PHYSICAL GRAFFITI

Another excellent album. This double-album showcases two things: that Led Zeppelin is at its artistic peak and that Led Zeppelin is at its most uninspired at the same time, making it a very uneven album in terms of quality. Fortunately, the good really outweighs the mediocre, which creeps in during the 2nd half of the second disc.

the Highlights:

_In My Time of Dying: Featuring Jimmy Page on Slide guitars and John Bonham at his very best, this 11-minute long song passes really fast. Wonderful Plant performance, pounding drums, immortal guitar riffs, what more could you ask for? One of the best Led Zeppelin songs ever.

7_In The Light: The first 3 minutes is the most unique instrumental passage I have heard from Led Zeppelin. It is a synth spotlight with an echo effect, that creates a wonderful atmophere. The song has many rhythm changes, unconventional riffs and musical passages. You could say that it is a progressive rock song and is probably as good as No Quarter. Underrated masterwork!

10_ Ten Years Gone: The last highlight of the album. Starts with a wonderful acoustic motif, followed by a sad electric guitar riff. The song has an arsenal of elegant guitar riffs and top quality musicianship and melody.

The Great:

1_Custard Pie: such a fine way to begin the album. It is a great rocker that besides guitars, it has harmonica and clavinet.

2_The Rover: It is a mid-tempo hard rock song with very memorable guitar riffs. A typical high-quality Led Zeppelin rocker.

4_Houses of the Holy: I wonder why this was left out in the previous album with the same name. It is a great and catchy pop song.

6_Kashmir: A bit repetitive on the verses, but this song has many interesting musical passages, such as the symphonic riff, the part with the eastern symphonic arrangements (check out the drumming here), and the punchy guitar/Strings riff part which features great vocals by Plant.

8_Brony-Aur-Stomp: An acoustic guitar solo. Very pleasant.

9_ Down By the Seaside: A very pleasant song to play at the beach. That guitar riff in the chorus really melts me, it's beautiful.

14_ black Magic Woman: A bit sub par when compared to the other acoustic songs that Led Zeppelin did. Just a typical folk song with good vocals and pounding drumming.

the Good:

11_ Night Flight: It's a good song, but feels like a left over from another album. Just an organ-heavy blues song with good singing to elevate it to 'good' status.

12_Wanton Song: A start-stop riff dominates the piece. A second riff appears after a minute which is more more interesting and accompanied by an organ.

15_Sick Again: A nice typical rocker with a very memorable riff, but oncee again, not a very interesting song overall, and not the best way to end an excellent album.

The Mediocre:

5_ Trampled Underfoot: A kind of catchy song with the clavinet being heard throughout the song and even playing a solo. The song is nothing too special though, and the use of the clavinet really bothers me here.

13_ Boogie With Stu: Just a piano boogie jam with the Rolling Stones guy. Screams filler to me.

So there you have it, A somewhat inconsistent album with many great songs and a few lackluster ones. I still recommend it highly as there are many excellent songs that you shouldn't miss, but this is really the beginning of the end.