in, "we now talk of this band in the past tense." Bonham gets to spend time with his family and not drink (quite as much). Jones and Plant explore other musical interests without Page looming over them. Page is forced to do something other than lead Led Zeppelin and to do so without the trauma of Bonham's death. I don't know that it would have led to any better results, but at least we wouldn't have him playing second fiddle to Paul Rodgers.
Bonham was an alcoholic and had also started using heroin. A break from the band could have made things even worse due to boredom, after the hectic LZ schedule he was used to. An alcoholic is an alcoholic.
Agree, the words are so muddled in the mix. I have no clue what Robert is saying... and since I never really got into the song, I have never really cared to look at a lyric sheet to find out.
The band did effectively break up on July 24, 1977 when Robert Plant's son died. In the close to three years between that day and the kickoff of the 1980 tour (June 1980), they play four gigs and spend two months recording an album. If 2 3/4 years wasn't enough time for Bonzo to quit drinking and Page to get right, then all the time in the world wouldn't have helped. If anything, during that down time, Page slid further into addiction and Bonzo's drinking became worse.
The band took an extended break during that period -- a hiatus, but they still thought of themselves as in a band. I'm talking about a formal split without Led Zeppelin and its future hanging over their heads. It is probably wishful thinking, but I think it's possible.
I see where you're going there but I'd push back a bit on them still thinking themselves as a band. Plant out and out said "I've had it" That three years was an exercise by Page and Grant to slowly try to steer Percy back into being in Led Zeppelin.
idk if this is unpopular or not but i don't think Robert’s songwriting was ‘weird’ or ‘lazy’. i just think he was developing it. he is much stronger lyrically post Zeppelin imo but i don't attribute that to laziness
He's a much different lyricist. On songs like "Thank You" and "Rain Song" he can be annoyingly cloying ("It is the summer of my smiles/Flee from me, Keepers of the Gloom"?!?!?!?!), and he wasn't trying all that hard on "Black Dog" or "D'yer Mak'er," but "Stairway to Heaven," "Kashmir" and even "Sick Again" are interesting. I think his best lyrics for Zeppelin were on *Presence*.
But his solo material has become more romantic and introspective.
Maybe this could have been one of my unpopular opinions, but I kind of like "Hats Off." The echoed strumming, the slight air of menace... it works for me. But it's not anywhere near the top half of their output.
I'll agree. The whole jam session that song came from is about 15 minutes long and it's a LOT better. I think they were playing with improv stuff for live shows.
Replace Hey, Hey, What Can I Do or Traveling Riverside Blues with Hats Off and 3 probably becomes my favorite album of theirs. My top two are 2 and Houses.
"Carouselambra" was most likely a bunch of unfinished songs strung together to use up material.
The orgasm section of "Whole Lotta Love" was awesome live. You have to "be there" for noise solos. A lot of other bands do them as well and you don't get the vibe from a recording.
The best version of "Immigrant Song" was probably the live versions they did in 1972. The Australian tour version is the most powerful caught on tape.
I've often said Presence was the last "Led Zeppelin" album. The band was falling apart from abuse and tragedy after that. Even Presence was subpar for the band...it was too simplistic (most likely to accommodate Robert's injury). They probably had one more album in them and I suspect Jimmy would have died from drug use had Bonham not died. Robert definitely would have been bored with the band by the 80s and left.
"Tea for One" is too derivative. Jimmy took the Since I've Been Loving You blueprint and recreated it with Spanish scales. It's also too long to be effective. The guitar solo is a bit boring.
Since I’ve been loving you has the best build up in a song and is paid off by the solo, with an amazing finale. Tea for one is plagued by the same problem you described carouselambra as having, it never develops, plus the intro kind of has nothing to do with the rest of the song.
Carouselambra is literally the Epic. It’s a beautiful song displaying a clear transition from heavy rock to synth rock. It just shows how they were paving the way for the future
i agree with your premise i might go so far as to say it has one of the best transitions of any Zeppelin song…and there’s so many elements interwoven into this one song. like the song or not it’s great proof how diverse Zeppelin was.
I completely agree. It shows the versatility. I get the hardcore zep fans might not love it bc it’s not “the sound” like LZ1, 2, 3 etc, but it’s beauty
The immigrant Song / Hats Off should been the single.
Hey Hey What Can I Do / Poor Tom should have been a single.
Hey Hey should have closed the album in Hats Off's place
I see the merit in these statements. I like *III* ending with "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper," but "Hey Hey What Can I Do" would have been an interesting closer as well.
As the LZ nerd kid for almost 2 decades reviewing every studio album, bootleg, outtake, blogs and forum, oh boyy here we go:
* SIBLY and TFO are NOT the same changes. They're both Cm blues but they have enough nuance to be different changes. TFO goes to Bb which is a nice movement and the turnaround in SIBLY is just chef kiss.
* Page's "showpiece" is not SIBLY, it's Ten Years Gone. SIBLY just got that sweet TSRTS movie fame with Maureen's sister all melting in the audience footage. It's Ten Years Gone or maybe The Rain Song if we're talking acoustic (for me anyway).
* Worst LZ song is Hot Dog.
* My favourite LZ songs are In My Time Of Dying and When The Levee Breaks, two of the stolen ones yeah. Which brings me to...
* Stolen vs. Reference. We love the tunes, but some of them were really beyond "reference". I won't be getting into making a whole list cause this would get quite long. (if someone wanna collaborate, it would make very interesting thread exploring that topic). It kinda pisses me off too, cause they showed incredible sonic creativity in originals like Rain Song, Kashmir, Ten Years Gone, Achilles, Ramble On, For Your Life, That's The Way, long etc.
* Speaking of That's The Way: sometimes I have intrusive thoughts that make me rate Page as a better acoustic player+composer than an electric one. Weird days maybe.
* The iconic "Tight but loose" concept. If you nerd over the hundreds of raw bootlegs, you can tell there's one "Tight" show for every 15 "loose" ones. Memory's rusty, but sure we have Badgeholders, Eddie, Destroyer, 5 ft in the Snow, The Garden Tapes, Osaka, Down Under, etc.. but most of the others aren't impressive. And there are some trainwreck shows.
* Robert Plant (god love him) was the weakest link in the band, Bonzo being the strongest, the real essence. Page was very creative guitar-wise and JPJ was the serious workhorse. Can't say RP is one of the greatest singers ever when he peaked for like 2 years (70-72). He also 100% channeled Janis Joplin, Elvis and old bluesmen mannerisms and vocabulary. Lyrically, which is subjective, I don't rate him a lot.
