Classic Review: Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
CLASSIC/10
Background: Led Zeppelin is/was/will forever be a hard rock/heavy metal/blues band from London, England. Zeppelin was formed from the ashes of The Yardbirds, the band with arguably (but nobody is going to fight you on it) the most ridiculously talented guitarist line-up of any band ever. Eventually that ship sunk due to in fighting and gave birth to Led Zeppelin, trading one overly skilled blues band for another overly skilled blues band that is actually listenable. Led Zeppelin's early sound was rooted in blues, but drew influences from psychedelia, early heavy metal, folk, and more blues. They eventually evolved to include influences from progressive rock, Americana, reggae, funk, mythology/fantasy, Eastern music, and, quite regrettably, something that came close to resembling disco (don't get me wrong I enjoy disco, especially post-disco, but it was not a good sound for a band whose unofficial and largely fabricated biography is titled Hammer of the Gods). They are typically regarded as the most influential band to inhabit the post-Beatles musical universe, and are the second highest selling artist in the USA. Their discography includes 6 definitive classic albums, one decent album, and two pieces of hot garbage. Outside of music, they were infamous for their debauchery and general idiocy (slightly NSFW due to brief language and descriptions of hedonism) and really helped to create the wonderful trope of the excessive rock star.
Review: It is fairly undeniable (unlike the majority of the people in your life, the numbers don't lie) that Led Zeppelin reached their commercial peak with their untitled album aka Led Zeppelin IV to anybody that isn't a pretentious loser. Their artistic peak, however, was reached with Physical Graffiti, and anybody that disagrees is wrong because I say so and I have a blog and they don't. Ha. Anyways. Physical Graffiti features some of the longest songs of any Zeppelin album, as well as some of the most complex (not that song length inherently equals complexity, a lesson that the majority of progressive rock needs to learn). The musicianship and songwriting skills shown on this album, especially on longer tracks such as "In My Time Dying", "Ten Years Gone", and "In The Light" are among the best ever put to vinyl. Equally impressive are shorter tracks such as the interlude "Bron-Yr-Aur," which features some dazzling acoustic guitar playing from Jimmy Page, and "The Wanton Song," a jerky, off beat rocker that alternates blazing fast playing with sudden stops and starts. It may not sound too impressive to the average person, but believe me, having to coordinate those sudden stops and starts with a full band is nearly impossible for mere mortals. This album is the sound incredibly skilled individuals (every member has been voted to be the best singer/guitarist/bassist/drummer of all time in multiple polls) at the absolute peak of their musicianship.
I would be lying to you if I said Physical Graffiti is an easy album. Some of the songs are excessively long and at times just boring. It's eighty two minutes long. Not everybody appreciates raw musicianship in the same way they enjoy a happy vibe or a catchy hook, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you listen carefully, however, these more conventional aspects are plentiful across the album. There is a reason this unwieldy behemoth is 16x platinum in the USA, and it's not because Billy working down at the Topeka Wal Mart really gets off to nice string arrangements, ten minute blues songs about dying, and lyrics that reference The Lord of the Rings. Zep's main commercial draw comes from the way the music makes the listener feel. "The Rover" and "Trampled Underfoot" both feature aggressive guitar playing and grooves that could make even your grandmother feel like the coolest person on the planet. "Houses of the Holy," "Down by the Seaside" and "Boogie with Stu" are all short, easy, catchy songs that still feature Led Zeppelin's typical complexity. (Fun fact: "Boogie with Stu" features one Mrs. Valens in its writing credits, added when the band realized that the mother of the deceased Ritchie Valens never received any royalties from her son's tragic eight month recording career.) The epic "Kashmir" might just be the greatest driving song ever written, especially in the desert. Despite this, while there certainly are some more conventional things to enjoy about this album, the primary way, in my opinion, to listen to Physical Graffiti is to let the album take you on a journey, maaaaaaan, and absorb you into its huge world of fantasy, excess, and gloriously sloppy guitar solos.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of Physical Graffiti is the way it plays with dynamic range, or basically the way some parts of songs are quiet and then suddenly get loud. Many of the songs on this album feature a member of the band playing in a more quiet register only to have the rest of the group pop up like Gene Parmesan and form an explosive climax for the song. What Physical Graffiti lacks in regard to Zep's earlier, heavier albums it makes up for in its epic scope and contrasting sounds. Quiet/loud passages are more common in the previously mentioned longer songs, such as "In the Light" and "Ten Years Gone." This use of quiet/loud contrast would later be imitated by The Pixies (although nobody ever acknowledges that The Pixies took it from Zeppelin), who were the primary influence on a little band called Nirvana. This use of contrasting song elements was innovative at the time, and has found influence in genres as diverse as grunge, EDM/IDM, rap, metal, and even punk (more than a few punks had an outspoken hatred for the cheesiness and ridiculous song length of Led Zeppelin, and some punk tropes were subtle jabs at the conventions of metal set by Zeppelin).
If I had to pick an album that truly represents Led Zeppelin, it would be Physical Graffiti. It features all of the elements that come to mind when I picture the high points of the band's career. However, I would not start somebody new to Zeppelin here (I would have them listen in chronological order starting with Led Zeppelin I in order to give them a full grasp of the evolution Zeppelin's sound underwent during the course of their career). This is a complex and lengthy record, one that rewards multiple listens, yet can be enjoyed upon first listen as well. It is an album of beautiful, delicate subtlety and dark heaviness. Some songs deal with love, both in the physical and mental sense, and some deal with death. Contrasts run amok through the album as well as in Led Zeppelin's career, and I feel that is important to keep in mind while listening. As far as influence, this album, as well as all of the band's albums, can be heard in heavy metal and its sub-genres, including the monstrosity that became hair metal, progressive rock, post-rock, and even some areas of folk rock. Truly a monumental album for a truly monumental band.
Highlights: "The Rover" "In My Time of Dying" "Trampled Underfoot" "Kashmir" "In the Light" "Ten Years Gone" "The Wanton Song"
Lowpoints (if I had to pick): "Sick Again" "Custard Pie" (seriously the central metaphor and last verse of this song is just uncomfortable)
Recommended albums: Literally anything in Zeppelin's discography that was released before this one (albums after Physical Graffiti took a steep nosedive in quality), Paranoid -Black Sabbath, Machine Head - Deep Purple, Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (yeah I just did that)
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