Led Zeppelin released Physical Graffiti

Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin

Released: February 24, 1975 Peak: 16 US, 11 UK, 15 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 0.3 UK, 18.4 world (includes US and UK) Genre: hard classic rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Custard Pie [4:13] (10 CL) The Rover [5:36] (10 CL) In My Time of Dying (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) [11:04] (11 CL) Houses of the Holy [4:01] (4 CL) Trampled Under Foot (Jones, Page, Plant) [5:35] (4/2/75, 38 US, 2 CL, 41 CN, 60 AU) Kashmir (Bonham, Page, Plant) [8:37] (11/12/07, 1 CL, 80 UK, 33 CN) Tracks, Disc 2: In the Light (Jones, Page, Plant) [8:44] (21 CL) Bron-Yr-Aur (Page) [2:06] Down by the Seaside [5:14] (10 CL) Ten Years Gone [6:31] (8 CL) Night Flight (Jones, Page, Plant) [3:36] (15 CL) The Wanton Song [4:06] (13 CL) Boogie with Stu (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant, Ian Stewart, Mrs. Valens) [3:51] (9 CL) Black Country Woman [4:24] Sick Again [4:43] Songs by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 82:59 The Players: Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica) Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards, mandolin, acoustic guitar) John Bonham (drums, percussion)

Rating: 4.328 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Led Zeppelin returned from a nearly two-year hiatus in 1975 with Physical Graffiti, a sprawling, ambitious double album” AMG which is also “daring…and enthusiastically eccentric.” GW It is “an artistic gamble, full of detours and moments of supreme triumph and quirky experimentation.” GW as they try out “funk, country, R&B and even Celtic folk hymns.” RV “Lnd like all successful double albums, it captures the unique personality of each band member” GW “rarely showcased elsewhere.” AMG “That nary of trace of caution can be found on the record is a testament to the band’s unwavering belief in its craft.” GW The result of such reach is that, “to many, its synthesis of funk and Eastern music into the Hammer of the Gods Zeppelin thunder is a joy to behold, the sound of a band realizing there are no limits to its powers. To others, the album is dense and frustrating, stuffed with filler.” GW “Yes, some of this could be labeled as filler, but like any great double album, its appeal lies in its great sprawl.” AMG The Old… Part of the inconsistency – or diversity – of the album, depending on the listener’s perspective, can be attributed to the history behind the tracks. Nearly half the material was recorded during earlier sessions. Bron-Yr-Aur dates back to sessions for Led Zeppelin III in July 1970. It is “an instrumental solo acoustic number on which Page “has never sounded sweeter.” NO Night Flight, Boogie with Stu, and Down by the Seaside, which “is the closest they’ve come to country,” AMG were recorded between December 1970 and February 1971 during sessions for Led Zeppelin IV. “Boogie with Stu” “was named for Ian Stewart, who had also played on IV’s “Rock and Roll.” GW Houses of the Holy was originally recorded for Led Zeppelin’s fifth album of the same name but left off. It “is as effervescent as pre-Beatles pop.” AMG Those same May 1972 sessions produced “the monstrous epic The Rover” AMG and Black Country Woman. …And the New The remaining eight tracks were new songs recorded in January and February 1974 at Headley Grange. Even on the new material, there is a concentrated effort at diverse songs. The band treated them “as forays into individual styles, only occasionally synthesizing sounds, notably on the tense…Kashmir,” AMG the album’s “signature track” GW and “one of Zeppelin’s greatest songs.” RV It is an “Eastern-influenced melange of a full orchestra,” RV that is “John Paul Jones’ ‘Arabian string symphony.” GW It featured his “thumping bass,” RV “Robert Plant’s wail, Page’s infectious guitar licks,” RV and “John Bonham’s hard-hitting drums.” RV Plant wrote the “surrealistic lyrics…while driving through the Sahara Desert in Morocco, far from Kashmir, which is located between Central and South Asia.” GW It is “a spellbinding monolith” GW which, “in many ways…distills the essence of Led Zeppelin: dramatic, epic, bewitching and fiery till the end.” GW “With John Paul Jones’ galloping keyboard, Trampled Underfoot ranks as their funkiest metallic grind, while…and. Even the heavier blues – the 11-minute In My Time of Dying,” AMG “some of the heaviest Delta-style blues Zeppelin ever laid down,” GW “the tightly wound Custard Pie…are subtly shaded, even if they’re thunderously loud.” AMG “Most of these heavy rockers are isolated on the first album, with the second half of Physical Graffiti sounding a little like a scrap heap of experiments, jams, acoustic workouts, and neo-covers. This may not be as consistent as the first platter, but its quirks are entirely welcome, not just because they encompass the mean, decadent Sick Again, but the heartbreaking Ten Years Gone” AMG on which “Plant shows a rare sensitive side.” RV The song “is built on a multi-layered foundation of Page’s guitars. Plants sings of the passing of time and lost love, delivering one of his most emotion-filled performances. RV “Even at its worst, Physical Graffiti towers above its hard rock peers of the mid-‘70s.” AMG “Nothing before or after matched [its] sheer power and brilliance.” NO This “landmark album” NO “remains an essential part of any collection.” NO Notes: A 2015 deluxe edition added a bonus disc with rough or alternate mixes of “Brandy & Coke,” “Sick Again,” “In My Time of Dying,” “Houses of the Holy,” In the Light,” “Boogie with Stu,” and “Kashmir.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Led Zeppelin AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine GW Guitar World (2/19/2009). “50 Greatest Guitar Albums” NO TheNightOwl.com RV The Review “100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher (October – November 2001; Vol. 128: numbers 12-23). RF Rock.Fandom.com (track listing with recording dates) Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2008; last updated 11/9/2021.