Led Zeppelin | Page 16 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Heath said

That’s it.  Try it with four strings, leaving the D open.  What do you think?   

That’s how I play it.

Assorted Zepp Thoughts

I had a listen to the fourth album whilst taking a walk today (along with All Things Must Pass )… it was perfectly atmospheric. Walking through the grey drizzly mist singing ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ very loudly and badly, that’s me.

I feel like ‘Going To California’ is the most mysterious Zeppelin song. The others I can get intimate with, but ‘Going To California’ — with its subdued, mildly discontented/disenchanted verses and strangely distant bridge — betrays none of its secrets.

As @The Hole Got Fixed and I have established, ‘Immigrant Song’ is

And finally, I spotted this in my History text:

QuarryMan said
Good way to describe Going To California, @Beatlebug . I wouldn’t say it’s as cryptic as the ever-fascinating Stairway To Heaven, but it definitely continues that trend. The one line I don’t like is the one about a big jet plane – feels like an anachronism compared to the medieval/folky vibe they have for the ret of the song/album. Actually I think their mixture of folk and acoustic textures in with the heaviness is what makes LZ so much better than other metal bands for me – they sound like a force of nature at times, but also nature itself at others. Back on topic, I love the bridge in Going To California.  

I didn’t say ‘Going To California’ was cryptic — certainly ‘Stairway’ is unsurpassed in crypticism, I don’t think Plant even knows what it’s about — but the general vibe of the song is fairly calm on the surface and yet unsettling in a way that I just can’t seem to put my finger on. I see what you’re saying about the big jet plane line, but I think it works well in the context of ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ being about counterculture and the times generally, and the general longingness for a simpler existence that is prevalent on both MMH and GTC. And yes, the bridge is amazingly spooky, it’s brilliant.

And while it’s been said before, I’ll say it again: OF COURSE Led Zeppelin is all about light and shade and that’s why they’re so good!

My friend just described the middle section of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as sounding ‘Like a swarm of horny hornets!‘ 10/10 most hilarious and apt description ever

I enjoy D’yer Mak’er (the drums especially, makes an absolutely TERRIFYING alarm to wake up to ), but I wouldn’t say it’s one of their best.

Celebration Day is awesome — really, all of Zepp III is Somewhere on the last(?) [ETA: here it is] page you will find an insanely long rant I ranted about that album.

I love how Robert’s ‘ecstatic Percy babble’ contains really poetic and highfalutin lyrics and yet you can’t understand them anyway because he’s howling them like the horny bluesman that he is. It’s a nice little anachronism about Plant’s singing and Zepp in general, how they juxtapose the Mississippi blues with the Celtic/European/Eastern mystical/hippie shit — and it’s HARD to sing, man!

HOTH is incredibly good and I have often been known to compare it to Revolver , because they are both

incredibly diverse albums on which the artists were clearly going out of their way to dabble in as many different genres and styles as possible, whilst still somehow managing to create a surprisingly cohesive piece of work, infused with a sense of fun/entertainingness? and sunshininess [Beatlebug, April 2019]

‘The Rain Song’ is quite possibly the best sole piece of guitar music Jimmy Page ever composed, solos notwithstanding. Though ‘Ten Years Gone’ is also up there, it’s more of a guitar-army-orchestra thing, as displayed by this FABULOUS demo tape: