Post by dangerzone on Jun 7, 2006 12:29:15 GMT -5
Led Zeppelin by 1979 had become more than a pale imitation of their former selves. They were unrecognisable. Bonham was more bloated from booze than Keith Moon had been, Page was a drug addled loser, Plant was reeling from the death of his son in 1977 and Jones was as anonymous as ever. Actually he wasn't. With the others in disarray Jones took control of songwriting duties for the bands first album since 1976 and delivered the nadir of Zeppelin's recording history. Clearly the fire was gone. The drumming might as well be from Charlie Watts and Page sounds as much like a guitar genius as Ron Wood. There is barely a trace of one of the greatest hard rock bands of the decade, with Jones bodging the album with an overload of poorly conceived synthesizers and lack of guitar work.
The only lasting tracks of any repute are 'In The Evening' and the epic ten minute 'Carouselambra', with its swirling keyboards and various passages, make for engaging listening. But that's it. The lousy samba of 'Fool In The Rain' and the Page/Plant country hoedown reject 'Hot Dog' are indescribable in their mediocrity. Why were they chosen over the shelved tracks that appeared on 'Coda' like 'Wearin And Tearing' and 'We're Gonna Groove' is one of the bands greatest mysteries, as they displayed the heaviness that Zeppelin were supposed to represent .Instead they opted for tripe like 'All My Love' and 'I'm Gonna Crawl', dismal ballds with 'All My Love' containing surely the crudest keyboard solo of all time. Zeppelin had been on the skids for sometime anyway, with 1976's 'Presence' only containing a handful of worthy tracks also. At least it had a hard rock identity, which cannot be said of this.
I'm certain the American youth of 1979 were less than thrilled with what they heard here. I first heard this in 1992 and I thought it was cobblers back then. This represents the end of an era in reality. All the huge hard rockers of the 70's were aging and down on their luck and Zeppelin were amongst the biggest casualties. Watching Bonham in action at the 1979 Knebworth gig he appears more like a burned out fifty year old rather than the 34 year old he was. If he hadn't died I wonder what direction the band would have headed. By the sounds of 'Out Door' hearty AOR perhaps. But does it even matter? Zeppelin owned a place in my heart for a year in the early 90's but I overdosed on them so heavily I can't listen to them anymore. But I can listen to 'Out Door'. Even after pasting it here. Inevitably the worst album of a bands career always has that certain degree of charm (see The Who's 'It's Hard') and because Zeppelin had fallen so far, that fact alone makes 'In Through The Out Door' a classic. Who's up for another dose of 'Carouselambra'? Not even you Jimmy?
Rating: A for the rudeness
The only lasting tracks of any repute are 'In The Evening' and the epic ten minute 'Carouselambra', with its swirling keyboards and various passages, make for engaging listening. But that's it. The lousy samba of 'Fool In The Rain' and the Page/Plant country hoedown reject 'Hot Dog' are indescribable in their mediocrity. Why were they chosen over the shelved tracks that appeared on 'Coda' like 'Wearin And Tearing' and 'We're Gonna Groove' is one of the bands greatest mysteries, as they displayed the heaviness that Zeppelin were supposed to represent .Instead they opted for tripe like 'All My Love' and 'I'm Gonna Crawl', dismal ballds with 'All My Love' containing surely the crudest keyboard solo of all time. Zeppelin had been on the skids for sometime anyway, with 1976's 'Presence' only containing a handful of worthy tracks also. At least it had a hard rock identity, which cannot be said of this.
I'm certain the American youth of 1979 were less than thrilled with what they heard here. I first heard this in 1992 and I thought it was cobblers back then. This represents the end of an era in reality. All the huge hard rockers of the 70's were aging and down on their luck and Zeppelin were amongst the biggest casualties. Watching Bonham in action at the 1979 Knebworth gig he appears more like a burned out fifty year old rather than the 34 year old he was. If he hadn't died I wonder what direction the band would have headed. By the sounds of 'Out Door' hearty AOR perhaps. But does it even matter? Zeppelin owned a place in my heart for a year in the early 90's but I overdosed on them so heavily I can't listen to them anymore. But I can listen to 'Out Door'. Even after pasting it here. Inevitably the worst album of a bands career always has that certain degree of charm (see The Who's 'It's Hard') and because Zeppelin had fallen so far, that fact alone makes 'In Through The Out Door' a classic. Who's up for another dose of 'Carouselambra'? Not even you Jimmy?
Rating: A for the rudeness