Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II (1969)

Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Blues Rock

Released a little over half a year after their stellar debut, Led Zeppelin II knocked The Beatles' Abbey Road off of the No.1 spot on the charts, twice, proving that they were a force to be reckoned with. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I will do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

Led Zeppelin II was more or less a continuation of the early heavy metal sound of their first record. Most critics and fans like to think back on this record as the most heavy among the band's discography, and I can agree with that. Hits on this record like Whole Lotta Love and Heartbreaker demonstrate this, with their hard pounding bass grooves and loud, distorted guitar riffs. The former song takes a break halfway through with a very psychedelic jam session which includes Robert Plant doing some interesting vocal improv (honestly, he sounds like he's having a seizure induced orgasm). The latter song also takes a break at the halfway point, just for Jimmy Page to get cocky and show off his flashy guitar shreds.

Personally, the heaviest track on this record would have to be The Lemon Song. This is over six minutes of pure, unadulterated Zeppelin at their finest. Two transitions throughout the song lead into a fine showcase of musicianship, with the members playing at full capacity, thanks in part to a really fast tempo change. Plus, with lyrics like these, one can't resist, "Squeeze me baby, 'till the juice runs down my leg... the way you squeeze my lemon, I'm gonna fall right out of bed." Still on the subject of heavy tunes, Moby Dick, which is pretty much just a glorified drum solo, still sounds intense and is fairly enjoyable. Bonham is truly a master of his craft.

Even though this record feels heavier than the rest of their discography, there's still a couple of tracks here that fit into the lighter side of the spectrum. Thank You is quite an underrated mellow love song, featuring some sweet undertones from Jones' Hammond organ. What Is And What Should Never Be and Ramble On, both incredibly infectious songs, balance the sound between soft and hard rock. Both start off with some incredibly sweet and melodic guitar riffs and break into some intense verses. 

While there was little innovation in the way of their sound on this record, there's no denying the amount of hits that came from it. Pretty much 2/3 of the tracks on here are classics that you instantly think of when Led Zeppelin is brought up. I still prefer their debut slightly more over this one, but I still consider this a great demonstration of late 60's hard rock and an incredibly consistent demonstration of what made Led Zeppelin so great as a pioneer of heavy metal.

A

Favorite Tracks: Whole Lotta Love, What Is And What Should Never Be, The Lemon Song, Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman), Ramble On, Bring It On Home

Least Favorite Track: Moby Dick

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Often hailed as one of the greatest achievements in prog-rock history, King Crimson's debut album has become a staple of rock history and pop culture, and one that by 1969 standards, seemed ahead of its time. This album is being reviewed per request. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I will do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

After many years of this album seemingly going under my radar, thanks in part to its absence from YouTube and Spotify, I can now finally agree with the fanboys. This is an essential, prog-rock album, and anyone that claims to be a fan of the genre would be doing themselves a great disservice in skipping it. With its smooth blend of symphonic, jazz, and classical influences, I'm still amazed that this was released in 1969.

Uncommon for the era, 5 tracks are all that's presented here. This record runs nearly 44 minutes, so you can expect some pretty lengthy passages. As is obvious, you cannot hold someone's attention for that long without offering something incredibly well-crafted and interesting. For the most part, King Crimson did well in delivering some sweet guitar improv passages, pounding bass riffs and strangely enough, some of the best hard hitting drum fills I have heard on any record. 21st Century Schizoid Man opens up the album with an incredibly upbeat jazz-influenced track that crescendos into one of the most satisfying climaxes I've heard in progressive rock, a little bit after the 2 minute mark. This trails back to the original style of the track around the 6 minute mark. A lot of people consider this to be the highlight of the album, and I can see why, though it's hard to decide if it truly is.

As far as musical variation goes, 21st Century Schizoid Man probably takes the cake, but tracks like Epitaph and the title track are so full of life, so hypnotically beautiful, that it's hard for me to decide on a favorite. Epitaph especially, has a deep sense of urgency surrounding its haunting instrumentals and depressing lyrics, which bring to mind thoughts of nuclear fallout. Court Of The Crimson King is a wonderful album closer, and features some great fantastical imagery that really takes you to another world. I Talk To The Wind is the most "traditional" song on the record, presenting a colorful, lovely acoustic melody, perfectly complimented by Ian McDonald's sweetly melodic flute playing, which is also prominent halfway through the title track. 

The worst track on this otherwise perfectly constructed album would have to be Moonchild. There is nothing inherently wrong with some Avant-Garde experimentation in a prog-rock album. However, when the track is just over 12 minutes long, and most of it is dedicated to minimalistic instrumental quips, it does drag quite a bit. Granted, it's not a big deal for aficionados of the genre. I can't say that I wasn't amused upon first listen, though I wouldn't find myself hard-pressed to listen to this track in its entirety every time I go through this record. The sums on this record greatly outweigh the few cons here though.

A

Favorite Track: Can't decide

Least Favorite Track: Moonchild

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I (1969)

Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Blues Rock

The debut album by the English hard rock band Led Zeppelin hit shelves at the start of 1969. Initially, reviews were largely negative and their reputation would not recover until later. Was it truly a terrible album? As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I will do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

During this time, heavy metal was in its infancy, and there were certainly quite a few bands at the forefront of it. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Jeff Beck Group, and even Jimmy's Page's previous band, The Yardbirds. Led Zeppelin however, had the distinction and honor of becoming the most accessible in the hard rock scene of the late 60's, personally. I'm not gonna lie and say that this was a completely original group in both their songwriting and musical composition. In fact, 3 out of the 9 tracks on this record are covers. Amazingly, even if you were already familiar with the original versions of them, they still sound like new songs.

Jimmy Page was at the wheel of this group, both musically and production-wise. He was already a very capable musician and had garnered enough experience in the studio to work out new techniques and play around with them on this record, and it shows. His experimentation with extra reverb techniques gives the record a very constructed ambient sound, which especially for a hard rock record, was very unusual, but it works beautifully here. Probably the most effective use of this is on Your Time Is Gonna Come. John Paul Jones' organ wonderfully drives the track forward and is perhaps the most interesting song on this album, sonically. 

There's something to be said about all these tracks, though. There's no reinventing the genre here, but every single track here presents itself with incredible musicianship and Robert Plant's vocals are some of the best in any rock record ever recorded. His ability as a singer is most beautifully showcased on Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, where his seductive, hushed singing can suddenly go to loud, howling rock "screaming." It's not the most daunting vocal performance, but it demonstrates what he's capable of doing with his vocal range. 

Performance-wise, John Bonham and John Paul Jones are masters of the drums and bass, respectively. Usually, with any band, there's always at least 1 who is clearly a much more proficient musician than the rest, but the same can't be said about this group. With their first album, they all established themselves as masters of their craft. How Many More Times, the album closer, never ceases to impress me with its jam-session style presentation that kicks ass. Intricate riffs, smooth bass grooves, powerful drumming, and grade-A singing are on display here, prominently. Even with more simple, by-the-numbers tracks like Communication Breakdown and Good Times Bad Times, they still manage to provide a powerful sonic punch in the span of less than 3 minutes each. This is certainly among my favorite debut albums of all time and even now, nearly 50 years from its release, still sounds fresh with its amazing production quality. Critics back in 1969 had no idea what they were talking about.

A+

Favorite Tracks: You Shook Me, Dazed And Confused, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Your Time Is Gonna Come, Communication Breakdown, How Many More Times

Least Favorite Track: Black Mountain Side