PHYSICAL GRAFFITI

In 1975 Led Zeppelin was probably one of greatest band around. Their manager Peter Grant came up with the idea of an own record label called Swan Song. The band immediately agreed with this idea, because this would allow the band to release the songs as single they wanted to or don't release any single and the fights about album covers, they had with Atlantic Records would have been over. Furthermore an own label was a status symbol in the seventies; only a couple of bands like the Rolling Stones had their own labels.Swan Song had a deal with Led Zeppelins former record company Atlantic Records. The label was answerable for the distribution of any Swan Song release (Not only Led Zeppelin, also Detective and Bad Company released a couple of records via Swan Song).

In 1974 the band was ready to record their fifth album, so they went to Hedley Grange in East Hampshire with the mobile studio of Ronnie Lane (was cheaper than the mobile studio of the Stones). Peter Grant also booked a hotel for the band near the old former poor house, because it was too cold to stay in the house during the night. The guitarist Jimmy Page loved the house and slept there. In May 1974 they had recorded enough songs for an album, which would have easily become one of their three greatest records. But the band decided to go back in to the studio to record a couple of tracks, left from older sessions.It was Jimmy Pages idea to record a double album and he thought the time was right, because artist like Bob Dylan,

The Who and Jimi Hendrix had already released double LPs and they were a big selling albums. If you think the songs from the old sessions are fillers, than you're wrong because "Physical Graffiti" is surely one of the best Led Zeppelin albums of their entire career. The album has many different kind of tracks and that's the main reason why its so great.There a couple of riff oriented tracks like "The Rover", which originally was an acoustic piece, "The Wanton Song", the final "Sick Again" and the opener "Custard Pie". As contrast they also have put a handful of acoustic songs on the album like the instrumental "Bron-Yr-Aur" or "Black Country Woman", which was recorded 1972 in the back garden of Mick Jagger's home.Two of my favorite tracks of the album are the soft "Ten Years Gone", which includes some of Jimmy Pages best guitar work and the mystic "In the Light".

The most famous track of the album is of course the epic "Kashmir", which is based on a signature chord progression composed by guitarist Jimmy Page, but this piece of art could also be composed by Bach or Beethoven. Also the drumming by John Bonham on this track is beyond words and Robert Plant said about the song: "This the best Led Zeppelin song of all time, I wish people would keep us in mind due to this song and not due to "Stairway to Heaven"." The band needed three years to bring this song to perfection. . This album is really one of my all time favorite albums and don't matter how often I've heard it, I listen it over and over again, because the music is timeless and never gets old.5.0 my favorite Zep record.

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