Artist: Led Zeppelin
Label: Atlantic Records
Release: 2003
Rating: 5/5
Twenty-three years after the tragic death of the irreplaceable drummer John Bohnam, Pagey decided to posthumously gather (not counting the studio-recording album “Coda”) a handful of live snippets drawn from a selection of songs from two concerts in distant June 1972 in Los Angeles. It’s a special honor to stuff this digipak triple-decker sandwich of prime-cut delicacies from one of the greatest bands in rock history, if not flat-out the greatest of its era, into your ears.
The steel monster opens the album. You’ll feel the muscular intensity and the unbelievable pounding power of one of the loudest drummers ever to crawl the Earth, John “Bonzo” Bohnam, fused with the raw, thick, energetic bass line of John Paul Jones, right away. Then the indispensable Robert Plant joins in with his at times frenetic vocals. The rolling beast is called Immigrant Song and it kills from the first second. In the outro Jimmy slides into a schizoid solo, heavily seasoned with Bonzo’s torpedoing and witty explosions, which carries the song to its peak. The whole record blows the listener straight up to heaven. The band was in a phase when its members were still thirsty to prove themselves, when they believed they could steer their way and fight through even further, full of work ethic and enthusiasm, and that comes straight through in the stage performance on this triple disc. Pure energy!!! Every song is a story of its own, so it’s hard to single out highlights. Everything is accompanied by extraordinary magic and the phenomenal onstage working chemistry of a band that simply seemed unstoppable and unbeatable.
The first disc is mostly the “short ones.” Those are: Black Dog, Over The Hills And Far Away, Stairway To Heaven (with an even better Plant performance on vocals than the one on the live album The Song Remains The Same, where he sings it a little bit pompously), That’s The Way and Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp. A lovely contrast is guaranteed by the acoustic delicacy Going To California, which will help you air out your electrified head.
Now for the “long ones.” The second disc opens with Dazed And Confused (one of the outright highlights of the triple set), clocking in at a good 25 minutes. Psychedelic moments of pure ecstasy. John plucks out a simple motif on bass, which proves a perfect foundation for Jimmy to sink his teeth into, a genius when it comes to echo effects and reverb (which was a huge advantage over other bands back then, since the original innovation of individuals always outran the makers of musical gear). After Plant’s vocal orgasm, Jimmy can hardly wait to grab the violin bow and escape into his dream world. The rest is history. As the song goes on, he and Robert slide into picking at oriental licks, which hit a cathartic peak of their joint collaboration a few years later in one of the band’s most sacred compositions (Kashmir). What electricity! The song is a total assault by Jimmy Page, who pours out his own guitar expression through unique soloing, riffing and the injection of incredible sound effects from the technical capacities available at the time. But the song would never radiate such power and vibrations without the nonstop cannon bombardment of the wolf on the prowl, patiently waiting for his moment (in my head, again, that unsurpassable Bonzo contribution) to smash and kill his drum kit. The band lands safely in what follows with What Is And What Should Never Be and Dancing Days, but then comes Moby Dick and with it the drum solo spot. Enjoy Bonzo’s wizardry!
The third disc (ah, I’m getting dry!) opens with yet another stretched-out track. The hit off the second album, Whole Lotta Love, with a tacked-on medley that served as the band’s encore at their stage shows and at the same time a tribute to some of the artists who shaped Led Zeppelin’s musical style.
This is far too short a review to capture all the fantastic details still hiding inside this one-of-a-kind stage magic. The cover of Dixon’s Bring It On Home is perhaps the best possible pick to close on. Once again we get some of Pagey’s jazzy fills, unexpected Bonzo drum breaks, Robert’s orgasming with harmonica add-ons, and of course John’s thundering bass boogie. Enough said. This live album is direct proof of how the energy of four little guys is united and harmoniously magnified, and how the singularity of their vibes shines freely and flawlessly through eternity at full intensity.
Lineup
Robert Plant – vocals, harmonica
Jimmy Page – electric & acoustic guitar
John Paul Jones – bass guitar, keyboards, mandolin
John Bonham – drums, percussion
Production
Jimmy Page
Tracklist
CD 1.:
1. LA Drone* (0:14)
2. Immigrant Song* (3:42)
3. Heartbreaker* (7:25)
4. Black Dog** (5:41)
5. Over The Hills And Far Away** (5:08)
6. Since I’ve Been Loving You* (8:02)
7. Stairway To Heaven* (9:38)
8. Going To California* (5:37)
9. That’s The Way** (5:54)
10. Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp* (4:55)
CD 2.:
1. Dazed And Confused** (25:25)
2. What Is And What Should Never Be* (4:41)
3. Dancing Days* (3:42)
4. Moby Dick** (19:20)
CD 3.:
1. Whole Lotta Love (Medley)** (23:08)
2. Rock And Roll* (3:56)
3. The Ocean** (4:21)
4. Bring It On Home** (9:30)
* live performance from 27th June 1972, Long Beach Arena
** live performance from 25th June 1972, LA Forum
Album length: 150:11
