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Post by kds on May 15, 2022 14:20:02 GMT
I've noticed a trend. Whole Lotta Love is not getting..a whole lotta love. I see it on one list, at the bottom. For me, it's a perfectly good little blues-rock song. One of the great riffs of all time. But that middle section, the "experimental" part or whatever you prefer to call it or think of it as, I think it's awful. Much like I hate the similar segment of Queen's "Get Down, Make Love," I think it's a waste of tape. Live? Maybe different. On an album, no thank you. I could do without that middle section too.
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sockit
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 234
Likes: 181
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Post by sockit on May 15, 2022 17:30:59 GMT
There was a time, when I was first getting into Zeppelin, when Whole Lotta Love was one of my favorite Zep songs. I remember whenever I talked about the song with folks who were about 10 years older than me (people at work, jam buddies, etc.) they would roll their eyes at me. See, they had loved it in the 1970s and were over it by this time. I eventually got over it, and I'm pretty neutral about the song. And yes that middle doesn't seem to have aged well. It goes on for several minutes too long.
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Post by Kapitan on May 15, 2022 18:37:51 GMT
I think that things like that middle section work a lot more if you're in the band, or even if you're in an audience listening to the music live, than they do on an album. When you're in the band, it's group improvisation, which is absolutely thrilling (assuming your band doesn't suck ... or at least that you're all on the same relative level, so if you suck, at least you all suck equally!). And if you're in an audience, I think it can be great, too. But on an album, I think it just isn't something that holds up.
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Post by carllove on May 16, 2022 14:53:39 GMT
Here you go. I do love me some Led Zeppelin. Mostly early stuff, but I do have a soft spot for Physical Graffiti, since it was one of the first albums I ever purchased and I used to spend hours playing with the cover. I would listen to Kashmir over and over. Drove my parent's nuts! Looks like I have seven songs each from Zeppelin II and the fourth album.
1. The Immigrant Song 2. Going To California 3. What Is and What Should Never Be 4. Kashmir 5. Misty Mountain Hop 6. Thank You 7. Good Times Bad Times 8. Black Dog 9. Houses of The Holy 10. The Battle of Evermore 11. Dazed and Confused 12. Stairway To Heaven 13. The Rain Song 14. Over The Hills and Far Away 15. D'yer Maker 16. Ramble On 17. Whole Lotta Love 18. Communication Breakdown 19. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You 20. That's The Way 21. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp 22. Rock and Roll 23. Tangerine 24. Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) 25. Heartbreaker
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Post by B.E. on May 16, 2022 22:57:59 GMT
One thing I've noticed in our lists is that "Kashmir" appears to be the most well-regarded song off Physical Graffiti. It's the only one that appeared on every list. I like it a lot, but personally had 8 others ranked higher in my top 40. I'm guessing it's just down to lyrics sometimes taking a back seat for me (as in, I'm not focusing on the words so much as how they sound). Because, musically, while enjoyable, it's a little plodding. It heavily features that dissonant, ascending riff (A-Bb-B-C-D), so there's not much movement there, musically (though, it is cool). I guess I'm just wondering if there's something specific that you guys like? Is it a true standout for you off the album, or is it more a coincidence that everyone selected it?
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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2022 0:02:45 GMT
Funny you mention the lyrics, because aside from a bit of a line here or there, that's never been it for me with "Kashmir." It's more the tension between the guitar riff and drums, the orchestration, the grandeur.
Of course, Zeppelin being Zeppelin, there are also a bazillion little moments to love. Like John Bonham right here:
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Post by B.E. on May 17, 2022 0:21:33 GMT
Yeah, that’s a really cool little “hesitation” fill.
I meant to mention how easy and enjoyable putting my list together was. I relistened to every song in my top 40 for sequencing purposes and it really was a joy. I’m not really a hard rock or metal guy, but I love Led Zeppelin. Somehow, I love what they do and how they do it. Down to all those little details. But I’m not too interested in other similar groups. (Although, aren’t they really one-of-a-kind?) This exercise reminded me that they are very high on my favorite artists list. Certainly top 10.
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sockit
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 234
Likes: 181
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Post by sockit on May 17, 2022 2:35:32 GMT
One thing I've noticed in our lists is that "Kashmir" appears to be the most well-regarded song off Physical Graffiti. It's the only one that appeared on every list. I like it a lot, but personally had 8 others ranked higher in my top 40. I'm guessing it's just down to lyrics sometimes taking a back seat for me (as in, I'm not focusing on the words so much as how they sound). Because, musically, while enjoyable, it's a little plodding. It heavily features that dissonant, ascending riff (A-Bb-B-C-D), so there's not much movement there, musically (though, it is cool). I guess I'm just wondering if there's something specific that you guys like? Is it a true standout for you off the album, or is it more a coincidence that everyone selected it? Interesting observation, @b.E. Made me think about what exactly puts the song into the classic relm for me. Honestly, it's rather simplistic on the vocal melody, and for that matter, pretty repetitious. It takes several minutes to get to the ending tag, which is merely "Ooh baby baby, ooh baby baby, when I'm down" which is nothing to write home about. And then it just fades out; no huge climactic ending. However, it's the instrumental production of this song that puts it over the top. The triplets really play odds with the 4/4 timing. The only real indicator of the 4/4, really, is Bonham's straight 4 drumming. Without that, you'd probably get lost! This is where a lot of that tension is generated, and it makes for a very dramatic piece.
