Led Zeppelin - Coda

Details:

• Year of release : 1982
• Label : Swan Song a:0051
• Review format : Vinyl

Released in 1982 a couple of years after the death of drummer John Bonham this album collected together a few unreleased tracks from 1969-1978 and acted as a finale of sorts to Led Zeppelin’s released output and probably more importantly therapy to guitarist and band leader Jimmy Page. A seemingly strange collection of a couple of live tracks, a Bonham showcase-cum-tribute and some leftover tracks not appearing on any of the albums previously the release featured a decent gatefold sleeve an on the face of it appears to be a genuine tying up of loose ends rather than a final milking of the cash cow.

Opening track We’re Gonna Groove captures much of the bombast of the early Led Zeppelin recorded way back in 1969. A Ben E. King/James Bethea co-write its initially credited as a studio outtake on the LP although this was later revised on The Complete Studio Recordings box set where its revealed to be actually recorded live at The Royal Albert Hall and later overdubbed in the studio. Page & Plant Poor Tom is a bit of a strange one though with Plant singing over a thumping Bonham drum beat and sparse acoustic guitar touches. Recorded a year later than track one I guess that this was a Zeppelin III outtake especially as it’s so laid back however it lacks the finished quality of a true release with the vocals sounding more of a guide than a final take at times. Plant does redeem himself with some mean harmonica though.

Recorded during the soundcheck at the Royal Albert Hall on 9th January 1970 Willie Dixon’s I Can’t Quit You Baby sounds quite superb. The deep throbbing bass, Page’s bluesy breaks and Bonham’s drums enhancing rather than simply backing the song and Robert Plant at the peak of his power. A great take of a song they’d already made their own on the 1969 debut album. Walter’s Walk, a 1972 outtake has a very raw sound from the very first opening burst of Page’s guitar. Plant’s suitably full of bluster on this rocker although the album it didn’t make, Houses Of The Holy, is definitely no weaker from its exclusion.

The centerpiece of side two is the drum solo/John Bonham tribute Bonzo’s Montreaux. A recording made in 1976 and subsequently ‘electronically treated’ by Jimmy Page it is perhaps a fitting nod to one of rocks great drummers however my opinion on drum solos has been noted before (not a high one!) and I’d have been more satisfied by a live track with blistering drumming as opposed to this solo ‘workout’ with the electronic enhancements making it sound like a post-crash ice cream van in places. The other three tracks on side two are all outtakes from the final studio release In Through The Out Door. Ozone Baby is a cracking rocker; a really enjoyable track with a unique solo from Page that goes someway to answering the cover-credits perusing question of ‘just what is a sub octivider anyway?’. Darlene is also a decent enough track, instrumentally very strong with some superb piano courtesy of John Paul Jones however falling down a little by a lazy vocal although once again of course this may not have been the intended final take. Final track Wearing And Tearing is a full blooded rocker that goes a long way to capturing Zep doing what they always did best and to be frank is as good a kick as any to force a re-listen to In Through The Out Door, an album I’m not so familiar with, and try to understand just why these three tracks were omitted.

Summary : Decent set of previously unreleased material that served its purpose on closing the book… at the time. 25 years on from release the time is now surely right for a full ‘Beatles Anthology’ type retrospective that really allows the fan to appreciate how Zeppelin evolved and how their songs also evolved. At present the bootleggers are serving this purpose to their own profit however with Page currently appearing on behalf of the BPI at a court case over here trialling a guy for selling Zeppelin boots he might just realise that the demand would be there for an archive release to complement the recent live CD/DVD project.

If You Listen To One Track Listen To : I Can’t Quit You Baby

Score : 3/5

———-

Led Zeppelin - “We’re Gonna Groove”, Royal Albert Hall, 1970

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• How Many More Times?