Led Zeppelin: Mothership
Monday, 12 Nov 2007 15:09
The Zeppelin mothership is airborne once again.
Swan Song/Atlantic, out November 12th, 2007.
In a nutshell...
Another chance to get the Led out
What's it all about?
Kicking off with the by-the-numbers blues of Good Times, Bad Times, Jimmy Page's intricate guitar-work points to the world that lay ahead for the band, while their influence on heavy metal is there for all to see on Communication Breakdown, with John 'Bonzo' Bonham's drumming pounding an impatient melody. Robert Plant's trademark orgasmic yelp takes a bow as Page's guitar ventures down through the seven circles of hell in the apocalyptic 12-bar tumble of Dazed and Confused
Whole Lotta Love remains unparalleled as a slice of testosterone-infused rock with Plant at his most lascivious, Page proving a guitar held no barriers and Bonham powering the song towards its, well, undeniably climactic (yes, in that way) denouement.
Plant's 'poetry' begins to rear its endearingly ugly head on the folksy Ramble On as the Tolkien references seep in. But even references to Gollum and Mordor can't disguise the fact that these are four musicians at their very peak, pulling hard rock, country and blues influences into one timeless package.
No more impressive is the remastering than on When the Levee Breaks, with Bonham's drums presumably the loudest in all recorded human history as Page and bassist John Paul Jones build a swampy stomp on a song so astounding as to be sampled by the Beastie Boys on their epochal Licensed to Ill debut.
No introductions are really needed for Stairway to Heaven, one of the most divisive songs ever written. Once voted the greatest Zeppelin song ever, Stairway… could be said to exhibit both the best and worst of the band; their supreme talent showcased by its combination of tones and tempos, an ethereal hymn made by four musicians at their creative peaks; but similarly, what could be called an overlong tedious epic of infantile lyrics and self-indulgent melodies. This reviewer knows which camp he sits in.
The second disc, covering 1973 to 1979, begins with the greater ambition and scope of The Song Remains the Same, while a multi-layered folksy opening announces Over the Hills and Far Away before thunderous backing from Bonham and Jones swirls around a spiralling Page guitar line.
Then there's the quite-possibly-entirely-rubbish D'Yer Maker, but what can you honestly expect from a song with a pun for a title? The murky synth of No Quarter seems meandering and aimless until its delicate piano middle eight with Bonzo backs a dystopian funeral march, while the funk-infused keyboard of Trampled Underfoot illustrates the influences of their by-then massive US market.
Almost sullied by P Diddy's (though he may have been Puff Daddy back then) theft of the terror-laden riff, bizarrely sanctioned by the band, Kashmir remains the pinnacle of the band's use of Eastern influences with tumultuous strings building to an unholy, epic climax.
A delta blues opening riff swarms in on Nobody's Fault But Mine and you realise just the gargantuan size of the debt owed to Zep by the White Stripes. We're in Presence territory here though and the overall simplicity of the album's spontaneous, riff-based feel begins to grate. No more apparent is this on the lengthy Achilles Last Stand, with a Jones bass line trampling over insistent drumming from Bonham, battering the listener into submission over ten minutes. But then a staggering Page solo makes its entrance, full of pomp and circumstance and the importance of Zeppelin is too obvious to be denied.
A pity then for the synth-laden dullness of album closers In The Evening and All My Love, from the misfiring last album In Through the Out Door. Page and Bonham played a minor role in the record's production and it's painfully evident.
Who's it by?
Is a biography really necessary for Led Zeppelin? Well, if you say so. Just ahead of their eagerly-awaited reunion concert at London's O2 Arena, Atlantic Records honour the world's ultimate rock band with Mothership, a two-CD, 24-track collection of their power, panache and passion. Formed in 1968 out of the remnants of the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin (a phrase coined by the Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle who had predicted a planned supergroup would "go down like a lead zeppelin"), grew from humble bluesy beginnings to becoming the biggest band in the world in the early 70s, famed for rock and roll excess, the biggest tours, the biggest sound and an unsavoury incident involving a red snapper. Their self-titled first three albums epitomised the innovative blend of hard rock, blues and folk, while the untitled fourth album melded heavy and acoustic influences to make rock history and create one of the biggest selling albums of all time. The experimental Houses of the Holy was followed by the record-breaking tours and then the huge commercial and critical success of double-album Physical Graffiti. But with 1976 album Presence succeeded by the death of frontman Robert Plant's son Karac and the cancellation of a US tour in the following year, and Jimmy Page's heroin use and drummer John Bonham's tragic death in 1980 bookending the release of In Through the Out Door, Led Zeppelin was no more.
As an example...
"Shake for me girl/I wanna be your backdoor man." – Robert Plant seemingly overcome with testosterone on Whole Lotta Love
"And as we wind on down the road/Our shadows taller than souls/There walks a lady we all know/Who shines white light and wants to show." – Stairway to Heaven
"Albion remains/Sleeping now to rise again." – The grammatically-incorrect Achilles Last Stand
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
It's a best of and, to be honest, it's not even their first one. But given the extremely slim likelihood of there ever being an award for the best introduction to a classic band – for which this'd be a shoo-in – Zeppelin will have to make do with selling over 200 million albums and provoking a web-based stampede when their upcoming reunion show was announced.
What the others say
"When they emerge from darkness at the O2 this month, the old campaigners will have one hell of an album to promote. Mothership may take the road most travelled, but the scenery is colossal." – David Cavanagh, Uncut
"Longtime fans will find little of use here, although anyone who spends a couple hours with Mothership will find themselves duly reminded that Led Zeppelin are quite possibly the finest rock band of all time." – Amanda Petrusich, Pitchfork
So is it any good?
There's no time for filler on a tracklisting personally selected by the band, meaning some lesser-known favourites – Tangerine, Dancing Days, The Rain Song, The Battle of Evermore – are jettisoned in favour of a collection swaying between the light and shade that exemplified the band.
But as a portrait of one of the best bands to have ever taken the stage, it's exemplary, encompassing ever stage of their career in 24 stunning songs.
It's the perfect introduction to one of the greatest, most influential bands ever, though a second Mothership could conceivably set sail to show just how diverse the Zeppelin output was.
Remastered, revelatory, comprehensive, unnecessary and quintessential all in one fell swoop.
8/10
Lewis Bazley
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