In Through The Out Door [Original recording remastered]

I may be going off on a limb, but I was thinking recently about how a comparison could be made between the recording careers of Led Zeppelin and the Beatles.

To me, LZ were the Beatles of the '70's. In the '70's, LZ were the most popular band in the world. Their albums were huge commercial successes and were praised and copied by musicians around the world.

If you look at the final recordings of both bands, I think you'll see an interesting similarity. "Led Zeppelin IV," which featured "Stairway to Heaven," is looked upon by most fans and critics as their "masterpiece." The same was said about the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album. After "Led Zeppelin IV" was released, the band put out four more studio albums. After "Sgt. Pepper" was released, the Beatles put out four more studio albums.

It's interesting to compare Led Zep's final four albums with the Beatles' final four. LZ's "Houses of the Holy" was appreciated by fans, but was not as highly regarded as "Led Zeppelin IV." "Magical Mystery Tour" was also appreciated by fans, but was not as highly regarded as "Sgt. Pepper." After releasing such exceptional albums as "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Sgt. Pepper," it would be incrredibly difficult for ANY band, even two as fantastic as LZ and the Beatles, to duplicate that overwhelming success with a follow-up release.

LZ's next album was "Physical Graffiti," a two-record set. The Beatles' next album was "The Beatles" (better known as the "White Album") which also was a two-record set. Today, many fans of both bands regard these two-record sets as the best music either band either committed to vinyl. Critics gave these albums mixed reviews. Many critics believed these albums could've been edited down to single albums. The extraordinary breadth of musical influences, a quality shared by Led Zep and the Beatles, is revealed in great detail on these albums.

The next LZ album was "Presence," a quickly recorded LP with a very stark, live sound. The next Beatles' album, in the order in which they were recorded, was the "Get Back" album An album which was recorded quickly and has a very stark, live sound- in its original incarnation, not in the overblown Phil Spector production called "Let It Be." "Get Back" was considered a bit too stark and live (raw, if you will) and the project was put on the shelf.

The final Led Zep recording was "In Through the Out Door," a richly arranged, well-produced album which focused the band in new directions- the use of synthesizer being a highlight. "Abbey Road," the Beatles' final album, was also a richly arranged, well-produced album which focused the band in new directions- the use of synthesizer being a highlight (in 1969, when "Abbey Road" was released, the Moog Synthesizer had never been used extensively on a rock album.)

It's interesting to note that the release of "In Through the Out Door" came approximately ten years after the release of "Abbey Road." Both albums were released in the final year of the decade in which each group was at the height of its influence and popularlity- "Abbey Road" (1969) and "In Through the Out Door" (1979). Who's knows where either band would've gone afterwards? The final albums of each band illuminate new musical directions which other bands would have to chart for themselves.

This is definitely not their strongest album, but it isn't the worst. The album has it's high points with In the Evening and All of my Love which drive the album, and although in my opinion Carouselambra drags this album way down, it's still quite good.

Let's face facts people. Zeppelin were a creative band that was constantly expanding its horizons musically. This is why In Through the Out Door gets bashed so often. People hate change. They wanted Zeppelin to keep putting out material that all sounded the same. But Zeppelin didn't want to do that. So they released In Through The Out Door in 1979. It was a departure from their bluesy sound into a more keyboard based sound. This benefits most of the songs. In the Evening is a standard powerful bombastic zeppelin song with that extra layer of keyboard which adds a whole nother dimension to things. Excellent solo by Page. Then comes South Bound Suarez, a song that sounds like an old timey western piano based song. The type of song you'd expect in say a western movie. This is soon followed by Fool In The Rain, the only song off this album still played on radio. It swerves and goes through multiple mood swings to create a generally great feeling. Hot Dog is next. It is the closest thing to say old school blues you see on this album. I find it funny to hear Plant say Texas just because it sounds so odd. Then comes Carouselambra my only complaint. The song is based off an extremely annoying synth riff and would've been a half decent song if it had been about 5 minutes long instead of 10. Then you have the ballad-esque All Of My Love. The song is excellent and is excellently played with an awesome keyboard solo by John Paul Jones who operates as essentially the lead musician throughout this whole album. The album ends with a bluesy song called I'm Gonna Crawl. The song features Page's arguably best solo on the album and was in my opinion a great way to end a career. Overall, this album leaves a question in the listeners head. What would have happened with Zeppelin had Bonham not died shortly after this albums release? I'd personally be interested to see where their musical direction would have gone but alas this is the end of their epic career. An excellent 5 star album is a good way to end things. Thanks for the memories Zeppelin.