Led Zeppelin
In Through The Out Door

The unpleasant events that affect the Led Zeppelin directly or indirectly increase as the months go by. From the death of Plant's son Karac (July 26, 1977) due to a gastric infection, to the disappearance of Elvis Presley (August 16, 1977), whom the group duly considers their "putative grandfather," to Bonzo's risk of dying in a car accident (September 1977) to the guilty plea (February 1978) for Bonham, manager Grant, and bodyguard John Bindon for assault after the show at the Oakland Coliseum, these incidents reinforce the belief that a curse hovers over the band.

Apparently overcoming the negative wind, the crew of the dirigible meets at Clearwell Castle on the borders of Wales to plan the immediate future, which will start with rehearsals for their ninth studio work. These will begin in London in November 1979, culminating in the recording of "In Through The Outdoor" at the Polar Studios in Stockholm.

The smoky introductory keyboards and Plant's warm vocal lament are enough to launch "In The Evening", a solid blend of sounds that makes everything majestic and imposing, with a grating guitar solo that leads to an instrumental break, where Page's mastery can best express itself with simplicity and ease. The mocking "South Bound Saurez" moves over boogie and polyrhythmic groove coordinates where the vocal inserts attempt to convey just the right amount of catchiness, making the listening experience more shamelessly enjoyable. The Led Zeppelin's ability to operate across a wide range of sounds and rhythms is established, and with "Fool In The Rain"—a real meeting point between samba and Caribbean-inspired sounds with a masked party piano by Jones and various whistles—they manage to ensure the right carnival atmosphere to the ironic portrayal of the curly singer as abandoned lover (An' the clock on the wall's movin' slower, Oh my heart it sinks to the round An' the storm that I thought would blow over Clouds the light of the love that I found, found; L'orologio alla parete va più lento Il mio cuore affonda, va a terra E la tempesta che credevo avrebbe spazzato via rannuvola la luce dell'amore che avevo trovato, trovato).

The festive atmosphere continues with "Hot Dog" (perfect for enlivening a saloon frequented by rednecks), concluding the more lively part of the record, to start with "Carouselambra" (second in length only to "In My Time Of Dying" from "Physical Graffiti"), a certainly more interesting path for originality and intent. We are, in fact, facing more than ten minutes of music, converging various elements of different nature (from the substantial presence of synthesizers to the clear coloring of the guitar sound), where the roughness of the beginning is shaped according to those personal evolutionary needs already intimated with the immediately preceding works. "All My Love" (composed by Jones and Plant) is a perhaps somewhat affected ballad, where Plant's languid performance can represent a sure gateway to the Zeppelin's music, even for that less traditionalist audience. Closing, the old love for blues is felt with "I'm Gonna Crawl", where the soft chord succession and slow proceeding of the vocals alternate well with the interspersed rhythmic section tasked with highlighting the most intense moments.

The seven tracks played so far make "In Through The Outdoor" a more than decent work, undoubtedly showing that even the band itself begins to pay the price for the negative events mentioned above and the consequences of living eleven years of career in the full fulfillment of the triad "Sex, drugs and Rock' n Roll". A record, therefore, that certainly does not disgrace itself if placed alongside the numerous masterpieces that preceded it, although not equaling their artistic magnitude.