LED ZEPPELIN II

Less than a year after their explosive debut, the band led by the Page/Plant duo released "Led Zeppelin II" at the end of 1969, an uninhibited proposal that consolidated them as one of the carriers of the hardest rock sound known up to that time. Conceived and recorded in more than a dozen studios in the United Kingdom and North America in the brief spaces that the promotional concerts of "Led Zeppelin I" and its daily maelstrom allowed, the album was built step by step, and would mean the beginning of a new era for contemporary music.

From the opening chords of Jimmy Page's immortal and distinctive guitar riffs and his subsequent solo on the iconic and powerful "Whole Lotta Love", a track that also features the "freakout section" (so called because of the strange effects obtained from theramin and guitar) in its middle section, the album flows remarkably well, with pieces such as the libidinous "The Lemon Song", which combines blues elements and a Jimmi Hendrix-style improvisation with John Paul Jones on bass to the rhythm of Robert Plant's excesses in his musical duel with Page, and also with recurring acoustic elements in the band's discography such as the delicate "Thank You", Plant's homage to his wife at the time, and the adventurous "Ramble On", a spirited journey into the universe of J.R.R. Tolkien.

And with no respite, Page's saturated, dense riffs return to shape both the mournful "Heartbreaker" (along with "Whole Lotta Love" the album's best) and the bluesy, rough half-time with which the instrumental "Moby Dick" channels John Bonham's profuse, experimental percussion solo, before "Bring It On Home", another bluesy piece featuring Plant's harmonica and the alternation of his portentous voice with Page's guitars, brings the album to a close.

Not exempt from controversy due to the use of songs and fragments of American blues composers like Willie Dixon ("Whole Lotta Love" / "Bring It On Home") and Howlin' Wolf ("The Lemon Song"), "Led Zeppelin II" is undoubtedly a cornerstone and an obligatory reference of hard rock, and a regular resident of any compilation list of the best albums in the history of the genre.

4 stars