Caroline Thanh Hương
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Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti: The last great rock album just got better
LED ZEPPELIN: Physical Graffiti (Swan Song Deluxe Edition)
Verdict: Zeppelin's crowning glory revisited
Rating: 
The
hunger for treasures from the glory days of British rock is showing no
signs of abating. There is still a huge demand for the music made by The
Who and Queen in the Seventies.
And
when the Rolling Stones re-issued the sprawling Exile On Main Street in
2010, the celebrated double album flew to the top of the charts. It was
inevitable that Led Zeppelin would get in on the act.
The
hell-raising quartet towered over rock’s heyday. Last year’s
repackaging of the band’s first five LPs, curated by guitarist Jimmy
Page, introduced their thunderous riffs to a generation of younger fans.
Tour de force (left to right): Led Zeppelin’s Page, Bonham, Plant and Jones
Now,
40 years to the week after its original release, it is the turn of
Physical Graffiti. Out on Monday, with extra whistles, bells and seven
supplementary tracks, Zep’s sixth still lives up to its billing as one
of the best double albums of all time.
The
record took 18 months to finish, with sessions delayed when bassist
John Paul Jones announced he was leaving to become a choirmaster at
Winchester Cathedral.
Multi-talented
Jones ended up staying and made a significant contribution that belied
his image as the quiet man of a louder-than-life band that featured
charismatic singer Robert Plant, the virtuoso Page and powerhouse
drummer John Bonham.
If
Zeppelin’s previous albums captured the group at their most raw and
immediate, Physical Graffiti was dazzlingly diverse, framing a group at
the top of its game.
With drums that reverberated like sonic booms beneath Plant’s blood-curdling roars, there was no shortage of rock bombast.
But
there were also generous helpings of pop frivolity, gentle folk tunes
and eclectic sounds influenced by Page and Plant’s growing interest in
world music.
Zep’s sixth still lives up to its billing as one of the best double albums of all time
The
latest package comes in a number of formats. For entry level fans, the
original LP has been remastered in full. There is a reasonably priced
three-CD ‘deluxe’ edition that includes the extra tracks. And, for those
with deep pockets, there are versions on vinyl and a big-ticket boxed
set.
The original album contained some of Zeppelin’s most enduring songs, including the majestic Kashmir.
An
Eastern flavoured piece inspired by Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s
Guide To The Orchestra, its eight thumping minutes sound as
extraordinary today as they did in 1975.
And
then there was Trampled Under Foot. Spiced up by John Paul Jones’s
Stevie Wonder-style clavinet, this was a piece of music that virtually
invented funk-rock, setting a template that would later inspire the Red
Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine.
But
Physical Graffiti was most notable for its sheer scope: the bottleneck
blues of In My Time Of Dying; the country tinged whimsy of Down By The
Seaside; the chiming folk of Bron-Y-Aur; the high-spirited, bar-room
piano of Boogie With Stu.
And
entire careers, including those of The Darkness and AC/DC, have been
built on the kind of sharp, strutting grooves Zeppelin pioneered on
Houses Of The Holy and Sick Again.Alongside the 15 original numbers, the
additional tracks give an insight into the group’s creative workings
without offering any completely new songs.
Driving
Through Kashmir is a rough mix of that eight-minute orchestral opus.
Brandy & Coke is an early version of Trampled Under Foot.
Everybody
Makes It Through, is a stripped-down take on In The Light, a song later
recorded with different lyrics and Page playing an acoustic guitar with
a violin bow.
If
Physical Graffiti was the sound of a band confident enough to take
risks, it was also one of the last great hurrahs of the classic rock
era.
Nine
months after its release, punk band the Sex Pistols played their first
London gig, and the days of double albums, grandiose arena concerts and
Bacchanalian excess inhabited by Zeppelin and their jet-setting peers
were numbered.
But,
as it celebrates its 40th anniversary next week, Physical Graffiti
remains a double collection to rank with the Stones’ Exile On Main
Street, The Who’s Tommy and The Beatles’ White Album.
The
original LP has been re-mastered in full on CD, selling for £15. There
is also a three-CD ‘deluxe’ edition that includes the extra tracks
(£18), versions on vinyl (from £27) and, for super-fans, a big-ticket
boxed set (£117).
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Rating: 
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