BOXED SET II

A Review for a Die Hard Fan: Tatan A Taufik

I think I have reviewed quite a lot albums of Led Zeppelin - even though not all albums - and I think I should have stopped it because I don't think that it's proper to review this heavy metal band at the site where majority of the music are progressive in nature. Most of Led Zeppelin music are blues rock or heavy metal in nature - that's why actually I do not feel comfortable tagging the band as progressive band, musically. But recently there has been great news in the music industry where the band will reunite for a concert in London, November 26, 2007. Not only that, my good friend whom I have known him as a true die hard fan of Led Zeppelin - Tatan A. Taufik (one of Directors of Amex Indonesia, Jakarta) - has won the ticket for the show! Sinc he bid for the tickets, he posted email to all of us in the rock community discussion and he did pray to win the ticket. He did! He was so proud sharing to all of us that he would be one of the 18,000 true die hard fan of Led Zeppelin in the world. I am so happy that he has won the ticket especially with the fact that he is an Indonesian.. and oh yeah .. he is my good friend! Congratulations, mas Tatan! Having considered this important moment, I would like to write another review of Led Zeppelin record, Boxed Set II. Sorry, it seems too personal for me, but I tell you, Tatan is a true die hard fan of Led Zeppelin! His collection of LZ`rarities is countless. He has something around 300 records in the forms of CDs, LPs, VHS, DVDs, Laser Disc, cassettes various LZ bootleg records. He sometimes traveled to Japan just to get the bootleg records! Couple years ago he was even invited by Jimmy Page for a dinner with Pagey. He is the man . really! That's why, I dedicate this review to Tatan my friend.

For those who have the complete set of Led Zeppelin individual albums, the purchase of this boxed set might be a waste of money. But for those who claim himself as a die hard fan of the band, this set is worth collecting because it has beautiful 54 colored booklet that tells the whole story of the band, written by David Fricke. I did purchase this boxed set because I knew that I would get two things: a remastered version of some critical tracks in the history of Led Zeppelin plus nice booklet. Well, I do enjoy reading book pertaining to the struggle of a band from its embryonic phase into their glory days and recent updates. This boxed set was released in response to Atlantic's request to Jimmy Page on the follow-up the successful release of the first remaster CD (double CD). By the time Pagey was still busy with mastering of Page-Coverdale album. The result of the compilation is a series of songs which were very critical in the career of Led Zeppelin even though most of them were not as legendary as the songs in the first remastered series which was released in 1990.

Never mind, for me personally, even though I love the first compilation (remasters), I see that this boxed set II contains on of my favorites which rarely be mentioned by other people: "The Lemon Song". I don't know why in many "best of" compilations this wonderful track was never included. Finally I knew the answer as this was originally credited to Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham until they received claims from publishers Jewel Music that the song was heavily based on Chester Burnett's "Killing Floor". This song has great combination of Jones tight basslines and Page's dynamic riffing and soloing throughout the song coupled with great vocal by Plant. I really enjoy this song and I feel very happy knowing that this song is featured right here in this boxed set. Still at the same Disc One, I find good tracks like "Night Flight", the bluesy "You Shook Me", the happy song which some of my friends hate: "Boogie With Stu", and the keyboard-based "Carouselambra". Oh yes, there is one track which is previously unreleased "Baby Come On Home". This track was taken from old master reel under the "Yardbirds" era on October 10, 1968. Style-wise, this is a blues-based composition with the opening part reminds me to the intro of Rolling Stones' "I Got The Blues" even though the melody is completely different. Surprising to me is the fact that the sonic quality of this song is really good - in fact, it's excellent. I'm sure that the remastering work has been so successful because it does not sound like the 1968 recording. I like the organ work that accompanies this song.

Disc Two contains a set of very good songs as well, in which some of theam are my favorites as well, like: "The Rover", "Four Sticks", "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", "Hot's On For Nowhere", "Living Loving Maid", "The Crunge", and "Tea For One". It's pretty hard to deny the virtuosity of Page, Plant, Bonzo and Jones in composing very very good music as I explained before. Who do you think do not like "The Rover" which starts beautifully with Bonzo's acrobatic drumming? It sounds simple at the beginning but as the music rolls on, the flow seems intriguing the mind. I salute the band for creating solid compositions.

Well, to summarize, it's not just the music that should make you "buy" this compilation, really. It's the total package that matters to me and I hop to most of you. It is packaged beautifully with two jewel cases containing individual CD plus wonderful booklet with full color. Isn't it interesting to buy? Of course it is! For me personally, it has much more meaning now because I am writing this for my good friend Tatan A Taufik and it appears that this is the first review at this site. It's holiday season in my country now and I think I must say "Happy Idul Fitri" for all Moslems around the globe! - Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Ok, this comp is designed for all the fans out there who do not own the individual LZ albums, bought the Remaster box set and were complaining that not all of the LZ tracks were present. This one provided the answer and summarily provides the Zephead with all the leftovers that were either too long or were no ruddy good to include on the box set. Indeed it houses some holy relics such as Good Times Bad Times, Carouselambra, Tea For One, How Many More Times and The Crunge, which are masterful in their own way, but you have to trawl through endless tedious songs to get to them. When I say tedious there is none worse than the Elvis inspired ditties such as Darlene, and the awful Presence leftovers, Hots On For Nowhere, strategically sandwiched between two gems on the comp.

