album #44

physical graffiti (led zeppelin)

A lot of pretty badass stuff on this album- a heavy, nasty, sexy, swaggering album. Great riffs.

“Custard Pie” sets the tone early, a throbbing rhythmic riff, Robert Plant's ooh's and aah's from across the stage and right up into your body. It's a great opener, one of my favorite tracks. “The Rover” is heavy and nasty, like a serious workout, with an irresistable high riff sneaking in. “Houses of the Holy” charms me, it's got a melodically seductive ease, the song you sing to bring a girl home- not the song you sing once you get there. “Kashmir” is an epic, that thunderous orchestral wave crashing into your ears- a peak moment for the album. There's something about the lazy melodic charm of “Down By The Seaside” that pulls me in, it's worth revisiting. “Ten Years Gone” is a melodic, melancholy beauty, the man choosing music over a particular love. This song's guitars break open in a way that reminds me of the best blues moments from a John Mayer album. And “The Wanton Song” very suddenly became one of my favorite Zeppelin songs, the main riff drives with relentless power, a violent motor, and the shell eventually cracks to reveal this pearl of melody in an aquatic wash of guitar sound. One of those musical moments that I keep tapping like a junkie, willing to listen to so many empty minutes just to hit that perfect taste again.

Lots of good on this album, though I gotta say it's a little long for my tastes- too many songs, and they're all a little too long. Which gives me the odd idea of releasing edited versions of albums (Indeed, I have done this with one or two albums), cut out what I consider filler and keep the songs centered on their best melodic highs. Indulgence seems to be one of Zeppelin's defining traits, and that's evident in both form and function.