IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR

This one (along with every other LZ album) has been reviewed so many times that it doesn't require much of an introduction. It was the last LZ studio album to be released by the band, but they didn't know that at the time. I tend to agree with most reviewers here that it is probably their weakest album, though it's not one that I ignore either. It seems I love the songs that most people hate on this album and loathe the ones that most seem to enjoy, and that is why I wanted to add my review on this album.

Pretty much everyone knows that history here, so I don't want to go into that. The album tends to concentrate on John Paul Jones' keyboard work than any other album they released, and that seems to give it a somewhat lighter feel. I think the way they merged their sound with the increased use of keyboards was a bit daring, but they did it well, still allowing for Page a good amount of time for some guitar soloing. It's just that a lot of the riffs and background sound was produced by the keys, and LZ fans were not used to that. But, then the band was also new to this sound, and it doesn't always work out so well.

It all starts out with that mysterious sounding introduction on "In the Evening", which is Page making some interesting sounds on a guitar effect device that was invented by Godley and Crème of 10cc. This device would also be used on the long "Carouselambra" track. This first track does sound more like an older LZ track, but the problem here is that the mixing makes it sound a bit muddy. I wasn't too impressed when I first heard it, but since then, I have come to accept it for what it is. The next two tracks are much better and brighter; "South Bound Saurez" and "Fool in the Rain" which do use a lot more repeating riffs from the keys that drive the songs forward. I love both of these tracks and the upbeat feeling they give LZ's music, and Page does get to do some great guitar work on them. Same thing with the track "Hot Dog", which stands apart from any LZ track as being a very rockabilly style track. Again, I absolutely love this one even though most people hate it. Page does some really great soloing on this, just listen to how fast he plays. How can this song not put a smile on your face? Plus, it is also an indicator to where post-Zeppelin members would go (as in The Honeydrippers).

In my opinion, "Carouselambra" is the track that ruins the album for me. This is a 10-minute track, which in reality, was originally 3 songs that have been glued together, two up-tempo songs bookending a slower song in the middle. There's nothing wrong with a suite, I suppose, but these three songs don't give a chance for any soloing and are mostly headed over by Plant's vocals (which seem a bit uninterested here) and Jones' repeating keyboard riffs. This is my least liked track out of all of LZ's tracks. "All My Love" is a pretty decent ballad, though it is a bit light for LZ music, it's still got a nice melody, some great keyboard and guitar work, but just a bit too much repetitiveness and way to much air play has made it less interesting. "I'm Gonna Crawl" ends the album with one of my favorite LZ tracks. I love the heavy orchestral accompaniment here, the slow bluesy feel of it all and Plant's vocals are the best on the album. I think it's an amazing end to a somewhat lesser album from the band.

The main reason I have a hard time with this album has mostly to do with the amount of time given for the uninteresting "Carouselambra", which ends up being a quarter of the album. That along with the bad production on "In the Evening" puts the album down into 3 star territory for me. The rest of the album I consider to be pretty good, though, but it's not quite good enough to raise it another star. I think with time, they might have worked out their style changes if they decided to continue down that road, but we'll never really know for sure. Robert Plant has put out some pretty good solo material and Page and Plant has done some great work together, but it never quite got up to the level LZ was able to put out in previous albums, especially with "Houses of the Holy", "LZ III" and "Physical Graffiti".