Albums2010 Revisited: Led Zeppelin III

I haven't done a complete dive into Led Zeppelin's 1-4, but I might have to after this because I'm curious to see if my opinion changes. Prior to really giving III a good listen, I was very much a Zoso/IV fan, but now I think I might have to shift. I might have to lower the boom and say it: Led Zeppelin III is the best of the first four albums. (A full dive into Zeppelin's catalogue might change my opinion still further. I was surprised at how top-to-bottom excellent, no skips, Houses Of The Holy is as well.)

Dipping back into the Albums2010 Archives, it looks like I did Led Zeppelin II (#20) and Led Zeppelin IV. (#27) in the original run-- #68-#80 were lost to the Unfortunate Wordpress Experiment, so it's possible I got more Zeppelin in the original run, but I don't know if I did Led Zeppelin III- so, without further ado:

III:

It feels like a tone shift from prior Zeppelin albums, and after consulting with the interwebs, that turns out to be true because that's what the band wanted to do. So there's a shift away from the power and hard rock of the first two albums to a variety of sounds, more guitar-based and acoustic in nature. 

Side A opens with 'The Immigrant Song,' which is really illustrative of how good Zeppelin is at crafting epic imagery in their songs. A lot of that could be down to Plant's vocals, and some of my experience now may be influenced by seeing it used in the trailers for Thor: Ragnarok, but why was it a perfect choice for that trailer? Because it works. The Norse Mythology, with lyrics about sailing to distant lands and coming from the land of ice and snow, just works. I don't know whether that's something that Zeppelin just stumbled into or whether Plant's vocal range just pushed them that way. (Or hey, it was the late 60s-- maybe drugs + Tolkien = references to Lord of the Rings throughout?)

The diversity of musical instruments and sounds pops up throughout the album-- 'Friends' opens with a nice guitar twang/hook, but then drops into Eastern/Indian influences and then the strings drop in and it works so, so well-- I wanted to say that this feels like an early precursor to tracks like 'Kashmir', but it's not the first time they played with these kinds of sounds-- there's an interlude early on Led Zeppelin I that has a similar sound. 

The way they build sounds on this album is everywhere: 'Celebration' -- probably one of the most well-known tracks from this album-- opens with an underlying buzz before the guitar/bass line and then drops into the rest of the song. So one element builds into another element and then BAM, the drop-- and I always love the lyrics to this one: 'but the price you pay to nowhere/has just increased a dollar more' is a seriously great line.

'Since I've Been Loving You' is pure blues perfection, and that leads to 'Out On The Tiles,' which might be my favorite track from Side A. That growling hook that underpins the song is really nice. 

We return to the EPIC question with two more tracks from this album: 'Gallows Pole' and 'Tangerine'-- the former seems like it could translate to an American milieu, but it doesn't-- you feel like it should be Outlaw Country-- in much the way that 'Renegade' by Styx is, but, I think the melody/imagery lend itself better to the UK-- this is Border Reivers or Rob Roy or someone fleeing across the Moors into the Highlands to try an evade the authorities. The latter presents even more contrasts-- 'Tangerine' starts  as a very sort of high fantasy medieval bard sounding track-- you could hear this in the court of some ancient King, but then it shifts into something with a country undertone with the steel guitar twang to it.

(Semi-serious question:  I'd have to look into the history of Prog Rock and bands like Wishbone Ash, King Crimson, etc-- but does the EPIC stuff that Zeppelin plays with represent kind of a foundation for that kind of music? Was it already there? Was it the times and the cultural zeitgeist? I can't think of a band that subsequently makes the EPIC thing work so well for them.)

'Bron-Y-Aur Stomp' might be my favorite track from Side B, and 'That's The Way' is another wrinkle on Zeppelin's usual sound, as it's light and pleasant-- not something you normally associate with this band. And the whole thing is brought to a close with 'Hats Off To Roy Harper', a reworking of a blues track by Bukka White. 

When I started writing this post, I was considering moving III up in my personal rankings, but then I had a shitload of laundry to do and threw on I and now I'm not so sure-- also, I thought I had II on vinyl, but it turns out I don't... so might have to rectify that at the earliest possible opportunity. III is still really, really good to me. Whether it's the best... (or my personal best), I don't yet know. More Zeppelin is required!