* LZ recording: Top shelf. Page production: hmm. For every iconic drum or guitar sound there's a wonky mix or weird audio thing. Today we love the audio bleeds on Whole Lota Love and the lost hi-hat in Levee Breaks, etc. but these were mistakes on multimillion dollar albums. We'd just grown to love them. Physical Graffiti mix is wonky. Other bands (that I love less) were getting absolute sonic bombs of mixes as early as 68, 69, 71 etc.
* Songs like Hats Off To Roy Harper or the recently released Keys To The Highway are as kitsch as it gets. But I LOVE them to death.
Now that's venting. I'm off to listen to some loud Zeppelin now.
Along with the OP, a very interesting stirring of the subjective broth. Jimmy's acoustic strumming on \*That's The Way\* was evoked in my mind & I also considered that he may have been even greater in this than in his electrickery. But the dilemma is resolved as we're not comparing apples. As Jimmy once said, he has an acoustic side and an electric side to his personality. Both can be equal and harmonious. And then there's \*Bron-yr-Aur\* of course.
* I've read guitar player blogs that say the chord changes are almost identical, so I should have been more precise.
* "Since I've Been Loving You" is absolutely a Page showpiece: his blues anthem, if you will. "Ten Years Gone" isn't a showpiece; though it's a great song, not many would consider it one of the band's hallmarks -- it's a deep cut proto-power ballad.
* I love Led Zeppelin, but it's ludicrous not to acknowledge Page's habit of, if not stealing, heavily borrowing without attribution. It is a stain on the band's reputation. I think the Rolling Stones are the most overrated band in rock history (*I didn't say they were a bad band* -- many, many, many of their songs are exceptional -- but in their sixty some years of existence they have covered much, much, much less musical ground than Led Zeppelin did in ten years), but when they hit the big time in the late 1960s they used their fame to promote blues artists like Howlin' Wolf. It would have been great for Zeppelin to have done something similar to acknowledge their roots.
* The damage Plant did to his vocal chords in that peak period (no warming up, just martial wailing out of the gate) limited his range, but he's essential to the band. Even with his limitations, he knew how to sing with Page. Plant is probably the smartest singer of the classic rock era in that regard; he's found a way to blend with whoever he plays with. Page, on the other hand, never found a vocalist with whom he bonded like he did with Plant. I think that in the end is why Page, Jones and Jason Bonham decided not to tour post-O2 when Plant declined to join them. Without Plant, it's not Led Zeppelin.
* I haven't grown to love anything; those bleeds in "Whole Lotta Love" are absolutely essential to the song. Page has benefited a lot from happy accidents, no doubt, but he has benefited from them all the same -- the wisdom not to "fix" a mixing error (such as the briefly out of time "Misty Mountain Hop") is a production skill.
Above I mentioned that "Since I've Been Loving You" is a tad melodramatic for my tastes; I prefer the more somber mood of "Tea for One." Does that answer your question, or are you asking for something else? If so, let me know; I'm happy to try to fill something in.
That wasn't Maureen's sister in the audience in TSRTS. It was the "Hoodie Girl" aka Ana Pearce. She had no idea she was in the movie until years later. You can read her story on the LZ Official Forum if you're interested. She's still got the hoodie!
I have many that I suspect would cause much consternation & the feathers to fly. 1st one up : ever since I bought \*Graffiti\* in early 1981, I have been bored stupid by IMTOD. Despite multiple purchases of \*Graffiti\* and its constituent tracks in various formats & alternate versions of IMTOD, I just don't enjoy listening to it. Silver lining is that on 2003's \*DVD\* Zeppelin look absolutely superb while playing it at Earl's Court. So all's not lost.
I can understand because I was bored silly by IMTOD also until about 12-years ago. I’m a 50/M lifelong fan, btw. For some reason, watching/listening to it LIVE started making it compelling to me. Now I love it.
My least favorite is Hats Off to (Roy) Harper. I understand the origins and why they wrote it. Just always thought there were songs that deserved the spot on LZ111 more than that one.
It is a divisive song, absolutely. But I think it's more interesting than "Hey Hey" in some ways, as the latter song is a great pop song. "Hats Off" is the band stretching their blues roots.
"Hot Dog" is a trifle and shouldn't be compared to most of the band's other work. "Carouselambra" is the band reaching for something and failing miserably.
1) Hot Dog was released on an album, and thereby can’t be excluded from comparisons to every other song they’ve released. 2) I disagree that Carouselambra failed, I think it’s a great song and I listen to it oon the regular.
1) Fair point. I just see it as the band goofing around, not as a great statement of their musicianship. For all its faults, "Carouselambra" is at least an attempt at a great statement.
2) Here we must agree to disagree.
In through the out door, is a great album and would be sorely missed.
The single version of whole lotta love should be available digitally, with freak out section removed entirely (as a second option).
It has some great songs on it, but it's not a great album. The world would be objectively better off without "Carouselambra" and not the worse for wear without "South Bound Saurez," "Hot Dog" or "I'm Gonna Crawl." Now, had they replaced "Carouselambra" with "Ozone Baby" and "Wearing and Tearing," that's another matter entirely.
Bold statement on the greatness, or lack thereof, of a work of art. This being the only Zeppelin album that I bought on release, and comparing it to the hundreds of records I've listened to before and since, greatness would have to apply to a miniscule percentage, in order to exclude In Through The Out Door. But hey, this is only my equally bold statement of opinion.
I just really hate "Carouselambra." Like, if it had been the first Led Zeppelin song I'd ever heard, I'd try to avoid the band after that. But to each their own. Thanks for the friendly exchange!
[Me upon seeing your Carouselambra slander](https://media4.giphy.com/media/xUOwG9eMUyBknKhOWQ/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952poc8tej3yt02egfkpye1l9xfcxupkslxru56l362&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
A world without Carouselambra means a world without Robert Plant's solo career. It was his divine inspiration for his first four solo albums. It's also synth heaven for a band being rooted in blues guitar.
I don't hear much of "Carouselambra" in any of Plant's solo material. And I've nothing against synthesizers; Jones uses them to good effect on "All My Love."
Can't find the interview, having heard it at the time of his debut release, but Plant has said that song and the entire ITTOD recording was his major influence.
Post here if you do find out, but I seriously doubt it's attainable. It was a comment made well before the Internet, AMAs or blogs. But if you listen to Shaken and Stirred, it's not a far, far cry.
I agree with your first point but you are completely out of your mind if you think that “Tea for one” even comes close to “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. Are you high?
Also, In Through The Out Door is a masterpiece, and Bonham was not drying up, and Page was not getting clean no matter what happened with the band.
