LED ZEPPELIN II

After a proficient if inconsistent start, Led Zeppelin suddenly came of age with this astonishing release from 1969. As one of the first album I ever bought (second hand from a school friend) the band's second album hold a special place in my collection.

The album opens with the sublime "Whole lotta love", a song which only gained singles chart success when it was covered by Alexis Korner's excellent CCS project. That version went on to become the theme tune to BBC's "Top of the pops" for many years. While the track is best remembered for Plant's dextrous vocals, and some fine guitar by Page, it also incorporates one of the most freeform sections on any Led Zeppelin song. After the first chorus, a pulsating rhythm takes over as a Theramin (a bizarre early electronic instrument for which proximity sensors are used to alter the notes) solo is introduced, driven to ever more frantic heights by Robert Plant's "orgasm". John "Bonzo" Bonham brings proceedings firmly under control prior to the brief but memorable soft section.

"What is and what should never be" effectively alternates quiet verses with thunderous choruses, while exploiting to the full the dynamics newly available through the use of stereo. It needs to be remembered that at the time such effects would be totally lost on many listeners, as mono record players were very much still the norm.

"The lemon song", which borrows heavily from a couple of blues standards, is a rather too laid back, overlong piece, saved by a couple of blistering guitar bursts from Page. Side one closes with the wonderful rare Zeppelin ballad "Thank you". This was Robert Plant's first composition for the band, dedicated to his wife Maureen. It is the organ playing of John Paul Jones which sets the song apart though, particularly on the double ending.

"Heartbreaker" which opens side two, is a powerful heavy metallic monster, with more exquisite guitar work from Page. Indeed, his solo here is arguably the best on the album. The track ends suddenly while in full flow, immediately bursting into the "Livin' Lovin' Maid". The two tracks thus become two parts of a whole, and are often heard together, although not in the live environment where the band gave the latter the cold shoulder. Indeed, "Livin' lovin' maid" is one of the band's most commercial numbers.

The folky, Tolkien inspired "Ramble on" points to the direction in which the next album would head, while "Moby Dick" is little more that an excuse to allow John Bonham to display his skills in the form of an unnecessary drum solo. The album closes with the blues standard "Bring it on home", also covered by Hawkwind.

The overt blues influences of Led Zeppelin have been well documented, the lack of credits throughout "Led Zeppelin II" to the clear sources of the songs being puzzling, and indeed unforgivable. The most obvious of these is the use of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing floor" on "The lemon song", but "Whole lotta love" (Willie Dixon) and "Bring it on home" (Sonny Blake and Willie Dixon again) plus Robert Johnston's "Traveling Riverside Blues" on "The lemon song" are also indisputable. Indeed Dixon finally was credited on later releases, after settlement of several court cases.

Led Zeppelin II is firmly rooted in the blues, the band adding their own unique identity to the original ideas of others. Often described as seminal due to the major influence it had on a whole generation of bands which followed, it is essential listening both for those interested in the history of rock, and indeed those simply looking for a fine album.

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