Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
If you only buy one Led Zeppelin Album, 10 May 2005
By A Customer
Congratulations! You have chosen well. Seven years on the road have paid off and the band lay down the tracks which will propel them into the stratosphere. Here, you get the lot: earthy blues, driving rock, intimate ballads, fun, laughter, all in all, 80-odd minutes of JOY!The sheer weight of tracks like Custard Pie, Kashmir, The Rover would sit well in any band's entire canon but they are here on the first disc! Above all, it's the way the band nail every song in total sympathy with each other. True, Page lays down the guitar overdubs at times like he has to sell them tomorrow, but what a result. And as an answer to the question 'where is the follow-up to 'Stairway to Heaven?' look no further than Kashmir and Ten Years Gone as worthy replacements. Usually by side four, bands start to waver and it's true that Zep added some earlier also-rans but they stand up by themselves and only once drop into the realms of 'filler' on the singalong 'Boogie with Stu', but an album that can end on a great rock track after 80 minutes puts that into perspective and 'Sick again' is a worthy closer. 30 years on, it still hits all the right buttons.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Probably the most complete album I've ever heard, 26 Mar 2007
I first picked this album up in 1990, after hearing Jimmy Page play a tantalising snippet of the Kashmir riff on Arena's 'Heavy Metal' documentary.
At that time buying a double lp was quite an investment for a schoolkid on pocket money alone, but I was mesmerized by the mystery around *that* riff and the fact the album looked so unusual. What I couldn't have expected was to seemingly stumble on something so complete and fulfilling, that I would still be returning to it every week for the next 15 years or more.
Each time I listen, I discover a new angle to a song. Another riff, another rhythm track, another vocal line. Zeppelin were truly at the height of their majestic powers when this album was released in 1975.
This is partially a result of a patchwork chronolgy behind the songs. Some were outtakes from previous studio works ('Houses of the Holy', 'Black Country Woman', 'Boogie with Stu'). Others were adaptations of previous songs, once ditched and now ressurected and re-worked during 1974 ('The Rover', 'Down By the Seaside').
The longest songs are invariably the newest and it is clear that on this album Zeppelin's intention was to define the 'epic'. 'Kashmir' is monstrous, sounding like it has been hewn from the roots of the Earth. It's sister-piece, 'In the Light' adds a darker tone. Then there is the electric storm of 'In My Time of Dying', crackling with intensity, slide guitar, prayers to Jesus and the relentless thunder of Bonzo's drums.
My favourite song (at the moment) is 'Ten Years Gone', a lovesong no less. However this arrangement is probably the most complex and painstaking ever assembled by Page, and the effect is stunning. Multiple guitar overdubs make a plaintive call against Plant's wistful recollections of love once lost.
This is an album of moods - covering the entire spectrum. As well as the epics there is much light relief and plain 'ole rock 'n' roll. 'Custard Pie', 'Sick Again' and most notably 'Trampled Underfoot' with Jones' infectious clavier riff.
The most rewarding album I can think of.
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