Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

I think it's one of the better Zeppelin albums - although I have to say I'm not really a fan, as I can't stand Plant's oohing and screeching, which pretty much ruins everything great they did. He has got much less bad with age though, and maybe this album was the start...

I have some sympathy with that view, in respect of at least some of their stuff... but I find his post-Zeppelin material boring.

Redlester

@icbm There's a degree of subjectivity in all of this, but I do find that comment something of an overstatement, Plant could overdo it at times, it is true, but it in the early days it was very much in fashion. He developed as an all round thinker about music in pretty short order after 1970, and by 1972 I think he'd pretty much screeched that whole histrionic style out of himself physically. He basically overdid it and lost the capacity.  

What he lost was the shriek, but what he retains is the sense of using the full range he's got. His sense of dynamics is superb. 

I guess the worst excess would be a lot of the stuff off the first album. 

The flipside of that would be how he used the top of his range at full pelt on Zep iv (e.g. the coda of Battle of Evermore) which is absolutely spinetingling. 

By ITTOD, he'd lost all that top and shriek. He was also older, probably felt about 100 years old after his poor son passed, and it's not that kind of album anyway. 

Devil#20

ICBM said:

I think it's one of the better Zeppelin albums - although I have to say I'm not really a fan, as I can't stand Plant's oohing and screeching, which pretty much ruins everything great they did. He has got much less bad with age though, and maybe this album was the start...

Led Zeppelin is far and away my favourite band. However, I'm glad you said that John. I was listening to "How the West was won" in the car the other day and his over elaboration and generally up his own-arseness is cringeworthy in parts. Just no need. It's like he's trying to upstage everyone. 

As far as "In through the out door" is concerned, it's my least favourite Zep album. In the Evening and Carouselambra are the only tracks I like. They were a spent force by the time they made that album. It's a lazy album and just goes through the motions IMO. I might dig it out and give it a spin later but I bet I don't make it all the way through. 

Saw Zeppelin live a few times and for the most part they were terrible and Jimmy was all over the place and sloppy. One or two good concerts and that was it. I didn't rush to try and get a ticket for the reunion gig with Jason. 

Anyway, everyone knows the best band live were The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. If you ever saw them you'd know what I mean.  

Philly_Q

Devil#20 said:

Anyway, everyone knows the best band live were The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. If you ever saw them you'd know what I mean.  

I've got a weird (and embarrassing) gap in my memory in respect of this, but  I'm pretty sure I saw them when I was at university.... but I can't remember if it was Alex without SAHB or SAHB without Alex.  Or maybe I'm imagining the whole thing.  If it was Alex, it would have been not long before he died.

Devil#20

Philly_Q said:

Devil#20 said:

Anyway, everyone knows the best band live were The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. If you ever saw them you'd know what I mean.  

I've got a weird (and embarrassing) gap in my memory in respect of this, but  I'm pretty sure I saw them when I was at university.... but I can't remember if it was Alex without SAHB or SAHB without Alex.  Or maybe I'm imagining the whole thing.  If it was Alex, it would have been not long before he died.

You may have been partaking in illegal combustible materials or something at the time perhaps. 

Philly_Q

Devil#20 said:

Philly_Q said:

Devil#20 said:

Anyway, everyone knows the best band live were The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. If you ever saw them you'd know what I mean.  

I've got a weird (and embarrassing) gap in my memory in respect of this, but  I'm pretty sure I saw them when I was at university.... but I can't remember if it was Alex without SAHB or SAHB without Alex.  Or maybe I'm imagining the whole thing.  If it was Alex, it would have been not long before he died.

You may have been partaking in illegal combustible materials or something at the time perhaps. 

No, I never have!  Maybe I was inhaling someone else's secondhand smoke.

I've got an envelope full of of old tickets.... just had a look through and can't find it, although I did find a few others from the '80s and early '90s I'd forgotten about.

prowla

I've still got my T-shirt from Knebworth.

axisus

Redlester said:

I guess the worst excess would be a lot of the stuff off the first album. 

Are you people serious!?!?!? Plant's singing on the debut album BLEW MY MIND!! I still love it. Babe I'm gonna leave you is incredible ....

pintspiller

A cousin had it. He played it for me once. I thought it was bollocks. I may only have heard a few of the tunes from their first five albums. I'd have only been listening to Who's Next at this time (mid-80s, I was 16), and only listened to The Who.

