The fifth studio album of the rock legend.
Here, the band had, in my opinion, surpassed their creative zenith; nevertheless, this work sold very well and throughout the seventies, until John Bonham's death, they played a very significant role in the rock business.
It was recorded again in many different locations, in London, Stargroves, Headley Grange, and New York City. Unlike its predecessor, there are hardly any folk influences to be found here. Instead, the album is very psychedelic and progressive. It is undoubtedly a great album, featuring excellent sound experiments for that time. However, the earlier heights could not quite be reached here.
Outstanding is the opener 'The Song remains the same'. It starts off driving like 'The Who', before the tempo slows down in the verse and Plant adds his ethereal vocals. The following 'The Rain Song' is a very calm number, with epic keyboard and piano arrangements. In 'Over the Hills and far away', folk influence can be heard again, my favorite on the album. The next track 'The Crunge', on the other hand, is a flop. Funk does not work for me at all, and then those dreadful keys. 'Dancing Days', however, takes a psychedelic route. It sounds like a circus in the head. After that, it gets relaxed with 'D'yer M'aker', which draws heavily from reggae. 'No Quarter' sounds remarkably modern for its age and shines with a refined sound arrangement dominated by keyboards. A truly great track. The last song 'The Ocean' is again very rhythmic.
All in all, there are many influences and experiments on the album. However, I believe that in the process, the musical identity is somewhat lost, and not every experiment is successful; also, Plant's very free, idiosyncratic singing does not come across as well as on previous albums, because the band is taking different musical paths. Creatively, Zeppelin was slowly running out of steam at this point. Caught between the chairs of old and new.
As with the other 2-CD remasters, there are alternative versions on the second CD here as well. Bonus material that presents the songs in a different light. Very interesting for fans and musicians, but the average listener might not notice it as much.
As I said, a great album, but newcomers should rather orient themselves towards the previous albums.
