Quote:
Originally Posted by dirt
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffitti
|
I loved the album cover. When it was first released I couldn't wait to hear it!
I was 95% impressed. Some really great tunes. Some of the best rock tunes ever. Certainly one of the best rock albums of all time. But it is two albums. That means there is going to be filler. No one is good enough to make a double album without filler. Not even The Beatles.
Physical Graffiti should have been two albums. One with the best tunes and one with the filler tunes. You can guess which one would have sold better.
The production was much better and the band was much tighter than Zep III.
Custard Pie is a pure Zeppelin, but the first tune on the album it should have been stronger. Fortunately, the record gets better the deeper you get into it. Much better.
The Rover has some really catchy parts, but the whole song is not catchy.
In My Time of Dying. 11 minutes and 4 seconds. Really Jimmy? What were you thinking? Way too much filler in this tune. This tune alone makes Physical Graffiti not as good as Who's Next.
Houses of the Holy. The opening to this tune is iconic. Classic Zeppelin. Great guitar sound. This almost makes up for In My Time of Dying. But only almost.
Trampled Under Foot is awesome! What a great riff -- Talkin' bout love... da da, da da da da da da da.
Kashir is mind blowing -- especially live when I saw them in 1977 with all the laser beams.
In the Light reminds me of firing up a joint on the way to high school in the morning. If you've never been stoned to this song you don't know what you're missing.
Bron-Yr-Aur is really nice.
I love Down by the Seaside. Such a great tune! It's one I would play 5 times in a row. I love Jimmy's guitar arpeggios with the tremolo effect. A country band should do this as a cover. It would work. And then the minor chord and rythm change that takes the song in a whole different direction. And then somehow they get back into the opening groove. Magical.
Ten Years Gone. Another mind blowing song. And then that incredible riff after the first few bars. And that crunching guitar. Damn! Page was SOOOOOOO good! And then just when you think he is going to repeat the riff, he instead goes into some spacey, jazzy lead solo. And the sound of his guitar. And then it just gets just gets better as it reaches a climax. Then he repeats from the beginning, but adds new guitar parts. ****ing genius.
Night Flight is a classic rocker. Not the best rock tune ever, but very strong. Reminds me of some of Rod Stewart's bets rockers from Blondes Have More Fun. Great drums and bass.
The Wanton Song. More classic Page guitar. The drum and guitar syncopation is great. Bonham is incredible on this tune. Yet another new sound from his guitar on the lead solo. Damn, he's good. Damn, they're good.
It's amazing how well their music holds up 45 years later.
Boogie with Stu is fun, but it's not a great tune. Just a typical 1-4-5 blues progression. Good rocker but its semi-filler.
There is a reason Black Country Woman is the second to last song on Side Four. It's not that good.
One song had to be last on this double album. If Sick Again was a good song it would not have been last.
Won't Get Fooled Again is the last song on Who's Next. Big difference.
Physical Graffiti has some amazing songs -- some of the best rock songs ever. However, it has a lot of filler. It's a double-album. There was bound to be filler. Who's Next is strong from beginning to end and for that reason Who's Next is a better rock album than Physical Graffiti.
