02. Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III 1970 (Atlantic)
Hard Rock
When you have the world at your feet!
Overview
Led Zeppelin had amazingly made positions one and two in the previous year of 1969 and very nearly made position one again, but there was just one album that was slightly better and that gets the final nod here. Anyway, by the time of their third album, Led Zeppelin were quite simply one of the biggest acts in the world with two legendary albums already behind them. They had the world at their feet and more of the same was expected for their third album, which again just saw them adding the appropriate amount of Roman numerals to their name for the album title, which was III in this case. More of the same music-wise was delivered as well, but with it came a huge change in musical direction and the band offered us greater complexity. The band who had often made no secret of their love of current folk artists such Joni Mitchell, Fairport Convention and Roy Harper to name just a few, would come up with the novel idea of literally splitting their third album into two distinct parts. Side-one would feature their traditional brand of hard rock, but with a greater degree of complexity to the majority of the songs than they had demonstrated before. Side-two on the other hand, would embrace their hidden folky instincts and this would reveal itself in the form of far gentler acoustic folk numbers that would span almost half the album. The album would be recorded at the 'Bron-Y-Aur' cottage in Wales and again was produced by Jimmy Page. The album would remain along with their future album
Houses of the Holy, as one of those Led Zeppelin albums that really does divide opinions amongst fans of the band.
Robert Plant-Vocals
Jimmy Page- Guitar
John Paul Jones- Bass/Organ
John Bonham- Drums
Production- Jimmy Page
Album
Immigrant Song- The album opens up with the lumbering battlecry of the "Immigrant Song" and the whole song is literally powered along by Robert Plant's trademark wail.
Friends- The first acoustic and folky elements show up here, as the band really rely on a somewhat haunting tune to carry the whole thing through.
Celebration Day- One of the great Led Zep tunes and featuring slide guitar here as well, as the band turn blues rock inside out, showing us that they were masters of this sound.
Since I've Been Loving You- Slow blues rock at its very best and one of the great guitar songs ever laid down and in my mind it immortalized Jimmy Page as a guitar god. At times the guitar simply sounds alive and the whole thing is amazingly accompanied by an amazing vocal display by Roger Plant, who's full of bluesy lyrics to boot here as well.
Out on the Tiles- Is dominated by a tricky sounding riff, that is split into multiple parts, it often seems to be the least recognized song on the first side of the album.
Gallows Pole- Kicks off side-two of the album with its acoustic folky feel and is a traditional folk song that flows smoothly along, but the subject tone always gives the song an interesting menacing feel.
Tangerine- Almost country influenced and a real gem of a song penned by Jimmy Page.
That's the Way- Devoid of drums and one of those songs written at 'Bron-A-Aur' cottage and a perfect example of the second side of the album.
Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp- My favourite track on this part of the album, quite simply an infectious romp where you can well imagine the band having a good time whilst composing this.
Hats Off to (Roy) Harper- A tribute to then contemporary folk artist Roy Harper, who was good friends with the band and the band make a return to the blues here in the form of country blues variety, again features Jimmy Page on slide guitar.
Verdict
Just listening to this album shows how the band had grown musically in just a very short time and it was obvious that the band weren't interested in living on past laurels here. They knew in order to musically grow, that they had to take a number of musical risks and they did that on this album with some stunning results. Most of the compositions that make up this album, show a greater depth than the band had demonstrated before, their riffs were now more complex, songs split into more multi-parts and a few turned inside out. Giving us a delightful example of a band at its creative height. I'd even go as far to say, that side-one of the album may rank as one of the strongest selection of songs that the band ever put out. The flip side of the record on side-two, shows us how the band really embraced their love of folk music and very easily made these folk tunes truly their own. The album as a whole, demonstrates how Led Zeppelin within their chosen musical genres of both blues rock and folk rock here, were able to truly become masters of their own destiny music wise, not always an easy thing to pull off, especially with the eyes of the world on you. This album quite simply ranks up there, as one of the band's early golden releases from their most acclaimed early to mid-1970s time period. This of course is being said in hindsight, as critics once again critically mauled the album back in the day. Some detractors of the album, often voice their complaints over the fact, that one whole side of the album was given over to folk tunes alone, rather than be spread out between songs, which most other bands may have done. For these reasons alone, the album is often a dividing point between Led Zeppelin fans as to how good the album actually is. Over the years, I've often heard Led Zeppelin fans claim this as the bands very best release, whilst others tend to see it as no more than a novelty. For years I fell somewhere between these two camps and their points of view, but now I'm firmly with the former viewpoint.