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"Physical Graffiti", that is Led Zeppelin at the pinnacle of their career and creativity. With this masterpiece, the Led achieve the artistic maturation started with "III" and continued with "Houses of the Holy", creating the only double album in their discography where various musical genres are skillfully blended, from hard rock to funky, passing through blues and oriental sounds, with peaks of expression and intensity truly at the highest levels.
The album opens with "Custard Pie", a hard-rock piece with rough sounds, followed by the more "clear" rock of "The Rover", a song from '70, where Page places one of his riffs and one of his most perfectly constructed solos. It follows with "In My Time Of Dying", a blues standard, to which Bonham's scorching drums, Plant's dramatic singing, and Page's sadistic guitar give a frightening emotional intensity, making it a Led cornerstone. It continues with the impish "Houses Of The Holy", dating from '73, with a heavy funky track, "Trampled Under Foot", where Jones stands out on the keyboard and Plant sings the analogies between car mechanics and the sexual act, reaching the apotheosis of "Physical Graffiti": "Kashmir". Bonzo's imposing drums, Page and Jones' slow and majestic riff, with Jones still on the keyboard, and the epic journey narrated by a Plant in great shape make this track a mystical journey through oriental sounds, giving it a high level of expression and emotion.
The second disc opens with "In The Light", a genuine masterpiece that picks up the oriental sounds of "Kashmir" but, unlike it, is not imposing but more subtle and sinuous; while "Bron-Yr-Aur" is a splendid acoustic instrumental by Page. It continues with the lazy and unjustly underestimated "Down By The Seaside", from '70; then comes "Ten Years Gone", a romantic ballad built on the carpet of Page's perfectly harmonized 14 guitar overdubs, where Plant softly sings the story of his lost love. The next track is "Night Flight", a sunny rock from '71, with Page and Bonham at their best form, Plant's passionate singing, and Jones on the organ. The hard sound that has always distinguished the Led returns: "The Wanton Song" is a hard-rock about sex, with raw sounds, based on Page's crushing and obsessive riff; the atmosphere then relaxes with two amusing acoustic tracks: "Boogie With Stu", a negligible jam with Ian Stewart from '71, and "Black Country Woman", a good piece with a carefree atmosphere from '73. Finally, we return to unbridled sex: "Sick Again" is another fantastic hard-rock, with Page in the lead, but the other three also deliver a superb performance, making this track one of the best Led performances.
When the album was released on February 24, 1975, it received critical acclaim and was an enormous success worldwide: in one week, it climbed to the top of the US and UK charts, and just on pre-orders, it grossed 15 million dollars. "Physical Graffiti" is for the Led a sort of return to the origins: the sound is hard, dirty, raw, far from the crystalline sounds of "Houses Of The Holy", and it is their perfect album: the most complete, the most refined, and the most ambitious: a monument of hard-rock, containing the best music of all the '70s, as well as all the features that made the Zeppelin sound. Many consider it the beginning of the Zep’s artistic decline, but it is exactly the opposite: "Physical Graffiti" captures the Led at the height of their career, in the prime of their strength. Their decline would instead begin with Plant's car accident in August 1975: from then on, a series of unfortunate events would befall the group, affecting their artistic performances: nothing would ever be the same again.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Custard Pie (04:13)
Drop down, baby, let your daddy see.
Drop down, mama, just dream of me
Well, my mama allow me to fool around all night long
Well, I may look like I'm crazy, I should know right from wrong
See me comin', throw your man out the door
Ain't no stranger, been this way before
See me comin', mama, throw your man out the door
I ain't no stranger, I been this way before.
Put on your night shirt and your morning gown
You know by night I'm gonna shake 'em down
Put on your night shirt Mama, and your morning gown
Well, you know by night I'm gonna shake 'em down
Your custard pie, yeah, sweet and nice
When you cut it, mama, save me a slice
Your custard pie, I declare, it's sweet and nice
I Like your custard pie
When you cut it, mama... mama, please save me a slice.
Save me a slice of your custard pie.
Drop down
02 The Rover (05:37)
I've been to London, seen seven wonders. I know to trip is just to fall
I used to rock it, sometimes I'd roll it. I always knew what it was for.
