Reviewed by Marc on 17 Nov 2004
Physical Graffiti is my all time favorite
Led Zeppelin album. The first CD is just fantastic, alternating great powerful rock songs with progessive rock tracks like "In my Time of Dying" and the incredible "Kashmir".
The second CD is more uneven but still contains some jems like "Ten Years Gone" and "The Wanton Song". The music on Physical Graffiti is as polished ambitious and complex as Led Zeppelin would ever get. The future was looking great for that band...
A must have for any prog music fan.
Reviewed by Eric on 31 Dec 2004
Led Zeppelin. A four headed beast that rumbled and crashed its way through the1970’s
leaving in it’s wake a legacy of the finest progressive hard rock the world has ever heard.
Black Sabbath came close, but couldn’t keep up the quality. Nazareth,
Bad Company, UFO? All good, but were nothing but a mere shadow of Zep
and other than the first two UFO albums-nothing progressive in the least.
Queen? Maybe. Another influential four headed beast with buck teeth, black
satin leotards and eye make-up, but not really in the same league, just different.
Kiss? Won’t go there. 80’s metal? Please. Does anyone really care about
Motley Crue, Dokken and Ratt these days? If you do, you are
on the wrong web site and I have a Stryper CD and half a can of hair styling
mouse I’ll give you for a nickel...
Like all the Led Zeppelin albums Physical Graffiti is a monument to the power of
rock music, something long forgotten in this hip hoppin’- Snoop doggin’ world of the
early 21st century. The image of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on stage in all their 70’s
finery is the stuff of legend and one of the most famous shots in rock history.
Page’s power chords, Plant’s bluesy ‘leather lung’delivery, Bonham and Jones’ Elephant-
like pounding created one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in rock. Throw in
their legendary sexual, booze and drug exploits, charasmatic manager Peter Grant, Page’s
dabbling in the occult and one deceased band member and well, you get the
picture.
It’s easy for us ‘older’ guys that were raised musically in the1970’s to dismiss Led
Zeppelin. They were on the cover of 'Circus' and 'Creem' magazine every other month it
seemed. They were on the radio way too much (still are) and it was easier to get an ‘A’ in
Algebra than trying to land a ticket to one of their concerts. I think this left us jaded to
some extent. Growing up in the ‘rock era’ and hearing the music of Led Zeppelin, Jethro
Tull and Yes was a given. Hearing the majesty of Kashmir, the jewel of
Physical Graffiti might have lost its luster in 2005, but really listening to this song
with fresh ears, it’s an amazing work of creative rock as is the entire album.
Hard rock, Blues rock, Progressive rock. Everyone will hear something different in Led
Zeppelin. They covered everything and sounded like nobody else. Creative, Inventive and
Unique. What good music is all about. Start here.
