By 1975, Led Zeppelin were in a hemisphere far removed from every other band in the world. Shows at Tampa Stadium and Madison Gardens had broken all sorts of records in 1973, their 1974 'Swan Song' label an unmitigated success, and 'The Rolling Stone', previously the curators of Zeppelin vitriol, now finally in their laps, nothing was stopping Zeppelin. What better way to celebrate 1975 than the release of their greatest representation of their musical palette?
'Physical Grafitti' was no compilation or petty 'Greatest Hits' but an amalgamation of album songs dating as far back as 1970. The release of a double album could not have been more pertinent; The Who, Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer had become lauded for their double albums in the previous eighteen months; 'The Rolling Stones' and 'The Beatles' similarly had released double albums at key points in their career. Now, onto their sixth, album the rock Gods felt it was time to unveil theirs.
What an unveiling. The first side alone features a nice illustrative variety of textures (something which succeeding Zeppelin albums, the riff driven 'Presence' (1976) and keyboard centred 'In Through The Out Door' (1979) sorely lacked) over a mere six songs. There's solid ersatz funk 'Custard Pie', rock n roll homage 'The Rover', seething blues classic 'In My Time Of Dying' (recorded live in the studio), proto-garage burner 'Houses Of The Holy', clavinet-led dance track 'Trampled Under Foot' and Eastern Progressive wonder 'Kashmir', each song better than the one before that. 'Kashmir', in particular, stood for the very essence of Zeppelin's brilliance. Bold, cosmic, incalculable, it stood underneath a tumbling array of drums, strings and guitar tunings, one frontman Robert Plant continuously proclaims as Zeppelin's studio zenith. It's hard to disagree with him there (although 'Stairway To Heaven' and 'Whole Lotta Love' are also in the foray!).
The second side, undoubtedly not as strong, still showed the diversity Jimmy Page and co. could construct. The biggest surprise on the second side is the shockingly beautiful 'Ten Years Gone', a ballad Plant wrote for a love he discarded for music. Underneath Plant's endearing vocal comes Jimmy Page's most endearing guitar work. Masterful, but accessible, present, but never at Plant's expense, it remains Page's most underappreciated guitar playing. Always a better player than Keith Richards, Pete Townshend and, even, David Gilmour, Page could be subtle with his playing, in spite of all the gargantuan riffs Zeppelin were constantly mercilessly accused of.
Other highlights include the brilliant keyboard based 'In The Light' (John Paul Jones's arrangement's at their best), glam rock homage 'Sick Again', vaudeville throwaway 'Down by the Seaside' and metal monster 'The Wanton Song'. True, this side also augmented the boring 'Boogie With Stu' (although this does offer Plant's sole guitar playing on a Zeppelin record, as well as Rolling Stones founder Ian Stewart's nifty piano playing) and awful 'Black Country Woman'. But given the number of lacklustre songs featured on celebrated treasures 'The White Album' and 'Tommy', two or three uneventful tracks is not enough to take from the album's magnificence.