AK99

steveledzep said:

Not played mine for yonks either, I'll put it on later.  Yes, my inner sleeve is like some of the painting books I had as a nipper, just a brush and water required.

Did you know that there are (IIRC) six different outer sleeve designs labelled A to F, shown on the top of the spine.  Mine is design A.

Knew about the water thing - got slagged by a couple of mates back in the day for not having worked it out from the clues on the outer cover  - but never knew about the A-F sleeve variants*

Pulled it out of the brown bag for the first time in a couple of decades this evening. Shall have to give it a listen.

* Just checked - mine's a 'B' btw

RandallFlagg

I think it helps to listen to ITTOD without your Les Zeppelin expectations or ears on, I just played it and heard it afresh as just some random band and found it quite quirky and enjoyed it. Maybe it's just me but I heard touches of mid 90s bands like Ocean Colour Scene, Suede, Keane and others in there.

But I admit that you can hear that there's a quality band in there but are playing songs they are not necessarily completely comfortable with.

stickyfiddle

I've never liked anything Zep did after Houses of the Holy (and even on that you have to ignore D'yer Maker and The Crunge). PG has some great stuff but it's bloated as fuck, and everything after was just synthy balls.

Maybe you had to be there.

melod

I actually think many of the less (originally) appreciated material has aged more gracefully than expected.

In through the out door has a few throwaway tracks for me (hot dog, I am gonna crawl). If these were replaced by other songs recorded at the time but appearing in CODA, it would have been much better.

Presence on the other hand, is probably the one that really has been elevated in my mind as a classic. The playing is just awesome and the pace just frantic (probably the reason it was not as widely liked).

steveledzep

stickyfiddle said:

I've never liked anything Zep did after Houses of the Holy (and even on that you have to ignore D'yer Maker and The Crunge). PG has some great stuff but it's bloated as fuck, and everything after was just synthy balls.

Maybe you had to be there.

That's a pretty good summary of my take on Zep.  First exposure was Zep II and I vividly remember Alan (Fluff) Freeman constantly playing the intro to Zep III prior to release on his Saturday afternoon Rock Show.  III was a disappointment to me when it came out, but is probably my favourite now.

Jalapeno

stickyfiddle said:

I've never liked anything Zep did after Houses of the Holy (and even on that you have to ignore D'yer Maker and The Crunge). PG has some great stuff but it's bloated as fuck, and everything after was just synthy balls.

Maybe you had to be there.

I was, and LZ felt directionless,  I was a follower, but was dissapointed by Presence and had long moved on by then (to Rory Gallagher and Graham Parker & the Rumour)

re:SAHB saw them at Reading Rock '77 not long before Alex died - it was stunning !

prowla

I like everything except Coda (and the 70s live one where Planty bails out of every high note and does too much b-b-b-b-b-b-b-babe-b-b-b-b-b-baby-ing).

I think Physical Graffiti is my favourite, though the rawness of Led Zep 1 is fantastic.

On the occasions I do listen to In Through The Out Door, though, I do quite like it. (But I guess the "quite" is the relevant word there, once the bar has been set so high.)

mudslide73

Presence on the other hand, is probably the one that really has been elevated in my mind as a classic. The playing is just awesome and the pace just frantic (probably the reason it was not as widely liked).

Apparently Jimmy recorded all the overdubbed solos (including ALS!) in one night. Presence was done under extreme pressures and it shows, but as you say it pushed them into a corner.

yocky

Thanks for the reminder, listening now.

I reckon for where it comes in their catalogue it's a resounding success and most bands would kill to be this "not shit" at this stage. I'm enjoying all of it apart from Hot Dog which can go straight to Room 101. They're moving with the musical times - a bit of leading and a bit of following, and I'd like to have heard what came next. Page got obsessed with Killing Joke after this - that could have made for an interesting influence.

I've read people arguing that Bonham lacks the subtlety for this kind of music and I just don't get it. He's great on this album, especially South Bound Saurez.

Led Zep are one of my favourite bands of all time and probably the most influential. It's funny though, I've never liked Plant's over the top warbling, their more straight up blues moments or Page's self indulgent tendencies. Just pump the likes of Good Times Bad Times and Black Dog straight into my veins.

koneguitarist

Think Plant was much better with Alison Krauss 

Grumpyrocker

Love this album. Worth the admission fee just for Bonzo's drumming on Fool In the Rain.