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Rating: Placed at the closing of "In Through the Outdoor," the eighth and final studio album by the renowned British band in 1979, this intense and dragged-out soul blues represents the worthy twilight of an unparalleled career, abruptly ended a year later by the tragedy that befell drummer Bonham. In short, nothing less than the final excellence of a long series that created a sensation, trend, and history. Moreover, in my personal opinion, the only masterpiece of an album not equally generous in terms of inspiration and quality, especially when compared to the high standards maintained in almost all previous releases.
The introduction of the track features multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones at the forefront, who lays out a romantic opening of synthesized strings with great scenic, even cinematic, effect, interrupted at its peak by the first drum thud, establishing a heavy waltz time in six-four that brings along a quiet and arpeggiating guitar, engaged together with the bass in a progression resolving from C to G passing through G sharp, always in a major mode. The unusual thing (and Led Zeppelin did many unusual things, both harmonically and rhythmically, in their varied musical journey) is that Jones's keyboard avoids resolving to G and remains on the sharp, while Page, just landed on the closing chord, adds a ninth flourish, thus an A. In short, the closure of the harmonic progression sees the contiguous G, G sharp, and A resonate but... it works great!
Over this harmonic structure, Plant's priceless voice, in a soft and unforced version, recorded very close to the microphone to make it present and rich in low frequencies, begins to declaim yet another ode to the beloved woman, more or less distant, more or less idealized, more or less respected, and for this reason to be begged. In the chorus, Plant's timbre swiftly slips into the powerful and clear scream that made him famous, only to roar definitively in the bridge, which opens to D and G before tightening in an A minor syncopation, generating tension immediately released in the subsequent chord. In this push and pull of urgency and satisfaction, of density and relaxation, Bonham's formidable drumming groove goes hand in hand, and the incomparable musician demonstrates all his sensitivity and originality even in such a slow and steady tempo.
The central solo by Jimmy Page, seemingly played on the favored Gibson Les Paul set with both pickups engaged, climbs up the verse and then traverses bridge and chorus, in a complete song cycle dedicated to it. It is an extremely instinctive and direct matter, the essence of the blues approach to music here in one of its most striking examples; undoubtedly one of his best solos on record.
It begins with a delicate and not at all easy work on the third string (G) pressed at the seventh fret but "worked" just right to obtain two contiguous notes (E and its respective flat), a very exciting and heartfelt opening. Then follow free and liberating runs up and down the A minor scale, until the phrasing is gathered again in a few notes of waiting and tension, only to explode in the chorus in a very sonorous A, taken on the high E string to make it as ringing and metallic as possible. Again, hectic phases with clusters of notes and then the ascent towards the highs for the grand finale. It is here that the master's guitar achieves its maximum expressive power, with a few decisively drawn notes and a remarkable choice of timing, all heartfelt up to the last, moving A, which dies away gloriously a little flat in the reprise of the verse's harmonic progression.
The finale is a free improvisation of the group on said harmonic progression; you can feel they are all playing together, loading each other up. Bonham pounds harder, and then Plant recites his desires and prayers (I'll crawl, I'll crawl...) with more excitement, the drummer gradually calms down, and all lose emphasis on their instruments... it is how music was once made, all together in a room looking at each other and creating rock and blues in the only authentically plausible way. The music fades with the last trickle of the keyboard over a C inversion that prolongs on the very last invocation of the singer.
Music by Jones and Page, lyrics and vocals by Plant, the last roar of the greats before the end, but certainly not of oblivion.
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