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Album Details
- Artist: Led Zeppelin
- Album: Led Zeppelin Iii
- Label: Atlantic
- Year of Release: 1970
- ME Rating: Indie Classic
- Reviewed by: gwhill on 2012-12-13
RecommendThis album was certainly a shock to Zeppelin fans when it came out. Accustomed to the bluesy hard rock of the first couple albums, much of this had to have seemed like a different band. It showed a folky, acoustic side to the outfit. I’d have to say that while not everything is completely successful from my way of think it’s essential for a few songs including “Immigrant Song,” “Friends,” “Celebration Day” and “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” It’s not Zep’s most consistent album, but it’s still quite good.
Of course, when you figure that those four tunes were the openers, it seems like the disc sort of started with a bang and gradually wound down a bit. “Immigrant Song” was the hard rocking Zeppelin that people were expecting. It had some of Robert Plant’s classic screaming vocals and just plain rocked. “Friends” was more of the folky side of Zeppelin. It was completely new to anyone who’d heard their first two albums, as hints had been place, but it was a real bit of foreshadowing for much of the rest of the set. “Celebration Day” seemed like the middle ground between the first two track. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” was a throwback to the bluesier material on the first two Zep albums.
The remainder of the album touched things from the bluesy, to the more pop rock to more of the folk sounds, but overall seemed mellower than the earlier Zeppelin albums. “Tangerine” had a real pop folk rock sound, while the closer “Hats off to Ray Harper” seemed like a Robert Johnson styled blues number, right down to the production. The remaining songs are all middle of the road Zep material. Overall, while inconsistent, this album had enough killer stuff to keep it essential. Besides, to fully understand the Zeppelin sound, you need to hear all their albums because each has its own identity.
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on 2013-05-12 CharlesMartel Said:
After producing a solid blues album, and then an album which bridged the gap between the pure blues and rock, what did Led Zeppelin go out and do? They hid themselves in a run down cottage in North Wales with no electricity, and produced an album of largely folk-inspired tracks. What on earth were they thinking of? They had just started to build up a following when they did this. Brave and adventurous or downright risky and foolish?
Actually, it is probably the best album they did except for "IV". It opens with the driving "Immigrant Song " which would make you think that they were starting from where they last left off. Wrong. Almost immediately, they slip down some gears and run through some quiet, moody, folky songs. They throw in the blues with " Since I've Been Loving You ", which contains what I regard as one of Page's best ever guitar solos. (Hey, by the way, did you see Jimmy Page picked up his OBE the other day?). Then it ends out the first side with another up-tempo number, " Out on the Tiles" .
The second side is almost entirely acoustic. It contains one instrumental, " Bron-y-Aur" , named after the cottage where they stayed, and ends with "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" , which is possibly the weakest song on the whole album. It took me ages to get into this and I am still not sure if I am now at ease with it because I like it, or because as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.
Tracks like " Friends" , "Gallows Pole" and "Tangerine" may not always figure in the favourite Led Zeppelin tracks of most people, but then most people are only familiar with the rockier stuff. Many of the more folk influenced tracks are classics in their own right and show a side of the band which was not always evident in the first two albums, although the use of Trad. Arr. As an attribution should show they were still borrowing others songs, in this case an old number from the forties by Leadbelly.
Of the tracks on the album, apart from "Since I've Been Loving" You it is hard to pick a favourite. However, if pushed I would have to say "Tangerine" is one of my all time favourite Led Zeppelin tracks, quite possibly one of the best songs about lost love there has ever been: how can anyone come up with a metaphor so sublime as
"Living reflection of a dream ."
Remember, Robert Plant was barely 21 when he wrote this. He would reach his songwriting peak with the next album but was already clearly demonstrating his ability by this time.
But what of this album. well, the truth is that there would never have been a "Led Zeppelin IV" if there had not been a "Led Zeppelin III". The slower tracks like "Battle Of Evermore" would not have been possible if Led Zeppelin had not gone through the period that this album represented. "Stairway to Heaven" could not have sprung from Plant and Page's minds without the mixture of folk, blues and rock which this album represents. But don't just look at this as being a building block to one of the greatest albums of all time. It is a fantastic album in its own right.
Rating: 9/10
on 2013-02-11 SolitaryMan Said:
III has some gems, I'll give you that, but I'm not sure it's quite worthy of our (relatively) prestigious Vault status. The so-so tracks drag down it's back end a bit too much.
Rating: 8/10