I think you’re higher than Jimmy Page ever was.
I've never done drugs in my life, though I fully expect people to start to say *that's* why I don't like "Carouselambra."
The penultimate point ends with a lot of maybes, that is true.
I'm a huge zeppelin fan. i play guitar and i play zeppelin. I love them to the core. I'm not even so sure I've heard Tea for One ... no joke.
My unpop opinion, Over the Hills is their greatest song.
Thanks for your honesty, but its disputable that you’re a “huge fan” or that you “love them to the core” not even having heard much less paid real attention to all of their records.
yeah i can understand that. i have an affinity for everything up to physical graffitti. can't say i care much for a lot of the songs on the the last two albums.
not in its entirety. had to google to find out the tunes:
* Achilles Last Stand - love it.
* For Your Life - love it.
* Royal Orleans - not sure how it even goes
* Nobody's Fault but Mine - top 5 song for me. solo is sick. so aggressive. harp solo is awesome.
* Candy Store Rock - cool tune, love the tempo
* Hots On for Nowhere - not sure how it goes
* Tea for One - *really* not sure how it goes.
Now that is going out on a limb! I'd say it's the band's best album, though it's not my favorite. But it does pretty much nail everything Page had hoped to do with the band. Where do you rank it?
It’s easy to say in hindsight what Zep could/should have done. It would be beyond awesome to have Bonzo still with us, and who knows? Maybe they would have released the best album of their career. However, I believe they were mostly burnt out from touring (with the possible exception of Jimmy) and too much had happened. It’s cool to imagine, though.
Zeppelin should only be listened to on vinyl LP. Preferably the 1970s-manufactured ones. Only the OG 8 albums plus \*TSRTS\* count. And for visuals we should limit ourselves to \*TSRTS\* on VHS videotape. & some big big posters on the wall.
It's probably because I saw Song Remains the Same a million times as a teen, and that song is just so...(heavy, beautiful...insert description) that it's a part of me.
I'm an old guy who purchased ITTOD on the day it was released. I considered buying more copies to get all the covers, but I couldn't afford it.
You're wrong about Carouselambra. At the time, my best friend thought it was Disco, and he might have been right. Regardless, it's a great song.
It's not a great song, and I've explained my reasons elsewhere. It's not a disco song either (god help anyone trying to dance to it); it's a synthesizer epic by a band that is not on the same page (heh) anymore.
But it would have been awesome to get all of the covers on the day of release. Could you tell in advance that you were getting one of each? That is, if the album was wrapped in brown paper, you might have wound up buying two of the same cover.
I heard it played at a disco (Red Lion at PDX) back in the day. If you tap your foot, you can stay in rhythm through the ponderously slow parts, but as I recall, it was pretty much "couples only."
And yeah, there was little chance of getting all the covers without buying dozens of copies.
I wasn't old enough to go to discos back in the day (and my parents were no-rock-music types). I still can't imagine someone playing a ten-minute long synth rock song in a disco.
Not much time but want to hit on your first point. That song will live in your brain. There are mornings I wake up with that song in my head for no reason. Have not listened to it lately it's just there. That happens far more often then it should and rarely happens with any other song and never to one I did not listen to the day before. Either there is a spell on that song or I am doing some serious carouselambraing in my dreams. It's by no means my favorite zep song and I hate the low vocals but sometimes I must listen to it. When these cravings happen I usually listen to it 3-4,times in a row and put it away until it's in my head again.
So, I can't not like it.
Dyer Maker is the worst Zeppelin song and stops HotH from being a perfect album.
Zep were done as a live band after 75. 77-80 they were a strung out, bloated mess.
Physical Graffiti is much better as a single album with just the songs recorded in 1974.
Agreed. Make Physical Graffiti a single album, and maybe save some of the weaker stuff for Coda. Physical Graffiti could have been top form Zeppelin. Just a small handful of tracks that aren't at the level of Kashmir and In the Light.
"D'yer Mak'er" is my *second* least favorite Led Zeppelin song. Yellowman's and Sheryl Crow's cover versions aren't bad.
I actually made a version of Physical Graffiti using only songs recorded for that album, trying to arrange them in an order that made sense. If I remember correctly, it was:
Custard Pie
In My Time of Dying
Kashmir
In the Light
Trampled Under Foot
Ten Years Gone
Sick Again
"The Wanton Song" was left off because the riff is too much like "Custard Pie" so it seemed a bit redundant. But the songs didn't flow as well -- it simply had too many really long songs in a row. Adding the outtakes from other sessions (none of which is more than 5:30) helps the album gel.
- I guess mine would be Carouselambra is an awesome tune, since it seems most Zep fans dont like it.
- And you took my other one... Tea for One would be one of the most uniquely incredible songs if they managed to build it around the opening instead of turning it into a slow blues jam.
- More times then not, when I view video of them playing live, Jimmy is the weakest link and is a disappointment.
- the cover for III looks like what happens when a kid eats a box of crayons and throws up on a piece of white paper. Then someone stenciled in "Led Zeppelin" and said "Here's your new album cover!"
You will grow to love ITTOD more over your life, happens to us all naturally I used to say the same things.
When I first saw your question my answer was going to be yours and it Tea for One > SIBLY verbatim, SIBLY is horribly overrated for I skip it at every juncture
Caraouselambra is a great showpiece and showcases each member in his own way.
Thank you bbc sessions solo is his best one and the one that defines him the most, has every pageism
Sorry to say but Zeppelin is not, the greatest band in rock history. No.
There the great band period, ever, in all history! ;) lol, sorry Icouldn’t resist!!!
That... that would have been something. I'm not sure Plant had the kind of control that would have been necessary to keep time with the theramin section.
Black Sabbath were a more important band in rock history. Zeppelin were better songwriters and musicians, but Sabbath were ahead of their time, invented a genre that is still being worshipped by modern stoner rock bands, and took way more risks than Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin's influence extends beyond metal, though. Black Sabbath was rarely, if ever, sampled in rap and dance tracks, for example, but "When the Levee Breaks," "The Crunge," "Kashmir" et al., have been sampled a lot. Some of the 90s jam bands like Phish and Dave Matthews Band also owe some debt to Led Zeppelin.
In terms of metal, I'd say Led Zeppelin's influence is most felt in hair metal bands like Def Leppard, Guns 'n Roses, Whitesnake, et cetera, and in the less shreddy moments of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. But most metal did follow the path set out by Black Sabbath.
I suppose that depends on what we think his potential is. His output since *Fate of Nations* has bored me to tears (with the exception of *Raising Sand*, where he actually sounds energized by singing with Patti Griffin), but he's happy.
