CODA

I actually was serious when I said this album is better than "In Through the Out Door." I would choose this collection of oddities over that previous bloody mess in a heartbeat.

Don't get me wrong, this is still firmly in the "for Zep fans" tent but at least it has a pulse and some decent moments. You get some nice early recordings in "We're Gonna Groove" and "I can't quit you baby" both of which will bring you back to their glory days. Then you have I believe 3 or so outtakes from the ITTOD sessions and remarkably all of them are preferable to songs they chose for their unfortunate last studio effort. "Ozone Baby," "Darlene," and "Wearing and Tearing" are looking pretty good when stacked against the likes of "Hot Dog" and "In the Evening." I don't know who made the song selection for ITTOD but they really blew it. There is also a tribute to Bonzo here called "Bonzo's Montreaux" which is a nice little solo but nothing earth shattering. "Poor Tom" and "Walter's Walk" are similarly pretty weak stuff.

It's a bit sad that this is the best stuff a band like Zeppelin could come up with from their magic vault. The vinyl used to have a wonderful photo collage in the gatefold that was worth the price for Zep fans. This is worth getting for fans of the group but only after you've acquired every other work save ITTOD which is best avoided completely. I'd give 3 stars to the version with the bonus tracks, but the original eight song version would be 2 stars.