Songs: Whole Lotta Love, What Is And What Should Never Be, The Lemon Song, Thank You, Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman), Ramble On, Moby Dick, Bring It On Home
Comments: Let’s go back for a moment to the debut Album. The cover of the album is really provoking. Of course it shows the burning Zeppelin “ Hindenburg” and you could argue that it symbolises a new band breaking into the seventies with full might. But in the end it represents the Phallus Erectus. Robert Plant like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame was obsessed by it and it would be a great influence in the Led’s work.
After the release of their first album the band started touring in the UK and the USA. As always there was the commercial urge to produce a follow up so during the tour the band got into the studios in London, New York and Los Angeles from time to time to record. This rush basically had three important consequences:
- There simply wasn’t enough time to record only new material. So the band used pieces of existing blues material that were part of their live shows. A lot has been said about them ripping up blues artists but I don’t see any problem there as it happens all the time in the music industry. I do think however they should have given sufficient credit to the authors;
- The Sound Quality got a bit muddy. Again, much has been said about that. The original record suffered a bit from it but the re-mastered version released in 1994 is of excellent quality;
- Since there was not enough time to produce layers upon layers, the music was crisp, energetic and very much to the point.
The last observation becomes immediately clear when the Album Opener Whole Lotta Love (# 4 Billboard) breaks out the loudspeakers. A Great riff, great bass and great drums. A real explosion! I graduated from high school back in 1970 and this album was one of my presents alongside Santana’s first Album and Pearl by Janis Joplin. We played these records all day and all night while drinking a “couple” of beers. Yeah, I know, the middle part of Whole is a bit too long although it sounds rather cool when you listen to it with your headphones on. And Robert Plant made good his promise on the cover of the debut Album and had his first recorded orgasm. This part sounds a bit dated today but in 1969 we all loved it. Nobody had ever done that before.
In my opinion, What Is And What Should Never Be is the best track on the Album. It’s got everything that makes Led Zeppelins music so interesting. It’s dark and it’s light, it’s quiet and it’s loud and these combinations work perfect here. I suppose you could call it a ballad and as such it could have done without the screaming part. But I like it the way it is. It’s different and special. Great Song.
Robert Plant & the Squeezed Lemons then perform The Lemon Song. The band used a number of old blues classics and glued them together. It’s not a great song but it’s certainly interesting and the bass playing is amazing. As far as I could ascertain, Robert had his second and last musical orgasm here on Led Zeppelin II and even seemed to fall out of bed during the final stages.
Thank You is a beautiful pop song with childish lyrics but with a great feeling to it. It was written for Robert’s wife Maureen and I suppose she was very touched by it. On the other hand there were these bands of groupies awaiting Robert after each concert so I’m not so sure what really happened when the mountains crumbled to the sea.
The songs Heartbreaker and Living Loving Maid are usually played together as almost one song and that works fine. Heartbreaker is a great Hard Rock Riff and one of the high marks of the Album. Jimmy really shines here. Living Loving Maid is a quite simple fast rocker but it’s well done and to the point.
Ramble On is a kind of folk-rock song that people either like or hate. I like the guitar playing a lot, am confused by the silly lyrics and annoyed with Robert’s screaming. But it’s not a bad song. It should have been a Single release but the band wasn’t into that sort of stuff. At least not at that point in time.
How many words would have been written about the drum solo in Moby Dick. It’s too long but in 1969 everybody included a drum solo on their albums so what the heck. Let’s forgive them for always and forever shall we? The song has a great Riff!
And finally there’s Bring It On Home, apparently sung by Robert through his harmonica or maybe some other gadget. You could argue the band was trying to sound as an authentic blues band or you could say they were trying to see if they could get away with anything. I think it’s okay although it might have fitted better on the debut album.
And that’s it, Led’s Second Album. In my opinion it’s a great album, just as good as the band's first effort. But it’s also completely different. The first album was a coherent Blues album with prog-rock and folk influences. This one however is a collection of great songs and a crossover of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal with the occasional references to the blues and a bit of folk. All the guys played extremely hungry and eager on this record with great results. If anything, the lyrics are a bit simple and dull but the music makes you forget that for most of the time. The Album meant the commercial and artistic breakthrough for the band. The cover of the album seems to confirm that with the Phallus seemingly exploding. Look out world, The Led is out!
Type of Music: Hard Rock and Heavy Metal mixed with bits and pieces of Progressive Rock, Blues and Folk.
Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)
Black = Good Songs
Green = Great Songs
Red = Could Be Better
Sound Quality: Good. Be sure to get the re-mastered version.
Chart Success: The album made it to number 1 in the Billboard Album Top 200.
Who should buy this Record: Everybody!! Led Zeppelin’s Breakthrough Album and one of the true Classic Rock Albums of All Time. Get It Now!
Jan van den Ende March 2012
