Led Zeppelin
Physical Graffiti

THE REVIEW

I had asked if someone could review this album, but no one wanted to know. So I took the courage to do it myself, to shed light on this album that is definitely very interesting, with very memorable inputs from Sir Jimmy's legendary guitar, Jones' exotic keyboards, Plant's aggressive voice, and Bonzo's pyrotechnic acrobatics.

So far it might seem like a masterpiece, and in certain aspects, it really is. But some songs could have been avoided, not because they were bad, but because they gave the impression of "heard it before," namely the somewhat dull Down By The Seaside and the "heard it before" Black Country Woman. Both feel very much like fillers, but I won't let two silly songs tarnish two epic records.
Indeed, the album opens with an aggressive rock blues, Custard Pie, enhanced by Page's sparkling and biting guitar and Jones' clavinet. The next track, The Rover, is also a classic hard rock blues, but very exciting (especially in the chorus), with Plant's voice reaching very high expressive peaks. In My Time Of Dying will go down in history, at 11 minutes, as the longest song (on an album) by the Zeppelin. The track is primarily a Page guitar show with decidedly bluesy references. After the first five minutes, with the entrance of Bonzo's drums, the song transforms into a fiery hard rock burned by Bonzo's attacks and Page's obsessive guitar. A classic. With Houses Of The Holy and Trampled Under Foot, we return to the song form. The first is a solid rock that should have been the "title-track" of "Houses Of The Holy," the second is a heavy funk with a very engaging rhythm section (here too Jones uses the glorious and funny clavinet).
The first record closes with one of the great classics of the Zeppelin sound: Kashmir, where stunning hard sounds are intertwined with sounds with a decidedly Indian flavor, 8 minutes and 30 of great spectacle, but the difference is made by the strings inserted by Jones, which give more exoticism absent in previous albums. Fascinating, just like the following track that opens the second record, In The Light, introduced by the exotic and evocative sounds of Jones' keyboards, reminiscent of Kashmir's Indian themes, and followed by Page's flamboyant guitar and Plant's touching voice. Bron-Y-Aur is an instrumental based on Page's acoustic guitar, interesting but slightly isolated from the rest of the album.
As mentioned before, Down By The Seaside feels very much like a filler, but it's something to endure for only 5 minutes. In fact, what follows is one of the album's most significant pieces (I mean disc 1 and 2) and of Led Zeppelin's career, Ten Years Gone, moving and poignant with Page's very sweet guitar. Night Flight is an interesting soft rock piece characterized by Jones' seductive organ and Bonzo's carefree drums. The Wanton Song is one of the harder tracks from the record and the Zeppelin, completely different from the previous track, Boogie With Stu, a delightful boogie with (wow!) Plant on guitar and Ian Stewart (who had already played on Rock And Roll on "IV"). Black Country has already been spoken of, and the album closes with an abrasive force and aggression, Sick Again, centered on Page's harsh and possessive guitar.

Despite having some lazy and unremarkable moments, "Physical Graffiti" is a very enjoyable album, something that unfortunately cannot be said of the previous album, "Presence," which marks the (partial) decline of Led Zeppelin. It is worth remembering that this double vinyl was mostly made from leftovers from "Led Zeppelin III" and other decent albums like "IV" and "Houses Of The Holy".

Unmissable. To be considered more like a 4.5 rather than a 4.