The official site for Tim's legendary Zeppelin reviews
Led Zeppelin II
This album is amazing. The fact that it it’s so good makes it even more disappointing that they threw Living Loving Maid in there. This album is so good and they knew it. Maybe that’s why they chose a total different direction for Zepp III because they knew they couldn’t compare to Zepp II who knows.
Whole Lotta Love
Such a simple riff but that is part of what makes it so good. They stole this from Willie Dixon though. This song has a great guitar break/solo with the call and response of the drums/bass and then quick guitar solos. Iconic Plant scream You Need Loveeeeeee.........cool use of the theremin for the bridge. This is a really sleazy guitar riff that makes me want to have a conservative republican threesome with Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin and be their back door man. Hell, if I am at a sheep farm and they are playing this song the sheep better run! A classic album opener and song.
What Is and What Should Never Be
Very underated Zep song, again they make use of the soft / loud dynamic. Rare Jazzy drumbeat by Bonzo and use of his famous gong. Page has some real tasteful axe soloing in this one where less notes are more. He then bursts into some raunchy slide guitar. Unique vocal melody by Plant. Like in many zepp songs Plant sounds like he has his balls in a vice. Also the pan of the sound from the left to right speaker at the end of the song sounds great through headphones.
Lemon Song
Squeeze my lemon til' the juice runs down my leg, reference to killin' floor, etc. They stole more on this one than Minneapolis looters. I like how this song speeds up and then slows down again. JPJ just kills the bass in this song . Listen carefully so you can hear the bass, it is worth your effort. Love the accompanying guitar work when Plant says "your gonna squeeze my lemon until i fall right out of bed". Not Shakespeare ...but effective poetry nevertheless. I cannot rate this song very high though because it is basically a blues song that they stole.
Thank You
This is another underrated acoustic song with a nice acoustic guitar solo. This is a great song to awaken to and look outside of my tent in Yosemite to see a slow moving stream flowing with birds chirping and the sun rising and if you are lucky a deer grazing on grass nice subtle organ work by JPJ. A lesser known gem of a song to the general public but to true Zeplibes a fan favorite.
Heartbreaker
Good guitar riff and solo in this one. The solo is admittedly sloppy and wilder than Boris Yeltsin's hair but Page did it in one take in the studio and wanted to keep it's raw, live spontaneous sound. The guitar tone is outstanding in this song. Drums are great in this song too. Probably too commercial but a great song nevertheless.
Living Loving Maid
Rarely played in concert because Page did not like this song. This was a very commercial song and i think many diehard Zep fans would agree that this song is weak when compared to the rest of the catalog. This song is what i would call Led Zeppelin "Light". This song should’ve been thrown on the B-side of the Coda album as it is the definition of Filler. Sorry almighty Zepp, but you guys were just going through the motions on this track.
Ramble On
What a well written song this is .... great bass line in this song subtle and smooth. good acoustic intro, Plants lyrics and melody are really good here, true Zep fans may consider this song too commercial but it is still a very solid song.
Moby Dick
This is a great heavy axe riff. Unfortunately Page stole it. This has to be one of the great rock instrumentals of all time though. The guitar tone is awesome on this song. Bonhams drums are powerful here too. If this song does not give you stank face you are as low energy as Jeb Bush. Love when the guitar and bass kick back in after the drum solo. This song hits me hard below the belt and makes me want to grudge eff' Hilary Clinton and Janet Reno in a deranged political porno that would make Madonna blush.
Bring It on Home
Good bluesy beginning, the call and response of Plants vocals and harmonica are great in the beginning. When the drums and bass come in they punch you in da' mouf. This is one of my favorites..........again the tone of the guitar is outstanding. This song is just raw as hell. I think this is a very underrated song you need to really crank this one up loud to fully appreciate how good it is. Also I wish it was longer.