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"More rock and less blues than the first album, "II" is nonetheless indispensable to any lover of authentic hard rock."
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5/5
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October 1969, only nine months after the release of their first album, Led Zeppelin struck a second time with an opus aptly named "II". The English quartet with a strong international stage success will find itself propelled to the top of the charts "all over the world".
"Whole Lotta Love" opens the record with a typical Jimmy Page riff which will become as famous as the one of "Black Dog" (Led Zeppelin IV) or "Smoke On The Water" (Deep Purple Machine Head). On the middle part of the title, Plant and Page renews with the duel voice-guitar already experimented in the first album and ending on a drum roll then a guitar solo which will remain in the memories. We find the blues influences with "What Is And What Should Never Be" and "The Lemon Song" although this last track is punctuated by a very rocky central break. The breaks have also become a trademark of Led Zeppelin. If they intervened on some tracks of the first album, they are here omnipresent.
Another ingredient of the winning Zeppelin recipe, the compositions based on acoustic guitar are well represented with the folk ballad "Thank You" and the more rock "Ramble On". With "Whole Lotta Love", the two tracks "Heartbreaker" and "Livin Loving Maid" will remain the hits of this second album. "Heartbreaker" starts with a riff of anthology (another one!) on a rather slow and heavy tempo which one will find at the end of the title after a passage of pure delirium faster towards its middle, thus making unstoppable the transition with "Living Loving Maid" with a sustained and swaying rhythm.
The penultimate compo of this "II", named "Moby Dick", sees John Boham's work highlighted by a drum solo whose public versions will become legendary. The drummer who lost a drumstick during a concert will continue his solo with his bare hands and will repeat it systematically during many other shows.
More rock and less blues than the first album, "II" is less immediate but more worked out and its production less rough. It is nonetheless indispensable to any lover of authentic hard rock. It is the second piece of a mythical puzzle that is on its way to becoming a legend. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Whole Lotta Love - 05:34
02. What Is And What Should Never Be - 04:45
03. The Lemon Song - 06:19
04. Thank You - 04:49
05. Heartbreaker - 04:14
06. Living Loving Maid (she's Just A Woman) - 02:39
07. Ramble On - 04:24
08. Moby Dick - 04:20
09. Bring It Home - 04:21
LINEUP:
Jimmy Page: Guitares
John Bonham: Batterie
John Paul Jones: Basse / Claviers
Robert Plant: Chant / Harmonica
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READERS
4.6/5 (13 view(s))
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STAFF:
4.5/5 (11 view(s))
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