Great album. This and the first Santana record, and Chicago Transit Authority were the albums that blew my mind at the age of 11 in 1969.
Bonzo plays out of his mind on this song. Jimmy is just gut-bucket, crunch and balls.
It says something about the music of that era if an 11 year old could listen to it, enjoy and appreciate it's blend of blues and rock.
I feel sorry for the 11 year olds of today and the bland commercial pop, country, hip hop and rap that has become nothing but a watered down version of older material.
Plus the fact they're mostly listening to streaming mp3 quality on their phone.
Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457
and 50 years ago most people listened to music on shitty handheld transistor radios. few 11 year olds had access to a hi-end hi-fi
Yes,that's a great point, but most parents did have a stereo, even if it was one of those consoles it sounded better than a phone. And like all kids did, including myself when I was growing up, you'd use your allowance to buy 45s or lp's and when they're not at home CRANK IT UP...lol
But most parents today are listening on their phones as well, so the kids aren't exposed to anything better.
Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457
We had a console. I would record music from the console to a cassette player (one of those portable ones) using a mic. I don't remember it sounding like shit. It was organic and analog and warm and shit.......
I was 21 and in Vietnam and listened to Armed Forced radio..they did play a lot of rock of the era tho. Or the guy in the bunk next to me who liked to get drunk(didn't we all) and turned up his little stereo and played Buck Owens all night. lol But over the years I've grown to love the real country music and look back fondly on that album.
Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457
This year marks the 50th birthday of all the albums featured in the two collages at the following link:
https://rateyourmusic.com/board_mess...age_id=7503239
I was 10 in '69 and was a huge Cream and Beatles fan. having a one-year older brother helped my exposure to lots of stuff but he was heavy into Hendrix, the Stones and GFR. My dad had a pretty high-end stereo which he left us when my parents divorced.
Yeah, a BFD when first released. The longer "blooz" things don't hold up, but the remainder is pretty tuff. I caught them a few months after, opening for The Who touring Tommy. A charmed time....
Last edited by mogrooves; 01-16-2020 at 04:59 PM.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Kicked off the amazing early 70s for sure, I was 7 listening to AM radio at the time.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
HotH for me. If you remove the silly reggae pun, that's an almost flawless piece of highly original 70s rock'n'roll.
I still like significant parts of this debut, even the length of "How Many More Times" (intensity-level pays off) - but it's already got the cardinal sin of LZ with that relentless hyperrepetition of decent ideas ("Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You").
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Yup HOTH was their peak!
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
I Heart Radio-owned stations in the States keep running these incessant "Year in Rock Spotlight" promos voiced by some (famous?) DJ named "Bald Freak Ronnie", and the one for 1973 has him mentioning the Zep hit "Die-er Maker", completely missing the whole point of the title.
That's not even the most cringeworthy one. The 1968 spot mentions Creedence's Susie Q but that song uses extreme panning and they apparently pulled their audio only from the left channel, so all you can hear is the guitar and bass.
Die-er Maker is a fun, bouncy song IMO but it's a pretty feeble attempt at reggae. Years ago, before I knew of the song's title being an allusion to the British coloquial pronunciation of Jamaica, I just thought it was supposed to be an ode to early Motown style pop. But, I do find its inclusion, along with the James Brown inspired The Crunge, to be somewhat dubious given that they left off the album's title track.
An historic debut. Songs like Communication Breakdown already raise the bar into new levels of ferocity and energy, and break away from the 60's love-and-pot ideal. I love the album's variety - this is not a one-way onslaught - which shows that the band had already some pretty high artistic standards.
Physical Graffity is Led Zep's "Exile on main street" and I consider it their best. All that the band represents can be found in there in its best form. A masterpiece for me, one of the great rock albums of all time.
Kick drum at 0:29 seconds on that is sick.
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
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