Led Zeppelin: ‘Physical Graffiti’ Marked Their Creative Zenith
By the mid-’70s, Led Zeppelin really had nothing to prove. The critics, of course, didn’t like them. The band, rightfully, didn’t care about the critics. While Rolling Stone was crapping on classic Zeppelin albums, they were gushing over (cough) timeless albums by the likes of, er, the Motors, Crabby Appleton, and Blue Jug.
But the fans knew the deal: Led Zeppelin was one of the greatest bands of all time. It was apparent from their first album and the follow-up, both of which were released in 1969. (You can learn more about those albums in the new documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin, and you can read our review of the film here). III felt like a complete departure but it was also a classic, as was their untitled fourth album, which included “Stairway to Heaven,” “Rock and Roll” and “Black Dog.” Houses of the Holy was also flawless. Well, some fans didn’t like the reggae-tinged “D’Yer Mak’er” or the James Brown tribute “The Crunge,” but I loved them.
How do you follow up five nearly flawless albums? With a sixth, but make it a double! Led Zeppelin recorded three sides worth of music and decided to make Physical Graffiti, released on February 24, 1975, a two-LP set. They simply packed the album with songs that had been left off of prior albums: “Houses of the Holy” was a planned title track that didn’t make it to their prior album; amazingly, “The Rover” and “Black Country Woman” were left off of that record as well.
“Down By The Seaside,” “Night Flight,” and “Boogie With Stu” didn’t make it to the fourth album (and ok, ok, maybe “Boogie With Stu” is kind of outtake-ish). But Physical Graffiti wasn’t an “odds and sods” type album. The new material held up to Zeppelin’s best songs. “Custard Pie,” “In My Time Of Dying,” “Trampled Under Foot,” “In the Light,” “Ten Years Gone,” “The Wanton Song,” “Sick Again,” and “Kashmir” (possibly the band’s finest moment) were the songs written for this album.
Certain songs are just so classic you know what you’re hearing within three seconds: the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” is like that. So is Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets.” A lot of Led Zeppelin songs share that quality, including pretty much every song on this album, other than the ones that have a longer, quieter intro, like “Bron-Yr-Aur” and “Black Country Woman.” “Sick Again” might be the one exception.
I tested this out myself. I recently took my beaten-up vinyl copy of Physical Graffiti that I bought at a flea market and dropped the needle on each song. The guitar riffs to “Custard Pie” and “Houses Of The Holy.” John Bonham’s funky drum beat leading into “The Rover.” John Paul Jones’s even funkier keyboards on “Trampled Under Foot.” Page’s slow, dripping guitar intro to “In My Time Of Dying.” The jazzy open to “Down By The Seaside.” The four-on-the-floor start of “The Wanton Song.” And of course, the cinematic beginning of “Kashmir.” And Robert Plant’s vocals were incredible across the entire album.
After Physical Graffiti, the band started a slow and gradual decline. All things are relative: both of their final two albums, Presence and In Through The Out Door have songs that most bands would kill for. They just don’t quite hold up to the first six, giving Zeppelin a streak of classic albums that few other rock artists have achieved, other than the Beatles. Double albums are a dicey proposition. Nearly every one has a few songs that you could cut, but Physical Graffiti feels pretty perfect (even “Boogie With Stu” fits perfectly).
In a somewhat legendary interview with Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone, Jimmy Page said, “The key to Zeppelin’s longevity has been change. We put out our first LP, then a second one that was nothing like the first, then a third LP totally different from them, and on it went. I know why we got a lot of bad press on our albums. People couldn’t understand, a lot of reviewers, why we put out an LP like Zeppelin II, then followed it up with III with ‘That’s the Way’ and acoustic numbers like that on it. They just couldn’t understand it. The fact was that Robert and I had gone away to Bron-Y-Aur cottage in Wales and started writing songs. Christ, that was the material we had, so we used it. It was nothing like, ‘We got to do some heavy rock & roll because that’s what our image demands…’ Album-wise, it usually takes a year for people to catch up with what we’re doing.” As it turns out, Rolling Stone did actually catch up. Physical Graffiti made their list of the best double albums of all time.
And if you’re wondering, no, Crabby Appleton didn’t make the cut.
