Looks Like I've Done a Led Zeppelin. Again Again.
Overall Album Score: 8.0 out of 10 There has been, like, a seven-month break since I reviewed the last Led Zeppelin album and since reviewing this. Part of the reason for this is sheer laziness (I'll 'fess up!) ... but another reason for this was because I had absolutely no idea why I wasn't enjoying this band, so I was a bit afraid to review another one. Just the same! Here it is! The review that you have long been waiting for ... Led Zeppelin III. And, if you haven't guessed at it already, I am reviewing the album now after having finally realized why I'm not head-over-heels about Led Zeppelin. It's the songwriting! They aren't wonderfully talented songwriters! ... Sure, they were able to make a handful of good songs that'll sound nice on the radio and during automobile commercials, but they never have (and never will) come out with a consistent set of great melodies. That all said, I don't think anyone listens to Led Zeppelin for the melodies! They do it because they like Mister Drummer John Bonham, Mister Bass Player John Paul Jones, Mister Singer Robert Plant, and especially Meeester Lead Guitar Player Jimmy Page. These guys are at the top of their clan. And, they can really rock out when they want to with some wonderfully wicked hard-rock/proto-metal songs. And that's another problem. Where are all the wicked hard-rock/proto-metal songs? Their previous album had a lot of butt-whomping songs in it (as well as some blah, blah, blahs), but this album only has two butt-whomping songs. "The Immigrant Song" has all the heavy-metal attitude that the genre really ever needed! "Out on the Tiles" is the other butt-whomping track, but ... it's really not too splendid. The rest of these are generally either folk or jazz/blues. Some of these other tracks are pretty good and memorable. Some are plain weird (some in a good way, others in not). Mostly, they are just evident that the band is trying to experiment ... I guess it was too early in the heavy-metal game for them to have realized that they didn't have to experiment in order to sell albums! (I still don't think that Led Zeppelin quite had the capability to endlessly experiment ... it isn't always met with success, you know, but half of the time it is. Their ventures into the heavy-metal arena were all they ever needed to do.) All in all, though Led Zeppelin III is a highly satisfying album. It's not the highest-rated album that I've ever reviewed, and it's far from being a favorite of mine, but I did rather enjoy listening to it! Overall Album Score: 8.0 out of 10 (A slight dip in Led Zeppelin quality here, but Led Zeppelin III does deserve to stand among all of the bands other classic eponymous albums.) Average Song Score: 8.1 (All in all, this is definitely not a bad set of songs ... but this isn't a *great* set of songs, either. You know ... Led Zeppelin aren't really that great a bunch of songwriters, are they.) Album Tilt: 8.0 (Ohhh... Stuff like 'Roy Harper' really spoil this one, but I'll be nice.) Artist Rating: 8.0 (I'll also be nice here because Led Zeppelin were experimenting, after all.) Track Reviews Immigrant Song 10/10 I don't even think I have to mention (mostly because I've said it multiple times before now) that Led Zeppelin are at their utter best when they are doing their hard rock stuff. The riff here is quick, fast, and absolutely kick-butt. The melody is super. Indeed, this is a hard-rock/heavy-metal classic the way only Led Zeppelin is able to do it. Friends 9/10 This one is very nice, too. It takes this folk-idea and takes it to the Summer Olympics. The riff is pretty entertaining. The background Mellotron is interesting (and the perfect touch, making this more mystical-sounding than it would have). "Friends" is perfectly enjoyable ... the song, not the television series. Celebration Day 8/10 Altogether, this is pretty good! It was nicely played and everything like that. My only tiff is that the songwriting is too mediocre to really be considered 'classic' or anything. It gets a bit old after the first minute and a half. Since I've Been Loving You 9/10 Now wait a minute! Is this ROCK AND ROLL or is this Jazz? ... Eh ... I don't care. This is a slow, creeping bluesy song that's actually pretty good, albeit it is TOO LONG for my short attention span. It does, however, have a lot of dynamics to it (as well as a few great electric guitar solos) ... so I certainly don't think this is a waste of time. Out on the Tiles 8.5/10 Ooooooohohohoh! Hey! This is another utterly fine-n-bombastic Led Zeppelin hard rock number! The riff is completely and utterly wonderful ... and that's about it! (But that does make this song quite enjoyable ... in ways that bands such as Kiss could only dream of.) Led Zeppelin are the godfathers of heavy metal! Simple as that. Gallows Pole 8/10 Nobody knowssss the gallow I feeeeeeeeel, Nobody knowssss the galloooooooooows. (Oooh boy ... he's left us ...) About "Gallows Pole." It is fffffffolkkkkkky. It is hhhhhillbillyyyyyyyyyy. It is a cccccccoverrrrrrrrrr of a traditional song. It is also yyyyyyawnnnnnnn. But all in all it was very nicely performed. I'm not sure why I should be obligated to really like this one. (This is an example of one of Led Zeppelin's semi-failed experiments.) Tangerine 8/10 This one isn't too bad, either. It's a country-ish song. There are bits of this track that sound WONDERFUL, but there are other parts that sound DANGED BORING. I decided to even them out with an 8. That's the Way 8/10 A balllllllllllllllllllad. I'm not sure why I should be obligated to like this one, either. (Sorry ... I do know that it comes highly-rated by rock critics ...) But at least I find it rather listenable. I don't think it's head-over-heels lovable or soul fulfilling. I'd sooner call it boring (and a bit too long)! Bon-Y-Aur Stomp 7/10 Gooooooooofy. This is another one of those crazy hillbilly thing (that starts out sounding like "Pick a Bale of Cotton" of all things). The melody really isn't interesting enough for me to even sneeze at it ... and I only find it enjoyable-to-the-mildest degree. That is a quality that I certainly would never immediately attribute to Led Zeppelin! Hats Off to (Roy) Harper 5/10 Another covvvvvvvvvvverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... And, for some reason, Led Zeppelin decided that they wanted to TOTALLY blow it here with an utterly excruciating riff and this annoying vocal effect (sounding like Robert Plant was singing into a fan). Oh ... this is embarrassing. What do you think about this review? Leave your inane comments here! slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received August 2, 2004 When I first listened to this album a few years ago, I gave
it a mixed review. I thought it had two or three classic songs, but the
rest were just alright. But now since I bought the album and listened
to it more, I can say it's a delightfully good slight departure from the
bombastic hard rock of their first and second albums.
|
All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. Never drink lead ... or Zeppelins.