We also have a ton of tracks from the afterthought "Coda" album, which is not a good sign, and 3 from "In Through the Out Door" (ITTOD), also not welcome. Listening to these is like eating a cream pie without any of the filling; it is all just mush and no flavour. However, kudos to the compiler as they place the bad with the good rather than pile all the bad in one stack for us to endure. I know some ZepHeads will state LZ can not do wrongbut there is no room for fanboyism here, folks. A lot of this compilation smells and it smells very bad indeed like the rotting corpse of prog that was stinking during 1993 when this was released to the adoring public.

On Disc numero uno we start things in a blaze of glory with the brilliant 'Good Times Bad Times', a song that captured my attention back in the early 80s when I thought Kiss were the coolest band in the world. The way Page crashes in with that flurry of notes never fails to impress.

'That's The Way' is a melancholic bluesy thing with Plant mesmirising on vox. 'Baby Come On Home' is the previously unreleased track that had ZepHeads salivating, as its better than all those bootlegs that seemed to be churned out at the time. 'The Lemon Song' from LZ2 is terrific to hear again

'You Shook Me' simply drives nails into the floorboards with ultra blues guitar and descending vocals that careen down the side of the cliff with staggering precision. When Page and Plant were in this frame of mind they were mind blowing. The song is a genuine lighting in a bottle explosion of blues heaven, and by the time it gets to the response and answer section with Page emulating Page's guitar tones, we are in masterpiece territory. The emotion behind this is overwhelming as it seems to magically encapsulate the feeling of spiralling into the abyss, yet the lyrics are oddly upbeat about Plant's sexual escapades. The song feels dark though with mournful guitar and pain wracked vocal delivery.

'Boogie With Stu' is laughable by comparison but thankfully the jangly piano rag time ditty only lasts a merciful 3:53 and is followed by another PG filler 'Bron-Yr-Aur' that is more annoying than inventive. 'Down By The Seaside is a beautiful song with pleasant cadence and tone. 'Out On The Tiles' features all those brilliant Page riffs as only he can deliver them, it works so well and doesn't feel like a reject at all, perhaps should have been on the first box set that was meant to house all the Zepclassics. It is great to hear that Bonham magic on 'Moby Dick' from LZ2, and it is followed by 'Sick Again' from PG that I had forgotten but the riff jarred my memory soon enough. It is really a rollicking blues buster, with loud bar room brawling guitar, sounding as sleazy as Rolling Stones 'Brown Sugar'.

'Hot Dog' is another forgettable thing and I had forgotten it as a strategic move, until a relisten for this review. It is from ITTOD, an album that can never measure up to the brilliance of previous LZ albums, however it chugs along nicely as only a country hillbilly rocker can chug. The honky tonk piano and idiotic humour is as awful as it sounds on paper, and Plant's Elvis impersonation is abysmal, as much as Plant probably thinks it's fun to do this. He did it on 'Candy Store Rock' and that was as bad. Thankfully this never sees the light of day on other compilations or concert performances.

'Carouselambra' may be the best song on ITTOD so no problem sitting under its lengthy running time and Page's indulgent axe work. The weird off kilter sequenced keyboards are blindingly unique to a LZ song so it holds some interest. Plant sings too many lyrics and it too repetitive until finally it breaks away into a new time sig and a synth workout. The song really builds into a guitar and synth trade off and it is a genuine curio but never tiring in its ten minutes of fame. A great side one, flawed but nevertheless a genuine treasure trove of forgotten gems.

Onto Disc numero duo and it begins with 'South Bound Saurez', a rocker from ITTOD that I had again forgotten. Returning to it reminds me of how great this band was in its day. The song just booms with Jones' bass and his piano skills are exemplary. What a blast this is! 'Walter's Walk' trudges along next, with a killer riff and pounding drums the way they should sound, over present and dominant. Well, at least they drown out the poor vocal technique of Plant drooling a bunch of nonsense. Next is 'Darlene', which is ruddy awful apart from the repetitive guitar riff. Now that we have "Coda" out of the way, we can move onto PG's 'Black Country Woman' with its odd intro dialogue and acoustic slide work. It is okay for a while but I prefer the Zep rocked up more rather than sparse and set on repeat. By the time Bonham;s drums boom along and a harmonica joins, I have lost interest.

'How Many More Times' is the first classic on this disk, it is mind blowingly brilliant. The riff hooks into me and tears my head off, such an awesome bassline and unbelievable ferocious guitar execution. I could rate this with other LZ masterpieces easily and yet this underrated gem sits here on this afterthought compilation. That in itself is criminal, but of course this is lifted from the trailblazing classic debut, one of the alltime great debuts in rock history along with debuts from Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, ELP, Rush, Alan Parsons Project and Pink Floyd. The lead break is to die for with Page scorching on hyper string bends and fret melters along that insane tempo. Then it goes silent and the band lapse into their stream of conscious mood with ethereal violin bow serrations and Plant in reflective mode. This is a precursor to the Dazed and Confused performance on "The Song Remains The Same" that would have critics chin wagging for years. It ends with a vocal Planterism answered by Page's axe strikes; masterpiece, Proggers, masterpiece.

'The Rover' is next from PG and is one I had also developed amnesia over, but it jams along with Page riffing eloquent and a bright beat, and sleaze rock melodic line. 'Four Sticks' is the one from Zoso album and of course it is a 5 star classic album so no problem with this, perhaps the most underrated song from the one with 'Stairway To Heaven'. It has a driving rock beat and some well structured passages as it moves from complex time sigs to a steady rock beat effortlessly.

'Hats Off To (Roy) Harper' is the LZ3 throwaway though many will dispute this. The vocals are warbled and there is a lot of slice and dice on acoustic. It is a curio but after a few listens this can grate on the ears. 'I Can't Quit You Baby' is back to brilliance as the Zeps move into the dominant blues landscape, a searing performance by Page who makes his guitar cry hot tears. LZ were masters of this genre and when they are released to improvised blues jamming there were none better.

'Hots On For Nowhere' is from "Presence" and is quite a mediocre attempt at injecting some life into a band that had just about given up at this point in their career. Wheelchair prone Plant gives it what he can with his "la-na-na na-lanana-naaaa yeah, ohoho ohoho"'s but it is lacklustre; what, did he run out of lyrics? 'Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)' is another one only the diehard Zepfanatic has heard of, from LZ2 but not the best example from that dynamic album. It has a great bass and guitar riff, and sounds like a vamped up Beatles song in some ways. That riff is enough to maintain interest. 'Royal Orleans' from "Presence" has been thrown here for the means of posterity, again with a cool riff but loses its impact, and also for the completist we have yet another from "Coda", 'Bonzo's Montreux', that has a clever title but little else. Okay, it is Bonham banging the living suitcase out of his kit and I guess that has merit, you have to hand it to the man, he knew how to slam those cans, but he does this every concert. Having said that it is one of the lone highlights on "Coda" so nice to hear again.

Next on the menu is 'The Crunge', that is from "Houses of the Holy", the sole one, and even though it is that album's worst song it is a reminder of how great that album is. Plant wants to tell us about his "good thing", and Page jangles his guitar to his heart's content, but this soon wears out its welcome before it is mercifully cut short by the classic ending "where's that confounded bridge", that only makes sense to me now after all these years of studying music. 'Bring It On Home' is yet another blues treasure from LZ2 with haunting harmonica and soul chilling vocals as he sings into the harmonica giving Plant a metallic edge. The feeling of isolation and nocturnal scapes are broken with a blazing riff and heavy duty tempo; absolutely terrific rock blaster.

We end on a blues blitzkrieg with the incredible 'Tea For One', that is one of the three diamonds located on "Presence" making it worthwhile. No prizes for guessing the other two. It is lengthy but so smooth and melancholy with powerful guitar blues passages that it is undisputed as one of the last triumphs of the struggling Zep in their last days. It sounds like Dazed and Confused in tempo but is unique with the guitar licks and Plant's firebrand vocals capturing the sadness he felt at the time after his horrific accident. Listen to those lyrics to hear the soul of the band; "a minute seems like a lifetime, baby when I feel this way, Sittin', lookin' at the clock, time moves so slow, I've been watchin' for the hands to move, Until I just can't look no more, How come twenty four hours, Baby sometimes seems to slip into days?" Bonham would die soon after, the final nail in the coffin for the band, and it all came crashing to a screaming halt. This song is like a penultimate farewell to the fans; as such it retains an incredible power and is chilling to the soul.

Of course it is easy to be cynical, when presented with this stack of songs that were not good enough to make it to the first box set, but there are a lot of great songs, if not excellent, especially the lengthy blues numbers. These tracks are still wonderful to listen to coming from the first 4 LZ albums, their best albums, as well as 7 tracks from PG that are always a treat. The one reject from LZ4 is of course still brilliant. Listening to all these tracks out of context is quite a delight as they are not the ones you hear ad nauseum, and therefore remain fresh rather than become stale with overuse and airplay. I think I would rather hear a repackaging of these rejected tracks than to hear them on the actual studio releases, as it always an intriguing exercise to plough through the canon of Led Zeppelin in any form. And in fact many upcoming bands would kill for just a tenth of their talent, even though at times they sound uninspired here. The compilation is worth owning for completists, I enjoyed it tremendously having forgotten most of these, and of course it is coming from arguably the most influential and indisputable rock gods, the mighty Led Zeppelin.