rock
Stav desky: NM
- jako nová, téměř nehraná
Stav obalu: M-
- bezchybný, nový nebo jako nový
Pozn.: znaménko + nebo - upřesňuje stav desky, obalu
obal a deska perfektni stav
A1 Immigrant Song
Written-By – J. Page, R. Plant
2:26
A2 Friends
Written-By – J. Page, R. Plant
3:55
A3 Celebration Day
Written-By – J. Page, J. P. Jones, R. Plant
3:29
A4 Since I've Been Loving You
Written-By – J. Page, J. P. Jones, R. Plant
7:25
A5 Out On The Tiles
Written-By – J. Page, J. Bonham, R. Plant
4:04
B1 Gallows Pole
Arranged By – J. Page, R. Plant Written-By – Traditional
4:58
B2 Tangerine
Written-By – J. Page
3:12
B3 That's The Way
Written-By – J. Page, R. Plant
5:38
B4 Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Written-By – J. Page, J. P. Jones, R. Plant
4:20
B5 Hats Off To (Roy) Harper
Arranged By – Charles ObscureWritten-By – Traditional
3:41
Matrix / Runout (A Side runout): ST-A-702005-A (1)one Mastercraft P.R. -So Mote Be It- AT
Matrix / Runout (B Side runout ): ST-A-702006-B (2)two Mastercraft P.R. -So Mote Be It- AT
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I always gauge a professed Led Zep fan by their attitude to this record. If they say they find it weak, boring, soft, folky, then you pretty much say they're fairweather friends who just want the hammer to drop, and would be much more at home with Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep. Fact is, Led Zep's folk (and world music) inclinations weren't some sort of add-on bonus; folk is at the heart of what the band is all about. Just listen to the first two records, which boast "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Black Mountain Side" (a straight retread of Bert Jansch's "Black Waterside"), "Ramble On", "Thank You", "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and even "What Is And What Should Never Be". In each of these songs, Celtic folk is a crucial element. Essential to Zeppelin, too, is the sense of mystery that comes from the folk tradition, the sense of the past in the present, that the otherworld (whether it be the supernatural or the Christian tradition) is just around the corner -- what Bob Dylan once summed up affectionately as "songs about death and vegetables". (And I'm reminded it was Dylan who informed us that "mystery is a fact".)
So. Led Zeppelin III. Written and recorded, not in a frenzy of activity, as the first two albums had been, but in a more relaxed frame of mind, with Plant and Page actually decamping to Bron-Y-Aur, a small cottage in rural Wales, to write together. No wonder, then, that this is a mellower album than its predecessors. Not that you'd know it when you drop the needle on the record. "Immigrant Song" explodes into being, with Plant's wail initiating us into the new world. The first two albums had begun with songs about sex; this one is about a mythical past, with Plant taking on the persona of a Viking warrior, ready to meet his companions in Valhalla (that is, in death). All hitched to one of the most brutal riffs this side of "Black Dog". And then it's over. Can it really be only two minutes' long? It feels like we've glimpsed an entire world in that time.
Next up is the acoustic guitar of "Friends", the song which really sets the tone for the record. At first it sounds like it's going to be a friendly ballad, then John Paul Jones' sinister string arrangement swoops in, circling the song like ravens around a castle (and with a strangely Middle Eastern tone; compare to the Stones' Morocco-inspired "We Love You", which also featured a Jones arrangement). A synthesizer drone appears right at the end, overpowering the song, which then fades into the opening, frenzied guitar attack of "Celebration Day". This is the song on the album most like the Zep of the first two albums, with its great riff, a brilliantly short Page solo and a more extended one on the outro.
And then. "Since I've Been Loving You". The ultimate Zeppelin blues. What impresses me most about this number -- one of my personal top ten LZ songs -- is the dynamics of it, the slow, intense buildup, the way it climbs and peaks. We'll meet this again (in "Stairway To Heaven", "Achilles' Last Stand" and "The Song Remains The Same", to name three), but rarely will it be done so well as here. And this may be Plant's best ever vocal. (It's also worth making the connection between blues and Celtic folk; it's not really such a leap from Robert Johnson's crossroads to, say, "Tam Lin" or the Lady of Shallot, and it's one Plant, with his love of pre-war folk blues, would undoubtedly have made.)
The side ends with the Bonham-fuelled "Out On The Tiles". Great riff, and it's fun to simply rock out after the draining seven minutes we've just spent.
Flip the record over, and there's that acoustic guitar again (in fact, it will be the dominant instrument in what is practically a kind of mini song cycle or suite). And then Plant's voice appears, as if from a long way away: "Hangman, hangman ..." It's "Gallows Pole", an adaptation of a blues song by Leadbelly but here translated from his lively, skipping tune into something more dramatic and more medieval. (And there's that connection between pre-war blues and Celtic folk again.) Bonham finally enters on drums, breaking the tension in the music, but where you might expect a Page guitar solo we instead hear a banjo (I think) plucking away.
Next up is "Tangerine", the last Zeppelin song written entirely by Jimmy Page (save the brief acoustic guitar interlude "Bron-Y-Aur" on Physical Graffiti which, of course, dates from the sessions for III). Some say this song dates from the Yardbird days, others that Plant is uncredited but responsible for the lyrics (so much more direct than any others on the record); anyway, this is one of the band's most beautiful love songs, with a gorgeous pedal steel solo from Page. Simply lovely.
So is the next song, "That's The Way". This is the most stripped-down track on the album; it's just Page on acoustic guitar and Plant on vocals, telling a tale of young love that could be taking place today, yesterday, a hundred years ago, a thousand.
Finally, it's hoedown time. "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is a square dance on the village green, with Bonham's typically thumping bass drum providing the beat and Page flourishing on acoustic. Completely infectious.
To end, we have both a tribute and a joke. Zeppelin's sense of humour is one of the things that made them so endearing; they weren't afraid to send up other musicians, or themselves (witness "Rock And Roll", "The Crunge", "D'yer Ma'ker", "Hot Dog" or "Boogie With Stu"). "Hats Off To (Roy) Harper" is by title a tribute to the eccentric English folksinger, although musically it's a send-up of folk blues, with its acoustic guitar, slide part and garbled vocal. Brian Eno once said that the first time he heard a blues record it had seemed to be transmitted from another planet; that's exactly what this track sounds like, as if we're listening to a radio that's not quite tuned correctly. It ends the album on a mystifying yet somehow apt note.
Thus, Led Zeppelin III. Sometimes seen as just that record between the hard rock milestones of II and the runes album, it's much more than that. In a way, it's the culmination of the journey undertaken on the first two records, as well as the beginning of a new one that will last for the rest of the band's career. Put simply, all the branches Zep will follow from now on can be traced to the seeds laid on III, whether it's the orchestral majesty of "Kashmir" (with its template of "Friends"), the medieval tone to "No Quarter" or "The Battle Of Evermore", or the slow burners of "Stairway" or "In My Time Of Dying". Idiot American reviewers sometimes claim that with this album Zep were trying to jump on the Crosby, Stills & Nash soft rock bandwagon, yet a quick look at the English scene of 1969-70 shows that Zeppelin's influences were Pentangle, Fairport Convention (compare III with Liege And Lief) and even Nick Drake. Actually, "influences" may be the wrong word; like any great band Zeppelin simply tied into the zeitgeist of the times, and discovered that its strains ran deep in its own DNA.
You know, I had intended to do one of my typically glib 50 words reviews on this album. That this has instead turned out to be probably the longest review I have done or will do says a lot about the amount of time I've spent thinking about the record, which isn't even one of my personal top ten. Go figure.
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So much has been said already about Led Zeppelin's immortal first quartet of albums, that reviewing them at all seems redundant. However, Led Zep's third album is sometimes the victim of overlook, if only because many have labelled it as "experimental" or "folk". Nonsense really. Yes, it's a little different, but II wasn't the same album as I, and really if Zep wrote the same kind of music for all their albums, they wouldn't be as revered today, would they? In truth, III is no less heavy, rockin and brilliant than the first two, and is unequivocally still a hard rock classic. We all know "Immigrant Song", and it's still a fun tune, one of the band's more metallic recordings, with a typical tongue-in-cheek edge. The other big one is "Since I've Been Loving You", one their epic blues tracks, and it's a beautiful song, with some of Page's best solo work. "Friends" & "Celebration Day" are suitably strange, and "Out On The Tiles" is a furious rocker, a lost gem. "Gallows Pole" is a nice epic tune, and "Tangerine" reamins a hypnotic masterwork, as does "That's The Way". One of my favs is actually "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" if only for it's whimsical-ness, and it's probably one of the reasons for the folk label, but I love the playful guitar work and odd lyrics. The album closes on the positively psychedelic "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", certainly a enigmatic one, but no less excellent. So what else is there to say? Another perfect album from the gods of hard rock, but you probably didn't need me to tell you that. If you're one of those weird people who has written off III for some inexplicable reason, then perhaps nows the time to give it a go. Classic.
