PHYSICAL GRAFFITI

Returning to the wonderful format that is the meandering blues jam, Led Zeppelin deliver one of my favourite tracks 'In My Time of Dying'. No moment of the 11 minutes is boring, there's too much energy and vibe. My only regret is that it wasn't on the 'Houses of the Holy' album, which lacked such a workout. 'Kashmir' is eastern and brilliant, with fancy timing, rocking orchestral arrangements and some great vocals from Plant. These two tracks make up half of the good disc. 'Trampled Underfoot' enters the realms of funk/disco, and gets good when the electric piano comes in. Other than that, the rest of the tracks are pretty average. There's less exploration and finishing touches than on previous albums, making it seem a little rushed and rough around the edges.

The second disc treats us to a plucked selection from the build up of second-rate material in the Atlantic archvies (yay...). I actually like 'In the Light' a lot, but I can't help but noticing that it's only eight minutes long because the first four minutes are actually repeated. 'Night Flight' and 'Boogie with Stu' are good fun, but all the other tracks seem a bit depressing and self-sympathetic (both in lyrics and general tone). There are few distinguishing moments, and the songs seem to get worse and worse until the album [eventually] ends. It's very long, unpolished, sloppily put together, long, gritty, samey, long, I think you get the point.

'Physical Graffiti' needs a make- over, and a good haircut. Somebody ought to paint the front cover as well.

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