What - not even “Second Wind”, with its chorus of howler monkeys (YOU’RE ONLY HUMAN! WOOT! WOOT!)?
Houses of the Holy is probably my favorite of their albums. In Through the Out Door and Physical Graffiti are the only other two albums that are worth listening to unless you are really downplaying how much you have loved Led Zeppelin to this point.
Ummm…yes, it does? I guess that’s just not your thing then, because the melody and the interplay of the voices can’t be improved on.
I don’t especially want to hijack the thread but I guess we’re essentially talking about Led Zeppelin overall as a result of responding to the OP, so I have some questions for people here after having read the thread, most specifically about latter day Zep.
I’m interested in hearing from people as to why they have a relatively high opinion of In Through The Out Door. To my ears, that album is slight, fractured and anaemic, largely as a result of its origins I suspect (by this point, Bonham is in the bottom of a bottle and Page is in the height of his heroin addiction - with much of the drive on the record coming from JPJ and Plant - I feel like I can audibly hear the disjoint in the record between the sober two creating stuff and the wracked two filling in their parts as best as possible but not at top whack). I’d consider it their worst album - but I am not here to have my pov confirmed - I’d prefer it to be challenged, so I can listen to that album with fresh ears.
Similarly, but by contrast, the dismissal of Presence that seems to run through this thread, is something I don’t really agree with either. To be clear, Presence is not something the OP should be listening to in order to work out what’s so good about Led Zeppelin, and I wouldn’t put it above any of their opening 6 albums, with the possible exception of Led Zep I. The songwriting is, generally speaking, weaker than for the other albums and there’s a couple of tracks on there that probably shouldn’t have been recorded - even if it does have Achilles’ Last Stand and Nobody’s Fault But Mine on it. Nevertheless, I would argue that for lovers of studio rock guitar, what Page achieves on this album is exceptional, both in terms of the parts but also, and more impressively IMO, the construction of the overdubs with almost mathematical precision, adding density and complexity to tracks that otherwise might not have much going for them at all (made all the more impressive by the story that Page constructed a lot of the guitar parts in two, back to back 20 hour studio sessions before they lost the studio they’d booked to The Rolling Stones’ sessions for Black and Blue). The best way to listen to the record for this is, I think, on good headphones so you can immerse yourself in it - and in those conditions, it’s rewarding, I think, if not as good as the canonical series of albums Led Zep released to launch their careers. I’d be interested in hearing what the Dope’s resident guitar heads think of Presence under those parameters.
If the OP is taking suggestions on what to listen to from the classic rock canon, given his love of Billy Joel, Rumours seems like a good shout, as does the preceeding, self titled, Fleetwood Mac album. I’d also recommend Bruce Springsteen, if he’s not listened to much of him - the stuff closest to Joel is probably The Wild, The Innocent and The E-Street Shuffle and Born To Run.
Re: Joel: Since they’ve even done concerts together, I’d also recommend early Elton.
Coda is a collection of all the songs that were rejected from the albums when they were being released (you can tell more often than not when each was recorded just by the style).
And the album really shows WHY they were rejected. They’re all crap! Buying that album is like wringing out a bar towel and drinking it.
If they’d have put Hey Hey What Can I Do on it (vinyl - I see it is on the CD) it MIGHT have been worth buying. But they didn’t.
I really like that album. It’s probably my second favorite behind IV.
I like the sound - I think it flows nice, has a good mix, and is generally pleasing. That is, I can listen just for the ambience. It reminds me of when it was new - it was my first “new” Zep. I was just a kid for all the other albums. At the time, bands tended to fade rapidly (I don’t think Shake it Up is as good as The Cars, nor is Cultasaurus Erectus as good as Agents of Fortune, and the time between those albums is less.) So having a good new album was a bonus.
I liked it when it was new. I have good memories of listening to it, and time hasn’t changed what I thought.
For songs. I like In The Evening, Carouselambra and All My Love as being as good Zeps as any, Hot Dog as just a fun ditty (better than The Crunge that’s for sure). South Bound Suarez and I’m Gonna Crawl are acceptable but not outstanding.
And Fool In The Rain. That poor song. In college, I think the radio stations played it every hour. Literally. I think I have heard it more times than any other Zep song (including Stairway). It not only wore out its welcome, it drank all my milk and forgot to flush the toilet. But it was good when it was new - a bit plodding, but OK. Now I can’t get past the past. It’s unchecked in iTunes - maybe someday I’ll listen again.
I love the cover art. I have all six album covers displayed in my rec room, in those vinyl album picture frames. I even wetted one sleeve to make the color come out. But I still want to know what “fully Coot” means.
For me, at its best In Through the Out Door is as good as anything else Zep produced. The problem with it is that it’s rarely at its best. But the highs are high enough that it’s well worth a spin. I may like it more than Physical Graffiti? I’m not sure, but it’s close. Presence is more consistent, but it’s best works aren’t as good as anything else the band did. Fool in the Rain and All of my Love are two of the great rock songs of all time. In the Evening and Carouselambra are solid as anything and I really like South Bound Suarez personally.
Achilles Last Stand, by contrast, is good, but I wouldn’t place it in the top 25 of Zep songs, and it’s the best the album Presence has.
This definitely speaks to the range of Zep’s music and why it’s worth checking out different periods. All of My Love is among my least favorite of the popular radio-play Zep tunes (D’yer Maker would be #1 in this regard. I really can’t stand that song.), and Fool in the Rain I’ve already expressed my opinion about. But that’s not a bad thing. If you don’t like one era of Zeppelin, you might find something in another you like. Or not.
Good point. They did have a lot of different sounds. My two favorite Zep songs (Over the Hills and Far Away and When the Levee Breaks) don’t sound like they are from the same band. But, for me, that’s a good thing. Fool in the Rain is a terrible earworm and I sometimes find myself humming it for no particular reason. Fortunately I like it.
I wonder what the OP ended up thinking of Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti?