PHYSICAL GRAFFITI

Physical Graffiti ? 1975 (2.6/5) 9 ? Best Song: Trampled Under Hoof Whose grand idea was it to go ahead and release a fucking double album? I have a hard enough time as it is stomaching their usually terse 40 minute affairs. Is there something to be said about the band's devoted following (95% of all humanity) for having shot this album up the being certified platinum 16 times. That means eight million folks in North America bought, and presumably listened to it. Oh how these mighty men of unfathomable stature tower over their opposition. Yes yes yes yes. It sold eight million copies. What's the critical opinion? Rolling Stone Magazine? 5/5. AllMusicGuide? 5/5. SputnikMusic? 5/5. Blender Magazine? 5/5. Q Magazing? 5/5. Robert Christgau? B+. Amazon? 5/5. Progarchives? 4/5. Yeah, just like every other Led Zeppelin album except for Coda. What do I think? Well it's a series of disjointedly aimless jamming that at once has neither a sense of direction nor a sense of progress. The guitar pyrotechnics aren't solidly engaging, nor are they immediately satisfying. You have absolutely inessential blubber monsters like 'In My Time of Dying' and 'Kashmir', the latter being saved only by the snappy ascending riff that they happen to drive so far into the ground you come out eight minutes later spitting out teeth and boredom. I didn't forget to mention the unavoidable fact that it's a double album, right? Nearly ninety minutes of Zep material, hardly prime at that, is surely overkill, yet the masses flocked to it without a passing thought. Well if it's good for Bonham, it's good for me, they chanted in unison, even if the guy's not any more notable than any other prominent rock drummer around that time. Drum solos are garbage. They fail at covering new ground, fail at redefining the old, and fail at keeping my interest. 'Trampled Under Hoof' is the only great hard rocker to be seen for miles around. I mean, how many times in all history has a riff like the one in 'Wanton Song' been overabused? Better luck next time. Postscript ? It's not terrible, just boring?read through the hate.