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sockit
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 234
Likes: 181
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Post by sockit on May 17, 2022 3:03:56 GMT
Can I really be the only one of us who appreciates "Hey Hey What Can I Do"? I mean, we all know the song, right?
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Post by carllove on May 17, 2022 11:22:57 GMT
One thing I've noticed in our lists is that "Kashmir" appears to be the most well-regarded song off Physical Graffiti. It's the only one that appeared on every list. I like it a lot, but personally had 8 others ranked higher in my top 40. I'm guessing it's just down to lyrics sometimes taking a back seat for me (as in, I'm not focusing on the words so much as how they sound). Because, musically, while enjoyable, it's a little plodding. It heavily features that dissonant, ascending riff (A-Bb-B-C-D), so there's not much movement there, musically (though, it is cool). I guess I'm just wondering if there's something specific that you guys like? Is it a true standout for you off the album, or is it more a coincidence that everyone selected it? Kashmir takes you on a hypnotic journey. I don’t find it plodding at all with the 4/4 drumming over the 3/4 string arrangement providing dramatic tension. The imagery is beautiful. I wouldn’t change a thing and I never get tired of it. It’s brilliant.
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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2022 12:17:00 GMT
Can I really be the only one of us who appreciates "Hey Hey What Can I Do"? I mean, we all know the song, right? I like it, too. It's not among my favorites, but I definitely enjoy it. Zeppelin is just one of those bands where there are so many great songs that there are always going to be unfortunate omissions. Can't have 75 songs in the Top 40!
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Post by kds on May 17, 2022 12:21:14 GMT
One thing I've noticed in our lists is that "Kashmir" appears to be the most well-regarded song off Physical Graffiti. It's the only one that appeared on every list. I like it a lot, but personally had 8 others ranked higher in my top 40. I'm guessing it's just down to lyrics sometimes taking a back seat for me (as in, I'm not focusing on the words so much as how they sound). Because, musically, while enjoyable, it's a little plodding. It heavily features that dissonant, ascending riff (A-Bb-B-C-D), so there's not much movement there, musically (though, it is cool). I guess I'm just wondering if there's something specific that you guys like? Is it a true standout for you off the album, or is it more a coincidence that everyone selected it? Kap pretty much hit on why I like Kashmir so much. Even though I personally think that Rainbow took a similar musical concept and crafted a slightly better song in Stargazer. And, Zeppelin is one of those bands where the lyrics don't matter so much to me. Too hippyish at times, too Tolkien. I don't give a toss about any of that stuff.
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Post by kds on May 17, 2022 12:23:45 GMT
Can I really be the only one of us who appreciates "Hey Hey What Can I Do"? I mean, we all know the song, right? I like it, but it's more middle of the pack for Zeppelin for me. I also think it became one of their most overplayed acoustic songs. I don't know if it's always been that way. But, I remember early in my HS years, Hootie and the Blowfish, who were blowing up, did a cover on a Zeppelin tribute album, and it feel like that somewhat increased the plays of the LZ original, at least on our local classic rock stations.
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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2022 12:25:27 GMT
And, Zeppelin is one of those bands where the lyrics don't matter so much to me. Too hippyish at times, too Tolkien. I don't give a toss about any of that stuff. When I was getting into Zeppelin, age 12-14 or so, it was the Tolkien references that won me over! I mean, it was guitar first and foremost. But then to hear "but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her," or a title like "Misty Mountain Hop," that stuff won a place in this little nerd's heart. (I started trying to discover other Tolkien references in there, and really, really stretched to find them!)
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Post by kds on May 17, 2022 12:34:35 GMT
And, Zeppelin is one of those bands where the lyrics don't matter so much to me. Too hippyish at times, too Tolkien. I don't give a toss about any of that stuff. When I was getting into Zeppelin, age 12-14 or so, it was the Tolkien references that won me over! I mean, it was guitar first and foremost. But then to hear "but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her," or a title like "Misty Mountain Hop," that stuff won a place in this little nerd's heart. (I started trying to discover other Tolkien references in there, and really, really stretched to find them!) To be 100% honest, I never picked up on them. I had no clue what Robert was going on about there. But, around the time the movies came out, I dated a girl briefly (she was 40, I was 24 - humble brag), who was big into Tolkien and loved the movies, and she pointed out that very lyric from Ramble On. I also remember around that time, Vh1 was digging their heals into mindless nostalgia programming (which I confess, I love) with list shows and I Love the 70s, I Love the 80s, etc. In one episode of I Love the 70s, one of the segments was The Who v. Led Zeppelin. And, one guy (it might've been Donal Logue) said that The Who were more for the beer drinking jocks, and Zeppelin were more for pot smoking Tolkien readers. Which is funny to me, as growing up, Zeppelin were generally perceived as the heavier band, and adopted moreso by the jocks at my HS than The Who.
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