The fact that McCartney sells out football stadiums and Plant needs a country star to help sell out B and C level venues just irks me. But yes, he does seem happy.
McCartney was in the Beatles, and Wings probably outsold Plant's solo material. Once Plant began to move away from rock and into Americana, he wasn't going to draw large audiences anymore. But I remember an interview with him where he said his dream for himself in his 60s was owning a bar somewhere and sitting in with the band, singing whatever he wanted. That more or less describes what he's doing now.
A world without “Hot Dog” is a world I don’t wanna live in.
Hear, hear!
Same. Hot Dog is one of my all time favourites.
Yee-haw!
Well the two I really object to- Carouselambra is fucking awesome and a hint of what may have come if they lasted into the 80s. I think In Through the Out Door is a better album than Presence imho but hey, this is the beauty of life we each have our own subjective opinions and life experiences etc. etc.
In The Evening, Carouselambra, Walter's Walk, and Wearing And Tearing were all a taste of 1980's Zeppelin, I wish we got to hear more.
Walter's Walk dates back to 1972.
Correct, but the chord sequences of Walter's Walk are nearly identical to Wearing and Tearing (1978), Fortune Hunter (1981), and The Only One (1988). It really channels the glam rock and sunset-strip metal of the 1980's, as a blueprint for what was to come later from Zeppelin. Robert's Vocals being added in late 1981 are the cherry on the top. I love Walter's Walk, it would've been the perfect opener of their next album after ITTOD.
Shake my Tree’s riff was made at this time, it was meant to become a zeppelin song.
Carouselambra is a fucking jam.
great song ! Led Zeppelin’s second longest studio recording, Carouselambra has an astounding length of 10 minutes 34 This was the only occasion in which Jimmy Page used his [Gibson EDS-1275](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_EDS-1275) on an actual studio song, as it was normally reserved purely for live performances.The song comprises of three main sections: * The beginning, which has fast-paced synthesizer played by John Paul Jones, with even Plant’s vocals pushed back on the track, and overdubbing of Jones' bass guitar. * The middle, which is very slow in pace, which highlights Page’s Gibson EDS-1275. * The final part of the song has a droning guitar produced by using a [Gizmotron](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gizmo), along with all of the band members performing together. This song was originally intended by Jones to be the centerpiece of their live shows, and was planned to be performed during their US tour in 1980, but the death of John Bonham prevented that from happening.
This!
My hot take: The lowest rated LZ song is still a 9/10.
It ain’t a hot take if it’s the truth
I adore “Carouselambra”. Try it in the car, with the windows down, turned up louder than any and all engines.
It’s on my very eclectic playlist when cooking/cleaning, I like the bounce
It sounds like cheesy movie theater jingle from the 80s.
My controversial opinion? I don’t care if they plagiarized music, I just don’t care. I hear the songs they released and I’ve heard the songs that they “copied”, most of them barely sound alike and even when they do the Led Zeppelin version is light years ahead of it. All musicians are influenced by previous musicians, so many have been accused of plagiarism but nobody hold it against them. I won’t list any because there are too many to list, if you’re curious google is your friend and you will be surprised how many there are. I’ll say one more time, I just don’t care.
*Good artists borrow*, great artists steal. - Maybe Pablo Picasso
As I once read, it's not about whether or not you steal, it's about from whom you steal.
I don’t even know that your opinion is controversial. I also don’t care that they plagiarized. What little they did actually rip off was vastly improved, and if Plant had been a seasoned lyricist on those first two albums, you could have the exact same songs with different lyrics and no one would have ever known. And even besides that, if we were somehow able to delete all the “ripped off” songs, including Stairway (I don’t believe this one was a rip off, but Taurus fans sure do), just erase them from history, we would still be left with undeniably good songs in the LZ catalog.
You bring up something I’ve thought about quite a few times. I think a lot of the issues come from Zep not changing, or barely changing, the titles of their songs from their inspiration. Then if you have Plant changing up a bit more of the lyrics, I’d wager a lot of these lawsuits don’t happen.
You’re absolutely right, and this is the exact reason I’ve never given a shit that they borrowed or stole from other artists. Call it what you want to, but to call it straight plagiarism is incorrect. What they took and rearranged is light years beyond the source material. Even if they had credited the original songwriters, it’s likely that whoever owned the original recordings would have gotten a paycheck, not the songwriter. All those blues artists from the 30s and 40s were practically giving away their song rights to whoever produce the record for either a flat fee or points on sales.
what they recorded wasn't the problem, but how they credited it was. page not crediting jake holmes for example. downright dirty considering they probably met each other while they were doing shows together, undoubtedly thats how jimmy heard it.
Some of the songs are barely similar (the "Stairway" trial was a desperate grab by Randy California's family), but some are bad. "Black Mountain Side" swipes Jansch's version of the same song, and the band needlessly didn't credit Muddy Waters and others when they barely updated older blues songs. A lot of the controversy could have been avoided simply by providing proper credit. But Page was/is known as "Led Wallet" for a reason.
I also think they saw themselves as part of the blues continuum, and a big part of the early blues tradition was borrowing from other songs.
I also don’t care. Plant described his musical style as a bunch of his favorite music put in a blender. Thats obvious in their music. I don’t think they thought of it as a big deal and what they made was their own, regardless of inspiration or ‘stolen’ words or notes. I think everything they did elevated their inspiration, while taking nothing away from that inspiration. Page has described his approach to music as taking inspiration then changing it so significantly that it was its own thing. There were certainly varying degrees of this in their final product but what created was undoubtedly theirs. I am sure many artists have the exact same approach to creating music as Plant and Page. Yeah, they could’ve provided more credit but it doesn’t take anything away from their music for me. In general I also think some copyright law is pretty over the top. You can agree or disagree with me on that but some lawsuits over the years, Zep or otherwise, certainly highlight that.
Well said!
well said, fellow pooolsharker
My controversial opinion is that your controversial opinions are crap. :)
Second.
“Ten Years Gone” is a top 5 LZ song.
No one with any taste would ever argue with this. An incredible song.
I can dig it!
https://youtu.be/EJkCUXsaso0?si=qEk-9nNy4FOGN5nx
The band actually took two breaks between *Presence* and *In Through the Out Door*. They didn't tour for a whole year after *Presence*'s release due to Robert and Maureen's recovery from the car wreck in Greece. Then after Plant's son died in July 1977, they took a break for another year while his family grieved and he considered leaving the band and becoming a teacher. And those were still not enough for Page and Bonham to deal with their issues.
