Physical Graffiti

by

Led Zeppelin

Edit

Containing some of Zeppelin's very best tracks, "Physical Graffiti" is definitely worth the price of two discs. Like most double albums, it can get a little excessive... but if you've purchased their first 4 albums and still can't get enough, this is a must have! "Kashmir" is essential by itself and possibly the best song the group ever recorded... a majestic epic that fuses rock, blues, and middle eastern influnces... all the things Zep is known to do best! Then there's the blistering "Trampled Under Foot" which has one of Page's best riffs of all time and a funky clavinet played by the multi-talented John Paul Jones. Plant is in top form on the spiritual catharsis of "In My Time of Dying" with John Bonham providing the raw energy all the way through.

Disc one is more consistent, but disc two offers a wide variety of gems such as the building ballad "Ten Years Gone" which offers some of Robert's best lyrics to date, the fun old-timey feel of "Boogie With Stu", the countrified acoustic track "Black Country Woman", and the wild "Wanton Song". Many of these tracks have the feel of b-sides (which is essentially what they were) and makes them even more fun to listen to.

One of the few double LPs to truly be worth purchasing (along with the Beatles White Album, Stevie Wonder's Songs In the Key of Life, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, and Pink Floyd's The Wall), Physical Graffiti is the high water mark of Led Zeppelin's career.

Physical Graffiti is one of Led Zeppelin's most treasured recordings (then again, given this group's popularity even tripe like Presence is revered in some circles). It is also arguably the most bloated, indulgent, excessive double-album ever made. There are a mere fifteen songs on this album, and it runs over eighty minutes: 82:15, to be precise. And found within this double-album is a good single-album, too: some of these songs really are brilliant. I'll get to those. First, I'd like to dish out some criticism.

It should come as no surprise that two songs on this album take up about twenty minutes combined, and that they are the two worst songs on the album. First is In My Time of Dying, which breaks eleven minutes. I don't mind extremely long songs if they fulfill at least one of four criteria: intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics (Dylan's Desolation Row, Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, Brownsville Girl and Highlands), create excellent atmosphere (Van Morrison's Madame George and T.B. Sheets), have virtuoso performances (Frank Zappa's Gumbo Variations and Watermelon in Easter Hay; several jazz songs), or have an arrangement that keeps you guessing (Isaac Hayes' late '60s-early '70s reinterpretations of pop hits; Yes' Close to the Edge). Occasionally, a song will fulfill all four: take either extended piece by the Doors (We'll use When the Music's Over simply because The End is overdiscussed). The lyrics are some of Morrison's best; the groove is the tightest and funkiest the band ever reached, and their chemistry is perfect; the drumming, organ playing and guitar playing are exceptional; and the song uses many unexpected dynamic shifts. In My Time, on the other hand, is just a bloated mess that would've made an enjoyable two-minute song. Sadly, the group indulges themselves completely with Jimmy Page playing repetitive, unimpressive guitar solos that are pure flash without any substance to back them up (a trap Page occasionally fell into, much as I respect him as a guitarist), not even bothering to shift tempos or keys. John Bonham's varied drumming does add interest, but it doesn't matter: I often zone out about five minutes before the piece ends. It used to impress me, but now I can see it for what it is: a rudimentary tune stretched to the breaking point. If I wanted to hear Zeppelin go for epic lengths, I'd much rather play Achilles Last Stand, which is one of the group's best songs ever thanks to Page's downright inspired guitar playing. On the other hand, his playing on In My Time is simply inspid, as is Plant's monotonous delivery (come on, how many times does he say "Jesus gonna make up my dying bed"? Sure, it's a chorus, but does it really warrant THAT much repetition? Of course not). The other of the two is In the Light, which drags on for a similarly ludicrous nine minutes: a pretentious mix of pseudo-mystical lyrics, laughably bad "Eastern" synth parts, and boring guitar playing. This is simply the worst song Zeppelin ever made: again, only Bonzo's drumming is interesting, but that's not enough to lift it from the depths it sinks to. On a scale of zero to ten, I'd give it a 0.2, and that's only for the drumming. It blows.

So two songs are thouroughly awful, and several others are just bad: The Wanton Song has a special place in a lot of Zep fan's hearts, but I see it as boring macho posturing from my least favorite wannabe sex-god, Robert Plant. What else... let's see, Sick Again is a boring hard-rock song with no redeeming facets whatsoever; and Down By the Seaside is a pathetic attempt at country-rock by a band who shouldn't have explored the genre. Black Country Woman is okay, but it would've been made much better had someone besides Robert Plant sang it.

Now, for the goods. There is solid material here: Shake 'em on Down (Oops, I mean Custard Pie) is a fun brainless funk-rocker; Trampled Underfoot is another one, even if the clavinet riff is lifted straight from Superstition and (of course) uncredited. Kashmir is superb: I love the unpredictable, Indian-influenced arrangement and the metronome-like drumming: not even Plant's downright silly lyrics can stop it from being a good tune. Ten Years Gone is even better: my favorite on the album, a longing, symphonic, soulful guitar epic with some of Plant's more convincing vocals. My favorite part is the coda, where Page's guitar almost sounds like it's crying. Another fine one is Houses of the Holy, this one a straightahead rocker with an interesting riff and admittedly dumb lyrics. So, what else is new? Anyway, there are also some underrated songs here: the wistful acoustic guitar instrumental Bron-Yr-Aur should take up more of the airplay given to the infinitely inferior Communications Breakdown, and the mellow, organ-driven Night Flight should take up more of the airplay granted to the dreadfully dull Wanton Song. And Boogie with Stu is a lot of fun: indeed, the group gets down and boogies.

So this isn't brilliant or anything, but it has its moments. Would've made a great single album, though.