This thread follows a regular format in Empire movie magazine which put's a classic film on trial with pro and anti reviews vying for supremacy. I thought it would be an idea to clone it and apply it to classic albums. The idea is for either a pro or anti post on a particular album that is well written and informative. You can only have one view on an album whether good or bad. Although it may seem like an excuse to pour scorn on disliked albums, I am trying to get posts that may change peoples perceptions of classic albums for better or worse.
I will begin with Led Zeppelin: 4.
Case against:
An album that regulary tops many U.K magazines Best Rock Album's Ever and a massive success internationally, there is no denying the albums reverence. Why?
Let's delve deeper. Album opener Black Dog whacks Robert Plant's white man blues wail upon us, followed by an electric groove blues riff. Quite a good riff. One minute later it is already grating and repetitive. The band have hammered the hell out of a fairly unoriginal riff and gave 15 year old headbangers a sore bonce the next day.
Rock N Roll follows. Yes thats what it is. The drumbeat that all aspiring rock drummers should begin with because it's quintessential. You mean easy? A song that meanders along and could and was replicated by many bands before.
The Battle Of Evermore. I get stuck here. This is a well crafted Acoustic Folk track. Nevertheless it's taken until track 3 to get a good reaction.
Stairway to Heaven. Bring it on. Let's feel the wrath. There are some fantastic aspects on this track. John Bonhams drum fills towards the end are superlative and the track is perfectly written and composed. It also begun the era of the power ballad. The slow acoustic intro. The slow build to a crescendo that feels forced and not emotional. The first couple of minutes with the flute sounds like a bad version of Fairport Convention or any multitude of Folk rock bands that were in proliferation at this time. This track is certainly not terrible yet it is an AOR reps dream and set a template for many emotional rock ballads that bombarded the scene after this.
Misty Mountain Hop. Nice drums coupled with a ridiculous vocal/guitar sync that sounds like a nursery ryhme make for a track that could have been great yet is spectaculary ordinary.
Four Sticks has some nice blues time signatures and is the nearest the band get to jamming and letting the music flow. However it seems out of place with the polished nature of the rest of the album.
Going To California is an acoustic ballad that has some nice touches yet it never engrosses me. It seems emotionally detached and a filler to break up the second side of the album.
When The Levee Breaks. The opening crime from this track is that Bonhams drum pattern was fed into a million drum machines and spewed forth to make some truly hideous tracks. Yes Bonhams perfect drum sound was a template for the first slew of drum machines. Again the lazy Blues riff is enjoyable yet is played ad nauseam, thus rendering it no better than the multitude of Blues-Rock bands that were two a penny in england in the late 60's/early 70's.
In summation. I do not hate this album at all and I can hear so many good moments on here. Unfortunately i can also hear so much unoriginal, lazy and banal songs that it makes me justify my own view that it is an overated album and not deserving of the many No1 spots it so regulary garners.