Unknown Soldier

Overview
Not only have Led Zeppelin had more number one spots in these lists than any other band, but this is also the first studio double album to feature on these lists as well. Now double albums back in the 1960s and 1970s were always seen as the crowning achievement by any world acclaimed artist and just looking down the roll call, we can find the Beatles White Album, Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde, Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland, Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street, Who Quadrophenia, Frank Zappa Freak Out! Can Tago Mago, Soft Machine Third and Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as albums that all lend credence to this point. Not all double albums by acclaimed artists would be at the height of these above albums and there were also some like Yes’ Tales of Topographic Oceans that left a lot to be desired, luckily though Physical Graffiti fell into the first category. For a double album to be deemed a classic, this normally meant that there needed to be two sides worth of classic material, a side of decent material and an interesting experimental or self-indulgent side as well, now and again an inevitable amount of filler often found its way into proceedings as well which often fluctuated the quality of the album. Not all the material for some of these albums would necessarily be new material either and in many cases these albums contained a percentage of previously un-released material and Physical Graffiti is an example of this. The band had only written about 50% of new material for the album and the rest came from previously recorded stuff between 1970 and 1972. The band prior to recording the album, had almost lost John Paul Jones who had threatened to quit, but manager Peter Grant already with his fingers in another pie with Bad Company luckily urged him to stay on. Their previous album Houses of the Holy had been the band’s most eclectic release to date, but also their lesser album for lack of a better adjective and would indicate a stylistic carry over to this album. The band as stated earlier, had used several songs that had been previously recorded and it’s amazing how songs like “The Rover” and “Bron-Yr-Aur” had been left lying around for a number of years! The album cover was always quite striking and is based on a New York tenement block, and it always reminds me of a multitude of films of which Once Upon a Time in America comes straight to mind.

Robert Plant-Vocals
Jimmy Page- Guitar
John Paul Jones- Bass/Keyboards
John Bonham- Drums

Production- Jimmy Page

Album
Custard Pie- A mid-tempo opener and a tight heavy rocker which has a steady rhythm throughout. The Rover- With a strong and heavy drumming intro, Jimmy Page picks up the beat with a great riff to give us one of the latter classics in the Led Zeppelin discography. The song’s brilliance is further highlighted by Robert Plant’s subtle vocal style which melds itself into the song. In My Time of Dying- A heavy blues number that flies through its allocated 11 minutes of listening time and is highlighted by the sweaty drumming of John Bonham. Houses of the Holy- Previously recorded for the title track of their previous album but it didn’t make the cut. The song is built around a simple and repetitive riff. Trampled Under Foot- One of the most hooky songs ever put out by the band, with its galloping keyboard and some raunchy sounding vocals by Robert Plant. Kashmir- A steady 8 minute classic and its eastern influenced sound make it one of the best known songs that the band ever put out and has often been described by band members as possibly the band’s best song. In the Light- An accomplished and diverse sounding 8 minute track and it takes several listens to appreciate the quality on offer here. Bron-Yr-Aur- A buzzing acoustic number which has some hand-clapping for good measure and a real gem of a track. Down By the Seaside- Originally meant to be another acoustic piece and its similarities to Neil Young are quite obvious. Ten Years Gone- An accomplished album track that is an oddity on side 3 on the album, as it’s not really experimental in any way and just a nice heartfelt effort. Night Flight- One of the few Led Zeppelin songs never to have a guitar solo and one of the few songs that the band never did live. The Wanton Song- Sounds similar in make-up to the “Immigrant Song” but not as tight as that song. Boogie With Stu- This song came out of an old jamming session around the 1971 period. Black Country Woman- An acoustic song originally intended for the Houses of the Holy album and was recorded in Mick Jagger’s garden! Sick Again- The best and heaviest song on the final side of the album and it’s about teenage groupies.

Verdict
Physical Graffiti has an instant feel, which is evident from the first note on the album opener “Custard Pie” and the song feels like Led Zeppelin of always, which in many ways was a sound that had been missing on Houses of the Holy, also side 1 of the album contains most of the album’s heavy numbers. Early on the album’s cream quickly comes to the top and this can be heard on the searing vitality of “The Rover” which is top drawer Led Zeppelin. I’ve often gone on about just how special this band were, but I’ve often been critical of the strength of Robert Plant’s vocals at times, but on “The Rover” his often weak vocal delivery seems to be made to fit this song and for this reason alone one of the great aspects of Physical Graffiti, seems to be that the album has been made to suit Robert Plant rather than Robert Plant suiting the album! The eleven minute “In My Time of Dying” harks back to the earlier Led Zeppelin albums and is a bluesy beast of a song, and still showed that the blues was still alive and well. Side 2 of the album contains the more eclectic material and all three of these songs are quite different in concept and complexity. “Houses of the Holy” sounds like an outtake and is rather simplistic and easily the odd song out here. “Trampled Under Foot” is a galloping keyboard based song with a funky grind and is built out of the motivation for the Houses of the Holy sessions. “Kashmir” as the name suggests is eastern influenced and one of the band’s most famous songs, if the truth be told though it doesn’t have the strong complexities that it’s famous for, but what is does have is the band’s trademark mystique by the bucketload. Side 3 is the experimental side and starts off with the superb “In My Light” a song very much from the creative juices of John Paul Jones. “Bron-Yr-Aur” is buoyant acoustic number which easily could’ve been on Led Zeppelin III. “Down by the Seaside” sounds like an interesting homage to Neil Young and “Ten Years Gone” is a heartbreaking effort that seems to have a number of earlier Led Zeppelin tracks all wrapped up inside the song. The final side is the least impressive of the album and contains what I’d call average material that sounds like they’ve just come out of jamming sessions, the album closer “Sick Again” easily the best of the bunch here. Physical Graffiti is not just about how accommodating the album was for Robert Plant, but it’s also an album of some stunning work from the band’s rhythm section, as John Bonham puts down some thunderous and sweaty sounding drumming on the album’s heavier tracks and John Paul Jones makes great use with his keyboards more so now than before. Physical Graffiti also serves to show how one of the greatest bands in the history of rock, could still crank up the volume, quality and creativity not just over one album but over four sides of vinyl without resorting to too much filler. So how does Physical Graffiti compare to the other previously mentioned classic double albums? Personally I’d rate it as good as any of those listed above, but I’d still rate Electric Ladyland as the best double album of all time, but Physical Graffitti like the others mentioned do run it hard! In the Led Zeppelin discography Physical Graffiti sits right up there with the debut, the sophomore and their fourth as their crowning achievement. But it would certainly takes top spot if you combined both quality and creativity together, as Physical Graffiti in this capacity fires on all cyclinders whilst the prior Houses of the Holy sadly didn’t.

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