There can be no denyin' that the wind 'll shake 'em down
And the flat world's flyin'. There's a new plague on the land
If we could just join hands
If we could just join hands
If we could just join hands
Traversed the planet when heaven sent me. I saw the kings who rule them all
Still by the firelight and purple moonlight. I hear the rested rivers call
And the wind is crying, from a love that won't grow cold
My lover, she is lying, on the dark side of the globe
If we could just join hands
If we could just join hands
If we could just join hands
You got me rockin' when I ought to be a-rollin'
Darlin', tell me, darlin', which way to go
You keep me rockin', baby, then you keep me stolen
Won't you tell me, darlin', which way to go... that's right
Oh how I wonder, oh how I worry and I would dearly like to know
I've all this wonder of earthly plunder will it leave us anything to show
And our time is flyin' see the candle burnin' low
Is the new world rising, from the shambles of the old
If we could just join hands.
04 Houses of the Holy (04:02)
Let me take you to the movies. Can I take you to the show
Let me be yours ever truly. Can I make your garden grow
From the houses of the holy, we can watch the white doves go
From the door comes Satan's daughter, and it only goes to show. You know.
There's an angel on my shoulder, In my hand a sword of gold
Let me wander in your garden. And the seeds of love I'll sow. You know.
So the world is spinning faster. Are you dizzy when you're stoned
Let the music be your master. Will you heed the master's call
Oh... Satan and man.
Said there ain't no use in crying. Cause it will only, only drive you mad
Does it hurt to hear them lying? Was this the only world you had? Oh-oh
So let me take you, take you to the movie. Can I take you, baby, to the show.
Why don't you let me be yours ever truly. Can I make your garden grow
You know.
05 Trampled Under Foot (05:36)
Greased and slicked down fine, groovy leather trim
I like the way you hold the road, mama, it ain't no sin
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Trouble-free transmission, puncture will explode
Mama, let me pump your gas, mama, let me do it all
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Dig that heavy metal underneath your hood
Baby, I could work all night, believe I've got the perfect tools
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
A model built for comfort, really built with style
Specialist tradition, mama, let me feast my eyes
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Factory air-conditioned, heat begins to rise
Guaranteed to run for hours, mama it's a perfect size
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Groovin' on the freeway, gauge is on the red
Gun down on my gasoline, I believe I'm gonna crack a head.
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
I can't stop talkin' about...
Come to me for service every hundred miles
Baby, let me check your points, fix your overdrive
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Fully automatic, comes in any size
Makes me wonder what I did, before we synchronized
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Feather-light suspension, coils just couldn't hold
I'm so glad I took a look inside your showroom doors
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Talkin' 'bout love
Oh, I can't stop talkin' about love.
06 Kashmir (08:28)
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, whose sounds caress my ear
But not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear
Oh, oh.
Oh, I been blind... mama, there ain't no denyin'
I've been blind, ain't no denyin', no denyin'
All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been.
Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace, like thoughts inside a dream
Heed the path that led me to that place, yellow desert stream
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again
Sure as the dust that floats high in June, when movin' through Kashmir.
Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years
With no provision but an open face, along the straits of fear
Ohh.
When I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
When I see, when I see the way, you stay-yeah
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when I'm down...
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there
Let me take you there. Let me take you there
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Other reviews
By Antonino91
"Despite having some lazy and unremarkable moments, 'Physical Graffiti' is a very enjoyable album."
"Kashmir, where stunning hard sounds are intertwined with sounds with a decidedly Indian flavor, 8 minutes and 30 of great spectacle."
By paloz
The first disc consists of 6 tracks, all with terrifyingly catchy rhythms that instantly get stuck in your head.
'In my time of dying' brims with energy, and is hard to forget... delivering one of Bonham's most significant performances.
By claudio carpentieri
"With the listening of ‘In My Time Of Dying’ one can say it’s witnessing one of the band’s absolute masterpieces!"
"A double release that once again confirms the graceful state of the four members of the dirigible, always capable of creating music worthy of the noblest meaning of this term."
By Rax
"Double albums are always bad records and Physical Graffiti is no exception."
"'Kashmir' is a real work of art with its memorable riff and oriental atmospheres."
