Led Zeppelin

Physical Graffiti

The end of the peak for Led Zeppelin

Review Score:

(10/10)
This double album, regarded as (if not Zeppelin's best) then one of the two best, (with either IV or HotH) with great performance all around (though mostly on Disc 1 if my opinion counts for anything). At first you may be annoyed by the repetetive riffs on most of the songs, you'll get used to it. I was at first, and this was part of why I see this as the beginning of the end fro the band. It seemed like they were putting less effort into their music. I don't think this any more, but this is their last great album.

Custard Pie--a nice hard, sexy rocker for the opener, somewhat reminiscent of Black Dog. Plant is the most outstanding on this one.

The Rover--a cool, psychedelic riff carries this song through its length. What the lyrics mean isn't entirely clear to me, but it's a good song nonetheless.

In My Time of Dying--among Zeppelin's top 5. Those 5 would be 'Kashmir', followed by 'Achilles', 'Stairway', 'Levee', so you can see what it's up against. Great slide guitar by Page with a number of hard rocking solos, pounding drums and bass lines, and of course one of Plant's best performances, playing the role of a dying man calling out to God to save his soul. It rarely gets better than this folks, so be glad this song is 11 minutes long. A display of Zep's talent for making sure the greatest songs are the long ones (the ones I listed as best are 8 and a half minutes long, 10 and a half, 8, and 7 minutes respectively)

Houses of the Holy--another very psychedelic guitar performance, and Plant puts on a great performance also. To me the lyrics sound like one of the band members, presumably Page with his affinity for the occult, trying to seduce a girl away from her conservative religious beliefs. But that's just me.

Trampled Underfoot--a very loud, hard rockin' song that will become mind numbingly repetetive after a while. It's catchy, but not Zep's best. Besides, I'm busy waiting for Kashmir the whole time it's playing.

Kashmir--my favourite Zeppelin song ever. An orchestra with sound edited heavily drowns out Page's guitar. There are also keyboards by Jones. Another of the 'drum songs' with a steady, heavy beat and some distorted psychedelic drumrolls as the song fades. The mysterious, middle eastern sound of this song will take you to another world in the same way Stairway did the first time you heard it...

Disc 2 isn't so great. In the Light is an average song, no more. Bron-yr-Aur is a beatiful acoustic guitar piece under 2 minutes (reminds me of Jefferson Airplane's 'Embryonic Journey') named after a cabin in the English countryside. The next two songs are too annoying to mention. Night Flight is very unusual for Zeppelin and a welcome relief to the boring songs on this disc. Dig it. The Wanton song is another average song. Boogie with Stu is a little jam session with the Rolling Stones' pianist ('Stu') that's good for a laugh and interesting percussion but not much else. Black Country Woman features some interesting drumming but nothing else to speak of, and Sick Again is horribly average for a Led Zeppelin closer, with lyrics that made me wonder which of them is 'sick'.

Anyway, the first disc is worth the purchase, and besides, what rock fan could live without this classic album?

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