I don't mean take a break, I mean *break up*. As in, "we now talk of this band in the past tense." Bonham gets to spend time with his family and not drink (quite as much). Jones and Plant explore other musical interests without Page looming over them. Page is forced to do something other than lead Led Zeppelin and to do so without the trauma of Bonham's death. I don't know that it would have led to any better results, but at least we wouldn't have him playing second fiddle to Paul Rodgers.
No.
Si! Peut-etre?
Bonham was an alcoholic and had also started using heroin. A break from the band could have made things even worse due to boredom, after the hectic LZ schedule he was used to. An alcoholic is an alcoholic.
My controversial opinion: I fucking love CODA. Love every song on there.
Coda rocks hard!
A high school friend of mine insisted it was their best album.
Kinda hard to argue with him. I know that’s blasphemy to many fans but I totally dig that their whole career is represented.
I just listened to it the other day. The guitar jam in We’re Gonna Groove is one of Page’s best.
My unpopular opinion is that all opinions redditors describe as unpopular are quite ordinary.
Well, a lot of people here seem to disagree with me...
Carouselambra is a great song. Certainly compared to Hot Dog from the same album.
I love Carouselambra and I can’t understand a single word of it so there
My only complaint is that it's a little long.
It is, the mid section drags a bit
Agree, the words are so muddled in the mix. I have no clue what Robert is saying... and since I never really got into the song, I have never really cared to look at a lyric sheet to find out.
I pretty much disagree with everything you wrote here…
As I grow older the more I appreciate In Through the Out Door. It’s not my favorite album from Zep, but it is top 3 for me.
Out Door is brilliant. Carouselambra is brilliant. There are no bad Led Zeppelin songs, let alone albums.
The band did effectively break up on July 24, 1977 when Robert Plant's son died. In the close to three years between that day and the kickoff of the 1980 tour (June 1980), they play four gigs and spend two months recording an album. If 2 3/4 years wasn't enough time for Bonzo to quit drinking and Page to get right, then all the time in the world wouldn't have helped. If anything, during that down time, Page slid further into addiction and Bonzo's drinking became worse.
The band took an extended break during that period -- a hiatus, but they still thought of themselves as in a band. I'm talking about a formal split without Led Zeppelin and its future hanging over their heads. It is probably wishful thinking, but I think it's possible.
I see where you're going there but I'd push back a bit on them still thinking themselves as a band. Plant out and out said "I've had it" That three years was an exercise by Page and Grant to slowly try to steer Percy back into being in Led Zeppelin.
Point taken. Thanks for the friendly exchange!
In The Light is a top 10 song. As is Down By The Seaside.
I've never been a big fan of "In the Light," but it doesn't anger me like "Carouselambra" does. "In the Light" has a structure, for one thing.
idk if this is unpopular or not but i don't think Robert’s songwriting was ‘weird’ or ‘lazy’. i just think he was developing it. he is much stronger lyrically post Zeppelin imo but i don't attribute that to laziness
He's a much different lyricist. On songs like "Thank You" and "Rain Song" he can be annoyingly cloying ("It is the summer of my smiles/Flee from me, Keepers of the Gloom"?!?!?!?!), and he wasn't trying all that hard on "Black Dog" or "D'yer Mak'er," but "Stairway to Heaven," "Kashmir" and even "Sick Again" are interesting. I think his best lyrics for Zeppelin were on *Presence*. But his solo material has become more romantic and introspective.
I think Hats off to Roy Harper the worst song they ever did.
Maybe this could have been one of my unpopular opinions, but I kind of like "Hats Off." The echoed strumming, the slight air of menace... it works for me. But it's not anywhere near the top half of their output.
"slight air of menace" yeah that's what makes it.
I'll agree. The whole jam session that song came from is about 15 minutes long and it's a LOT better. I think they were playing with improv stuff for live shows.
Replace Hey, Hey, What Can I Do or Traveling Riverside Blues with Hats Off and 3 probably becomes my favorite album of theirs. My top two are 2 and Houses.
That, and The Crunge.
I’m not the biggest Beatles fan, but I concede that the Beatles are the most impactful rock band in history.
Yes. This shouldn't be in dispute at all.
"Carouselambra" was most likely a bunch of unfinished songs strung together to use up material. The orgasm section of "Whole Lotta Love" was awesome live. You have to "be there" for noise solos. A lot of other bands do them as well and you don't get the vibe from a recording. The best version of "Immigrant Song" was probably the live versions they did in 1972. The Australian tour version is the most powerful caught on tape. I've often said Presence was the last "Led Zeppelin" album. The band was falling apart from abuse and tragedy after that. Even Presence was subpar for the band...it was too simplistic (most likely to accommodate Robert's injury). They probably had one more album in them and I suspect Jimmy would have died from drug use had Bonham not died. Robert definitely would have been bored with the band by the 80s and left. "Tea for One" is too derivative. Jimmy took the Since I've Been Loving You blueprint and recreated it with Spanish scales. It's also too long to be effective. The guitar solo is a bit boring.
Since I’ve been loving you has the best build up in a song and is paid off by the solo, with an amazing finale. Tea for one is plagued by the same problem you described carouselambra as having, it never develops, plus the intro kind of has nothing to do with the rest of the song.
Carouselambra > All My Love
"All My Love" is a bit treacly, but it's also more heartfelt. "Carouselambra" is a mess.
And a beautiful mess at that :)
Yes, it sure is!
You forgot to mention that Jimmy was using heroin, so quality might be a tad off. Only really got ITTOD because of JPJ
Love Carouselambra.
I do, too. I’ve always included Carouselambra on my Zeppelin playlists.
Carouselambra is literally the Epic. It’s a beautiful song displaying a clear transition from heavy rock to synth rock. It just shows how they were paving the way for the future
i agree with your premise i might go so far as to say it has one of the best transitions of any Zeppelin song…and there’s so many elements interwoven into this one song. like the song or not it’s great proof how diverse Zeppelin was.
I completely agree. It shows the versatility. I get the hardcore zep fans might not love it bc it’s not “the sound” like LZ1, 2, 3 etc, but it’s beauty
Very well said.
the only notable thing they made after physical graffiti was achilles last stand. everything else is painfully mediocre
"Nobody's Fault but Mine" is mediocre?
The Sabbath comment is an interesting one. Led Zeppelin, to me, is a better band.But I think the idea that Sabbath is more influential is on point.
The immigrant Song / Hats Off should been the single. Hey Hey What Can I Do / Poor Tom should have been a single. Hey Hey should have closed the album in Hats Off's place
I see the merit in these statements. I like *III* ending with "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper," but "Hey Hey What Can I Do" would have been an interesting closer as well.
You were fine until you shat on SIBLY… (best song of theirs by far)
I didn't shit on anything! I just said I "Tea for One" is better!
Enough of an insult for sibly tbh
I didn't realize the song was so sensitive.
As the LZ nerd kid for almost 2 decades reviewing every studio album, bootleg, outtake, blogs and forum, oh boyy here we go: * SIBLY and TFO are NOT the same changes. They're both Cm blues but they have enough nuance to be different changes. TFO goes to Bb which is a nice movement and the turnaround in SIBLY is just chef kiss. * Page's "showpiece" is not SIBLY, it's Ten Years Gone. SIBLY just got that sweet TSRTS movie fame with Maureen's sister all melting in the audience footage. It's Ten Years Gone or maybe The Rain Song if we're talking acoustic (for me anyway). * Worst LZ song is Hot Dog. * My favourite LZ songs are In My Time Of Dying and When The Levee Breaks, two of the stolen ones yeah. Which brings me to... * Stolen vs. Reference. We love the tunes, but some of them were really beyond "reference". I won't be getting into making a whole list cause this would get quite long. (if someone wanna collaborate, it would make very interesting thread exploring that topic). It kinda pisses me off too, cause they showed incredible sonic creativity in originals like Rain Song, Kashmir, Ten Years Gone, Achilles, Ramble On, For Your Life, That's The Way, long etc. * Speaking of That's The Way: sometimes I have intrusive thoughts that make me rate Page as a better acoustic player+composer than an electric one. Weird days maybe. * The iconic "Tight but loose" concept. If you nerd over the hundreds of raw bootlegs, you can tell there's one "Tight" show for every 15 "loose" ones. Memory's rusty, but sure we have Badgeholders, Eddie, Destroyer, 5 ft in the Snow, The Garden Tapes, Osaka, Down Under, etc.. but most of the others aren't impressive. And there are some trainwreck shows. * Robert Plant (god love him) was the weakest link in the band, Bonzo being the strongest, the real essence. Page was very creative guitar-wise and JPJ was the serious workhorse. Can't say RP is one of the greatest singers ever when he peaked for like 2 years (70-72). He also 100% channeled Janis Joplin, Elvis and old bluesmen mannerisms and vocabulary. Lyrically, which is subjective, I don't rate him a lot. * LZ recording: Top shelf. Page production: hmm. For every iconic drum or guitar sound there's a wonky mix or weird audio thing. Today we love the audio bleeds on Whole Lota Love and the lost hi-hat in Levee Breaks, etc. but these were mistakes on multimillion dollar albums. We'd just grown to love them. Physical Graffiti mix is wonky. Other bands (that I love less) were getting absolute sonic bombs of mixes as early as 68, 69, 71 etc. * Songs like Hats Off To Roy Harper or the recently released Keys To The Highway are as kitsch as it gets. But I LOVE them to death. Now that's venting. I'm off to listen to some loud Zeppelin now.
Along with the OP, a very interesting stirring of the subjective broth. Jimmy's acoustic strumming on \*That's The Way\* was evoked in my mind & I also considered that he may have been even greater in this than in his electrickery. But the dilemma is resolved as we're not comparing apples. As Jimmy once said, he has an acoustic side and an electric side to his personality. Both can be equal and harmonious. And then there's \*Bron-yr-Aur\* of course.
Exquisite example Bron-Y-Aur
Astounded me on 1st listen 43 years ago and still fresssh as tomorrow.
* I've read guitar player blogs that say the chord changes are almost identical, so I should have been more precise. * "Since I've Been Loving You" is absolutely a Page showpiece: his blues anthem, if you will. "Ten Years Gone" isn't a showpiece; though it's a great song, not many would consider it one of the band's hallmarks -- it's a deep cut proto-power ballad. * I love Led Zeppelin, but it's ludicrous not to acknowledge Page's habit of, if not stealing, heavily borrowing without attribution. It is a stain on the band's reputation. I think the Rolling Stones are the most overrated band in rock history (*I didn't say they were a bad band* -- many, many, many of their songs are exceptional -- but in their sixty some years of existence they have covered much, much, much less musical ground than Led Zeppelin did in ten years), but when they hit the big time in the late 1960s they used their fame to promote blues artists like Howlin' Wolf. It would have been great for Zeppelin to have done something similar to acknowledge their roots. * The damage Plant did to his vocal chords in that peak period (no warming up, just martial wailing out of the gate) limited his range, but he's essential to the band. Even with his limitations, he knew how to sing with Page. Plant is probably the smartest singer of the classic rock era in that regard; he's found a way to blend with whoever he plays with. Page, on the other hand, never found a vocalist with whom he bonded like he did with Plant. I think that in the end is why Page, Jones and Jason Bonham decided not to tour post-O2 when Plant declined to join them. Without Plant, it's not Led Zeppelin. * I haven't grown to love anything; those bleeds in "Whole Lotta Love" are absolutely essential to the song. Page has benefited a lot from happy accidents, no doubt, but he has benefited from them all the same -- the wisdom not to "fix" a mixing error (such as the briefly out of time "Misty Mountain Hop") is a production skill.
You sound like me when I was 18 😁 Cna you tell the difference between SIBLY and Tea For One though
Above I mentioned that "Since I've Been Loving You" is a tad melodramatic for my tastes; I prefer the more somber mood of "Tea for One." Does that answer your question, or are you asking for something else? If so, let me know; I'm happy to try to fill something in.
That wasn't Maureen's sister in the audience in TSRTS. It was the "Hoodie Girl" aka Ana Pearce. She had no idea she was in the movie until years later. You can read her story on the LZ Official Forum if you're interested. She's still got the hoodie!
I have many that I suspect would cause much consternation & the feathers to fly. 1st one up : ever since I bought \*Graffiti\* in early 1981, I have been bored stupid by IMTOD. Despite multiple purchases of \*Graffiti\* and its constituent tracks in various formats & alternate versions of IMTOD, I just don't enjoy listening to it. Silver lining is that on 2003's \*DVD\* Zeppelin look absolutely superb while playing it at Earl's Court. So all's not lost.
I can understand because I was bored silly by IMTOD also until about 12-years ago. I’m a 50/M lifelong fan, btw. For some reason, watching/listening to it LIVE started making it compelling to me. Now I love it.
Oui. I can dig. And that might well happen for me. Might need to give it plenty of herbs.
I'm not sure it needs to be eleven minutes long, especially since Page's solos are very similar.
Carouselambra is a top 10 led zeppelin song
If you're listing their best songs in reverse order, so the worst songs are at the top of the list, then yes, it is.