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Solid from Start to Finish
The moment I knew Rolling Stone was bullshit: when they didn’t include Led Zeppelin III on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums–TWICE. They had two chances, nine years apart from each other, and they blew it. Maybe in another nine years, they’ll see the people’s view of this album, see this album in a different light, and change their minds, giving this gem the deserving place on their list.
Sometimes, it aches to think of how underrated this album is. I understand that Led Zeppelin has a discography full of fine songs on every one of their first six albums, but I always wonder why the gems from Led Zeppelin III are rarely mentioned or appreciated. After listening to this album, I can conclude that I haven't heard an album this good in quite some time.
Led Zeppelin injects every song with a unique folk influence, making this album's sound very distinct compared to the rest of the albums. Yes, there are folk influences in other, older songs, but this album is full of hard rock songs blended with Led Zeppelin's clever and pleasant folk inclinations. Led Zeppelin takes on a gentler sound that is extremely pleasant.
Albums like this are specific reasons why Led Zeppelin is hailed as one of the greatest bands of all time. Their versatility still allowed for albums with phenomenal tracks. Whenever they risked, they succeeded. This is my personal favorite Led Zeppelin album, and I recommend it to anybody who wants a somewhat relaxing but still rockin' release.
HIGHLIGHTS: Out on the Tiles, Tangerine, That's the Way, Gallows Pole, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
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Led Zeppelin III, was a very anticipated record by all means. They had an awful lot at stake, coming on the heals of Led Zeppelin II and the discovering of Led Zeppelin I by the majority of the public.
The cover art was a big leap from their previous albums, indicating something new and fresh, and with it’s moving parts and changing pictures it was certainly very attractive. The music held within was every bit as good also. It had a good feel, and a fine progression from Led Zeppelin II, especially when they returned to a more serious mixing of the blues and their brand of rock. ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ is a classic piece of rockin’ blues that may only be equaled by numbers found on the “Super Session” album, by Al Kopper, Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield.
For me, the knock out numbers were, ‘Bron-Y-Aur Stomp [a reference to a house where the band stayed after touring, but more of that later], Since I’ve Been Loving You, Tangerine, and That’s The Way.’ There are some nice melodic numbers counter opposing the rock, and the song ‘Tangerine’ floated in mysteriously from somewhere. You can feel their beginning interests in magic within these grooves. But more importantly, they’ve established themselves as the masters of Rockin’ Blues. Having said that, I’m faced with the un-catagory-able ‘That’s The Way.’ This song will remain ever present as one of the best songs of 1970. It’s light, breezy, a simple melody, and an easy story that floats you away on musical wing ... everything a fine song should be.
"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is the penultimate song on Led Zeppelin's third album, released in 1970. The song is a rewrite of an earlier song, "Jennings Farm Blues", which was an electric instrumental that later surfaced as a studio out-take on a number of Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings. The song is named after Bron-Yr-Aur, a house in Gwynedd, Wales, where the members of Led Zeppelin retreated in 1970 to write much of Led Zeppelin III after having completed a grueling concert tour of the United States. The cottage had no electricity or running water, but the change of scenery provided inspiration for many of the songs on the album, including "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp". The song's title was misspelled on the album cover; it should read "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp". This error can be contrasted to another Led Zeppelin track, "Bron-Yr-Aur," a two-minute instrumental featured on their later album Physical Graffiti, which was spelled correctly. Bron-Yr-Aur means gold(en) hill in Welsh. It is pronounced [br?n ?r a?r] ("Bron-rire").
An album that must be in your collection ... period.
These three records will forever be linked with the time in which they were released, what was to follow, well that’s another story of adventure, a journey of tragedy and loss. The band was deeply into drugs and infighting by this point, where they will go, and how they will get there will be an interesting ride.