- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Review
Although Led Zeppelin’s much-maligned third album remains divisive to this day, it’s now widely accepted that it was not, after all, the product of some collective brain fade or bizarre schizophrenic episode within the band. The persistent perception of it as an acoustic album is also an inaccurate and oversimplified view. But it’s easy to understand how misconceptions could arise, especially when it was first released.
The sense of anticipation surrounding Led Zeppelin III was simply enormous. The success of their first two albums (I, II) had transformed Zep into the biggest band in the world. It’s hardly surprising, then, that their decision to radically change tack would cause confusion and consternation. Where I and II were blues-rock workouts with acoustic and folk embellishments, III was essentially the opposite. The embellishments and embroidery became the central focus.
Much of the album was written at a remote cottage in Snowdonia called Bron-Yr-Aur while guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant recuperated following an extensive US tour. The cottage had no electricity which encouraged the pair to explore the band’s mellower, pastoral side. That the results originally met with such a lukewarm critical response was unfair, if predictable. The acoustic introductions to so many of the songs continue to fool those casually skipping through the album just to make sure they dislike it as much as other people say they should. The reality is a little different.
Ironically, given the album’s generally laid-back feel, III features one of the band’s most blatantly overt big-trouser moments. Opener Immigrant Song, with its strident riff and macho subject matter, is proto-heavy metal at its best. It’s true that the bulk of the material doesn’t favour rock, with even Celebration Day and Out on the Tiles lacking the sledgehammer weight of previous efforts, but this is no lightweight fluff. The slow blues of Since I've Been Loving You and the touching That's the Way are other clear highlights which have earned their place on any genuine best-of collection. Elsewhere, the wistful folk rock of Tangerine and Gallows Pole – another Zep arrangement of a traditional folk song – bolster what is by any reckoning an underrated work.
--Greg MoffittFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
EX/EX
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated defined,
By
This review is from: III (Audio CD)
Following on from the heavy blues offerings from the first two quality Zeppelin albums, this was probably easy to slate at the time and I believe it was. I'm so glad that this has now got the recognition it so rightly deserves. It's packed with classics; Immigrant Song, Since I've Been Loving You, Gallows Pole, Tangerine, That's the Way, Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp et al. Much more folky than blues, it's atrue masterpiece and currently my fave Led Zep long player.
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So I'm not the only one...,
By
This review is from: III (Audio CD)
...who thinks this is Zep's best? Thank goodness, I've always thought there was something wrong with me - whenever people have the old "is Led Zep IV or Physical Graffiti their best album" discussion, I've mumbled "what about Led Zep III" under my breath.I bought this album in the week of it's original release, back in the early 70s, and loved it from the opening bludgeoning banshee wail of Immigrant Song onwards on first listen. What happy memories... This was the album when Zep really unveiled what they were all about. The previous two albums had been wonderful enough, but the songs were drawn from a fairly narrow range. On this album, we had the hard rockers (Immigrant Song) and blues homage (Since I've Been Loving You) which we'd grown to expect, but the band also unveiled their more whymsical side - Gallows Pole, That's The Way, Bron Y Aur stomp, proving that they knew a thing or two about tunes as well. Stand-out tracks - Immigrant Song (a candidate for the best opening 10 seconds of an album) and Since I've Been Loving You, on which Jimmy Page's guitar playing reached it's absolute zenith. If you want to know what bands like The Music and Hundred Reasons have been listening to, go out and buy this. Go on go on go on go on...
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hats Off to Zeppelin,
By
This review is from: III (Audio CD)
This is my favourite Led Zeppelin album, and that is really saying something! That opening track is classic, and 'Friends' is really special. Everybody has heard Immigrant Song, and many will have heard Since I've Been Loving You- if you liked them, you will love this. It's the softest of their studio albums, mainly because it was written in a derelict cottage not a million miles from where I'm typing this. I actually went to Bron-yr-Aur in September, and it rained. A lot. But it was really inspirational too.Bron yr Aur is my favourite song on this album, it has a really lively feel. Basically, this album is brilliant, really underrated, but it's good to keep it that way or it will go the same way as Led 4. Everybody who calls themselves a zeppelin fan cannot fail to buy this album, there are some real gems here, like the psychedelia of Hats off to Roy Harper, the beautiful Tangerine, and the out and out rock and roll of Gallows Pole, Out on the Tiles, and Celebration Day. Basically, im telling you to buy this album- you can't go wrong for under a tenner!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