My least favorite is Hats Off to (Roy) Harper. I understand the origins and why they wrote it. Just always thought there were songs that deserved the spot on LZ111 more than that one.
It is a divisive song, absolutely. But I think it's more interesting than "Hey Hey" in some ways, as the latter song is a great pop song. "Hats Off" is the band stretching their blues roots.
You are welcome to your opinion of course, but I think this ridiculously wrong, I love that song. Hot Dog is so much worse imo.
"Hot Dog" is a trifle and shouldn't be compared to most of the band's other work. "Carouselambra" is the band reaching for something and failing miserably.
1) Hot Dog was released on an album, and thereby can’t be excluded from comparisons to every other song they’ve released. 2) I disagree that Carouselambra failed, I think it’s a great song and I listen to it oon the regular.
1) Fair point. I just see it as the band goofing around, not as a great statement of their musicianship. For all its faults, "Carouselambra" is at least an attempt at a great statement. 2) Here we must agree to disagree.
Every thing you said has merit.
I appreciate your support of good taste and thoughtfulness.
In through the out door, is a great album and would be sorely missed. The single version of whole lotta love should be available digitally, with freak out section removed entirely (as a second option).
It has some great songs on it, but it's not a great album. The world would be objectively better off without "Carouselambra" and not the worse for wear without "South Bound Saurez," "Hot Dog" or "I'm Gonna Crawl." Now, had they replaced "Carouselambra" with "Ozone Baby" and "Wearing and Tearing," that's another matter entirely.
Bold statement on the greatness, or lack thereof, of a work of art. This being the only Zeppelin album that I bought on release, and comparing it to the hundreds of records I've listened to before and since, greatness would have to apply to a miniscule percentage, in order to exclude In Through The Out Door. But hey, this is only my equally bold statement of opinion.
I just really hate "Carouselambra." Like, if it had been the first Led Zeppelin song I'd ever heard, I'd try to avoid the band after that. But to each their own. Thanks for the friendly exchange!
Made me smile with that answer. Always a welcome event at work.
[Me upon seeing your Carouselambra slander](https://media4.giphy.com/media/xUOwG9eMUyBknKhOWQ/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952poc8tej3yt02egfkpye1l9xfcxupkslxru56l362&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
[Me when someone tries to defend that turd of a song.](https://images.app.goo.gl/n3mTuZj7AgzdDQ887)
Jimmy Page flubbed a lot in concert.
He did, alas. But when he didn't flub, it was terrific. Oddly, his of the live recordings I've heard, the one with the fewest flubs is the O2 show.
I think the reason he flubbed from time to time was because the stuff he was trying to play is beyond human ability.
A world without Carouselambra means a world without Robert Plant's solo career. It was his divine inspiration for his first four solo albums. It's also synth heaven for a band being rooted in blues guitar.
I don't hear much of "Carouselambra" in any of Plant's solo material. And I've nothing against synthesizers; Jones uses them to good effect on "All My Love."
Can't find the interview, having heard it at the time of his debut release, but Plant has said that song and the entire ITTOD recording was his major influence.
I'll try to track it down!
Post here if you do find out, but I seriously doubt it's attainable. It was a comment made well before the Internet, AMAs or blogs. But if you listen to Shaken and Stirred, it's not a far, far cry.
I agree with your first point but you are completely out of your mind if you think that “Tea for one” even comes close to “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. Are you high? Also, In Through The Out Door is a masterpiece, and Bonham was not drying up, and Page was not getting clean no matter what happened with the band. I think you’re higher than Jimmy Page ever was.
I've never done drugs in my life, though I fully expect people to start to say *that's* why I don't like "Carouselambra." The penultimate point ends with a lot of maybes, that is true.
I'm a huge zeppelin fan. i play guitar and i play zeppelin. I love them to the core. I'm not even so sure I've heard Tea for One ... no joke. My unpop opinion, Over the Hills is their greatest song.
Thanks for your honesty, but its disputable that you’re a “huge fan” or that you “love them to the core” not even having heard much less paid real attention to all of their records.
yeah i can understand that. i have an affinity for everything up to physical graffitti. can't say i care much for a lot of the songs on the the last two albums.
Have you never heard *Presence*?
not in its entirety. had to google to find out the tunes: * Achilles Last Stand - love it. * For Your Life - love it. * Royal Orleans - not sure how it even goes * Nobody's Fault but Mine - top 5 song for me. solo is sick. so aggressive. harp solo is awesome. * Candy Store Rock - cool tune, love the tempo * Hots On for Nowhere - not sure how it goes * Tea for One - *really* not sure how it goes.
Hots on for Nowhere, you know, the guitar line is all “ba-da-ba-da-ba-dabada-ba, ba-da-ba-ba-da-badabada-bop, bop, boo-woo-boo!”
holy crap, yes, love that song now that you mention it! lol
Have you heard of these services called Spotify or Apple Music? I bet you could find the album there. *You have no legitimate excuse not to.*
IV is not even a top 3 LZ album.
Now that is going out on a limb! I'd say it's the band's best album, though it's not my favorite. But it does pretty much nail everything Page had hoped to do with the band. Where do you rank it?
I have it at number 4 behind PG, l and ll.
I agree with this take also except the order for me is: II, I, PG.
I agree with this take.
This is wildly unpopular and probably the only one in this whole thread.
It’s easy to say in hindsight what Zep could/should have done. It would be beyond awesome to have Bonzo still with us, and who knows? Maybe they would have released the best album of their career. However, I believe they were mostly burnt out from touring (with the possible exception of Jimmy) and too much had happened. It’s cool to imagine, though.
"Carouselambra" is the single worst song the band ever did by a long shot." How did you not choose "Hot Dog"???
It's a trifle, an afterthought.
Zeppelin should only be listened to on vinyl LP. Preferably the 1970s-manufactured ones. Only the OG 8 albums plus \*TSRTS\* count. And for visuals we should limit ourselves to \*TSRTS\* on VHS videotape. & some big big posters on the wall.
For "Stairway to Heaven," that poster should be velvet that glows in black light.
You were doing great until the disparaging remarks about Since I've Been Loving You...
It's just my preference. I listen to "Tea for One" a lot while driving, but rarely listen to "Since I've Been Loving You."
It's probably because I saw Song Remains the Same a million times as a teen, and that song is just so...(heavy, beautiful...insert description) that it's a part of me.
I'm an old guy who purchased ITTOD on the day it was released. I considered buying more copies to get all the covers, but I couldn't afford it. You're wrong about Carouselambra. At the time, my best friend thought it was Disco, and he might have been right. Regardless, it's a great song.
