This record should be strapped into a capsule and shot into space for those big-eyed, oval-headed aliens to pick up and party to.
For me, this is the best album by rock’s third part of the holy trinity. This double album never grows old and in fact, keeps getting better. Such a shame I never got to see them live. Those who worked the back room of the recording sessions say Bonham was a major influence in the mixing and production…and it shows. Furthermore, in my opinion, this is the album where Page reaches escape velocity from Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore, and the rest of them. His playing is THAT good.
The album cover is the façade of a famous tenement building in Manhattan’s East Village on St Marks Place where many famous bohemians and revolutionaries lived. During my younger days, the music store called “Sounds” was housed in one of the commercial spaces in this building and opposite the building was the Peculiar Pub with a world-class juke box and whiskey selection (I believe it is still there).
The album opens with Custard Pie whose riff destined it to become one of hard rock’s instant classics. John Paul Jones, as he often did, added a sense of sophistication to the song with funky harmonics using a clavinet.
The fun continues with Bonham’s bass drum providing the intro to another Page hard rock classic riff. Find me a better beer drinking romp than “The Rover”. Most bands would retire completely satisfied with just these two songs in their catalogue but these are filler for what comes next.
Good lord, next up was “In My Time of Dying” which starts off with a swampy slide guitar riff a Mississippi blues man would murder for. With the initial riff introduced, Bonham smashes the sludge away with a killer kick drum groove that propels the rocket.
Side 2 opens with “Houses of the Holy” (one wonders why this song was not included on the Zeppelin album actually titled “Houses of the Holy”). This is one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes of all time. The song opens with Plant’s sure fire script for scoring a date “ Let Me take you to the movies, can I take you to a show. Let me be yours ever truly, can I make your garden grow”. The groove is killer made only better by Bonham’s foot pedal.
Side two closes with Kashmir which gets bigger and better each passing year. The song incorporates “Arabic-esque” rhythms that Bonham enhances with a phase shifter on his snare which adds a dreamy other worldly vibe to the composition.
Side three of the second album features two of my favorite Zeppelin songs of all time. “In the Light” begins with John Paul Jones’ sitar like keyboards and Plant singing “if you f-e-e-e-e-l like you can’t go, on…” Bonham and Page then kick into a gear that bestows instant hard rock anthem fame.
The next tune, “Ten Years Gone”, intros with very sweet 12 string acoustic guitar strumming and Plant singing retrospectively “Then as it was, then again it will be…” By the time Page catches up to Bonham’s beat, Plant has already sung ..” Did you ever really need somebody And really need ’em bad. Did you ever really want somebody. The best love you ever had….” Page’s guitar work on this track is nuanced and legendary. Plant said it was a song about a girl who made him choose between her and the band. He chose the band.
The 4th side opens with Night Flight which is another one of my favorite all time Zeppelin songs. The Hammond organ is killer and Bonham gives a clinic on how to elevate a simple pop tune into a party stomp. Next comes “The Wonton Song” which builds and swirls around one of the band’s most recognizable riffs. The other standout on this side is “Black Country Woman” where Page features acoustic guitar and mandolin. Bonham’s bass drum should have been bottled as an elixir.
Physical Graffiti is quite possibly the most perfect rock album of all time and it has been certified 16 X’s platinum in the US. Capisce ?