Ah, the same people who go to Rush concerts and just sort of stand there until they hear that opening synth of Tom Sawyer…
Be aware that much of Physical – I think about half – was recorded during the period of the earlier albums. So, the “sloppy” songs *might *be “rejects” from sessions well before 1974-75, and not a reflection of their entering a sloppy period then.
And Coda! I’m serious! I love most of that album (pretty much all of it except “Darlene”).
I like all of the songs on LZ4 but “Black Dog,” Mangosteen, but I think LZ2 and In the Houses of the Holy are better albums.
Agreed; the keyboard experiment worked and indicated a potential new direction for the band if JB hadn’t died. However, “Hot Dog” is by far my least favorite LZ song–a real failure IMO.
The weakest song is Four Sticks, yet it is still a really good song on its own. That’s why Led Zeppelin IV was such a great album.
Why do they always list the non-existent Led Zeppelin IV?? (There’s no such album. I’m sure they mean the fourth album that does not have a title written in standard Roman characters.) I have no idea. It’s boring. It’s hackneyed. It’s right around the time when they started getting all…mystical, I guess.
Give me Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II. Screw the high school crowd-pleasing fourth album.
Well godammit, me too.
“Stairway to Heaven” is not what comes to mind when LZ IV (or whatever you want to call it) is mentioned. It’s more "Black Dog’ and “Rock and Roll”.
There are good songs to be had on other albums, but compared to IV their quality is a lot more variable.
I too am a big In Through the Out Door fan. But I love “Hot Dog”; I think it’s funny.
Many years ago in high school I had a thing for this girl who didn’t know I existed. But somehow I ended up giving her a ride back to school from an outing a huge group of us had taken. As we got in the car, visions of me impressing her with my charm and wit evaporated as soon as I turned on the ignition and “Hot Dog” began blasting through the speakers.
“Uh, who is this?” she asked incredulously.
“No, it’s OK, it’s Led Zepplin!” I stammered out, but the damage was done.
–Cliffy
Yeah, I really played this one out… more than a few times.
And what about the album that has “Hey Hey, What Can I Do?” 
But I was IN high school!
I like “Hot Dog” because I think it’s amusing, and like Jimmy’s sloppy honky-tonk guitar playing on it.
Way back in the day, when I first bought In Through the Out Door, I was a little disappointed at the amount of keyboard, and what seemed to be the guitar taking a back seat (which is kind of true. JPJ and Plant were doing the bulk of the writing on that album. Page was strung out on heroin at the time), but over the years, the songs have really grown on me. “In the Evening,” “Fool in the Rain,” and “All My Love,” especially.
The album was recorded shortly after Robert Plant’s young son had died (“All My Love” is about him), and Plant said he just hadn’t felt in the mood to do a swaggering, cock rock album after that, so it was softer and more plaintive. When I was young, I thought it sounded too poppy, but I’ve really come to appreciate it. “All My Love” is one of their best songs, in my opinion.
I like all the songs on IV. (The one that doesn’t fit in with the others, IMHO, is “Battle of Evermore”–still a damn good song.)
Housed of the Holy has two songs I actually dislike and wish they hadn’t been included–or recorded–“The Crunge” and “D’yer Maker.”
An album which has Black Dog, Rock and roll, Misty Mountain Hop, and When the Levee Breaks is pretty damn good with or without Stairway to Heaven. There are also other great tracks on it. Was never my favourite though.
I think IV is good because of the fantasy vibe it has, without being lame.