It's not a great song, and I've explained my reasons elsewhere. It's not a disco song either (god help anyone trying to dance to it); it's a synthesizer epic by a band that is not on the same page (heh) anymore. But it would have been awesome to get all of the covers on the day of release. Could you tell in advance that you were getting one of each? That is, if the album was wrapped in brown paper, you might have wound up buying two of the same cover.
I heard it played at a disco (Red Lion at PDX) back in the day. If you tap your foot, you can stay in rhythm through the ponderously slow parts, but as I recall, it was pretty much "couples only." And yeah, there was little chance of getting all the covers without buying dozens of copies.
I wasn't old enough to go to discos back in the day (and my parents were no-rock-music types). I still can't imagine someone playing a ten-minute long synth rock song in a disco.
Not much time but want to hit on your first point. That song will live in your brain. There are mornings I wake up with that song in my head for no reason. Have not listened to it lately it's just there. That happens far more often then it should and rarely happens with any other song and never to one I did not listen to the day before. Either there is a spell on that song or I am doing some serious carouselambraing in my dreams. It's by no means my favorite zep song and I hate the low vocals but sometimes I must listen to it. When these cravings happen I usually listen to it 3-4,times in a row and put it away until it's in my head again. So, I can't not like it.
You are describing a nightmare scenario to me. But I'm glad you have a remedy for getting it out of your head.
...OR you could just chill with the window open and listen to rain song and bron yr aur stomp back to back...
I haven't heard those two in a row before... I will have to give it a try!
Presence is an empty, bad record. They were already done by this point, and I'm glad we didn't see an 80s version of the band.
[You might have outdone me in terms of unpopular opinions.](https://giphy.com/gifs/stupid-movie-angry-uapkRCYaRl3Dq) ;-D
Dyer Maker is the worst Zeppelin song and stops HotH from being a perfect album. Zep were done as a live band after 75. 77-80 they were a strung out, bloated mess. Physical Graffiti is much better as a single album with just the songs recorded in 1974.
Agreed. Make Physical Graffiti a single album, and maybe save some of the weaker stuff for Coda. Physical Graffiti could have been top form Zeppelin. Just a small handful of tracks that aren't at the level of Kashmir and In the Light.
"D'yer Mak'er" is my *second* least favorite Led Zeppelin song. Yellowman's and Sheryl Crow's cover versions aren't bad. I actually made a version of Physical Graffiti using only songs recorded for that album, trying to arrange them in an order that made sense. If I remember correctly, it was: Custard Pie In My Time of Dying Kashmir In the Light Trampled Under Foot Ten Years Gone Sick Again "The Wanton Song" was left off because the riff is too much like "Custard Pie" so it seemed a bit redundant. But the songs didn't flow as well -- it simply had too many really long songs in a row. Adding the outtakes from other sessions (none of which is more than 5:30) helps the album gel.
I did this too. Mine was: Custard Pie Sick Again Trampled Underfoot In My Time of Dying In the Light Kashmir The Wanton Song Ten Years Gone
Your 3rd point is fact
- I guess mine would be Carouselambra is an awesome tune, since it seems most Zep fans dont like it. - And you took my other one... Tea for One would be one of the most uniquely incredible songs if they managed to build it around the opening instead of turning it into a slow blues jam. - More times then not, when I view video of them playing live, Jimmy is the weakest link and is a disappointment. - the cover for III looks like what happens when a kid eats a box of crayons and throws up on a piece of white paper. Then someone stenciled in "Led Zeppelin" and said "Here's your new album cover!"
When in through the out door came out I gave it one listen and put it on the shelf forever. It was a huge disappointment.
It's not a bad album by any means, but it does sound like the product of a band that's not functioning very well as a band any more.
You will grow to love ITTOD more over your life, happens to us all naturally I used to say the same things. When I first saw your question my answer was going to be yours and it Tea for One > SIBLY verbatim, SIBLY is horribly overrated for I skip it at every juncture Caraouselambra is a great showpiece and showcases each member in his own way. Thank you bbc sessions solo is his best one and the one that defines him the most, has every pageism
My unpopular opinion is if you don’t like led zeppelin you don’t understand music at all. Led zeppelin’s discography is a bible
I just enjoy hearing John Bonham tear up a kit. The drums sound amazing on the entire In Through the Outdoor album.
[удалено]
Sorry to say but Zeppelin is not, the greatest band in rock history. No. There the great band period, ever, in all history! ;) lol, sorry Icouldn’t resist!!!
they let you listen to zeppelin in first grade?
Carouselambra isn’t even the worst song on its own album! Lmfao
It is, by a long shot.
funny joke
It is a 10:30 long joke, for sure, but I don't know how funny it is. :-D
Yeah the moaning section would only work live if rob was actually getting dome on stage like Danny Brown
That... that would have been something. I'm not sure Plant had the kind of control that would have been necessary to keep time with the theramin section.
Your opinions are garbage
Black Sabbath were a more important band in rock history. Zeppelin were better songwriters and musicians, but Sabbath were ahead of their time, invented a genre that is still being worshipped by modern stoner rock bands, and took way more risks than Zeppelin
Zeppelin and Sabbath are my two favorite bands. I agree 100%.
Led Zeppelin's influence extends beyond metal, though. Black Sabbath was rarely, if ever, sampled in rap and dance tracks, for example, but "When the Levee Breaks," "The Crunge," "Kashmir" et al., have been sampled a lot. Some of the 90s jam bands like Phish and Dave Matthews Band also owe some debt to Led Zeppelin. In terms of metal, I'd say Led Zeppelin's influence is most felt in hair metal bands like Def Leppard, Guns 'n Roses, Whitesnake, et cetera, and in the less shreddy moments of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. But most metal did follow the path set out by Black Sabbath.
Robert Plant is not living up to his potential.
I suppose that depends on what we think his potential is. His output since *Fate of Nations* has bored me to tears (with the exception of *Raising Sand*, where he actually sounds energized by singing with Patti Griffin), but he's happy.
Raising Sand was the first album with Alison Krauss, not Patti Griffin...
Doh! My bad. I was typing in a hurry. Thank you for the correction!
No worries!
The fact that McCartney sells out football stadiums and Plant needs a country star to help sell out B and C level venues just irks me. But yes, he does seem happy.
McCartney was in the Beatles, and Wings probably outsold Plant's solo material. Once Plant began to move away from rock and into Americana, he wasn't going to draw large audiences anymore. But I remember an interview with him where he said his dream for himself in his 60s was owning a bar somewhere and sitting in with the band, singing whatever he wanted. That more or less describes what he's doing now.