[.ca] Physical Graffiti (2CD)

From Amazon.co.uk:
This 1975 release came smack in the middle of a long and nearly mythic career. Physical Graffiti is the last great Led Zeppelin title, recorded before the influences of the day (synthesizers, disco) ended Zeppelin's reign as the kings of loud and sexy blues-metal. Playfully experimenting with new sounds, the band blended Middle Eastern rhythms, folk-stylings, heavy blues, and deeply impassioned rock riffs into a two-disc set that sounded as if they were still enjoying their place in the rock pantheon. As sprawling and adventurous as this collection is, there are some tracks so tightly focused--so ultra-Zeppelinesque--that it's tempting to name this as a number one or number two must-have. "Trampled Underfoot" and "Custard Pie" alone are almost worth the double-disc price tag. --Lorry Fleming

Amazon.com essential recording:
This 1975 release came smack in the middle of a long and nearly mythic career. Physical Graffiti is the last great Led Zeppelin title, recorded before the influences of the day (synthesizers, disco) ended Zeppelin's reign as the kings of loud and sexy blues-metal. Playfully experimenting with new sounds, the band blended Middle Eastern rhythms, folk-stylings, heavy blues, and deeply impassioned rock riffs into a two-disc set that sounded as if they were still enjoying their place in the rock pantheon. As sprawling and adventurous as this collection is, there are some tracks so tightly focused--so ultra-Zeppelinesque--that it's tempting to name this as a number one or number two must-have. "Trampled Underfoot" and "Custard Pie" alone are almost worth the double-disc price tag. --Lorry Fleming

Un Essentiel amazon.fr:
Physical Graffiti est un nouveau coup de maître de Led Zeppelin. Le quartette anglais renoue ici avec le hard-rock qui l'a propulsé au sommet à la fin des sixties, comme sur "Custard Pie", "The Rover" et "In My Time Of Dying". Les ballades ne sont toutefois pas oubliées ("Down By Seaside"), ni les atmosphères acoustiques ("Bron-Y-Aur", "Ten Years Gone") ou post-psychédéliques. Ainsi, le morceau le plus intéressant - entendons le plus original et ambitieux - est de toute évidence "Kashmir" où, sur fond de violons et de synthétiseurs, Led Zeppelin, avec à sa tête un Jimmy Page au sommet de son art, semble conduire l'auditeur au coeur des fastes de l'Empire britannique du début du XXe siècle, comme s'il s'agissait de rendre un hommage explicite à Kipling. --Philippe Margotin

4.5 stars - Not their finest work, but damn good nonetheless:
Physical Graffiti (1975.) Led Zeppelin's sixth album. By 1975, Led Zeppelin had already proven themselves to be gods of rock and roll. What the Beatles were to the sixties, Led Zeppelin was to the seventies. The band had already released five albums, each one of which being excellent. Already they had experimented with a number of sounds, sometimes with excellent results, sometimes with, well, less than stellar results. The band released its sixth album, entitled Physical Graffiti, in 1975. How do Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones measure up this time around? Read on for my review of the album. This is Led Zeppelin's most lengthy album, and the only one of their studio albums that is long enough to merit a two compact disc release. Many people compare Led Zeppelin to the Beatles, and perhaps this album is one of the greatest parallels between the two bands - it is VERY similar to the Beatles' self-titled "White" album in a number of ways. The first disc features seven hard-rocking instant classics that have since become Led Zepplin fan favorites. Is it humanly possible NOT to enjoy the classic hard rock stylings of Custard Pie and the Rover? Perhaps one of the most interesting songs of all is In My Time Of Dying, a song that Bob Dylan originally recorded on his 1962 self-titled debut album. The band brings new life into an already excellent song - something they proved they could do beautifully on their own debut album. Houses Of The Holy gives us more of that blues-flavored hard rock that the band served up so heavily in the old days, and does a damn good job of it. Trampled Under Foot is one of the band's most memorable rockers of all, mostly due to its catchy beat and instrument stylings. But the most memorable track of all on the album, is by far, the legendary Kashmir. The band's combination of hard rock with a somewhat middle-eastern sound makes for a damn fine tune. The first disc was nothing but masterpieces, no questions asked. Sadly, the second disc isn't fortunate enough to be so lucky. The second disc has many excellent songs, but there are also many of them that fall below the band's usual standard. This is one of the interesting parallels with the Beatles' self-titled album - they are both dual-disc, "hit or miss" albums that would have been better off being a single-disc album of nothing but masterpieces than the dual-disc mixture of masterpieces and fillers. Still, even though many of those songs fall below Led Zeppelin's usual standard, they are still VERY good when compared with other bands of any era. This is NOT a bad album by any means - in fact, it's very good - just not Zeppelin's best. Like the other Led Zeppelin albums (as of July 19, 2004), the version of the album that is readily available in stores is the most recent remastered version. Sadly though, due to Zeppelin's massive popularity, many stores will jack up the price of their albums. Fortunately, the band offers an alternative to wasting too much money - the Complete Studio Recordings box set. I urge you to buy this set and NOT to buy the albums separately - otherwise you're going to get ripped off - in particular on this album, because it is dual-disc. Physical Graffiti isn't quite the masterpiece that some Zeppelin fans hold it out to be, but it is still a damn fine album (there is no such thing as a bad Led Zeppelin studio album.) If you're new to the band, DO NOT buy a hits compilation - none of them can do the band justice. Also, don't start with this album. While good, it's bound to give you the wrong impression about the band. As a final verdict, I would have to recommend this album only to die-hard fans of the band due to the dual-disc nature jacking the price up. New fans, I suggest either shelling out the cash and getting the Complete Studio Recordings box set, or starting with the band's untitled fourth album. To put it simply, Physical Graffiti IS a damn good album, it's just not the best starting place.

Physical Graffiti:
Led Zeppelin returned from a nearly two-year hiatus in 1975 with Physical Graffiti, a sprawling, ambitious double album. Zeppelin treats many of the songs on Physical Graffiti as forays into individual styles, only occasionally synthesizing sounds, notably on the tense, Eastern-influenced "Kashmir." With John Paul Jones' galloping keyboard, "Trampled Underfoot" ranks as their funkiest metallic grind, while "Houses of the Holy" is as effervescent as pre-Beatles pop and "Down By the Seaside" is the closest they've come to country. Even the heavier blues -- the 11-minute "In My Time of Dying," the tightly wound "Custard Pie," and the monstrous epic "The Rover" -- are subtly shaded, even if they're thunderously loud. Most of these heavy rockers are isolated on the first album, with the second half of Physical Graffiti sounding a little like a scrap-heap of experiments, jams, acoustic workouts, and neo-covers. This may not be as consistent as the first platter, but its quirks are entirely welcome, not just because they encompass the mean, decadent "Sick Again," but the heartbreaking "Ten Years Gone" and the utterly charming acoustic rock & roll of "Boogie With Stu" and "Black Country Woman." Yes, some of this could be labeled as filler, but like any great double album, its appeal lies in its great sprawl, since it captures elements of the band's personality rarely showcased elsewhere -- and even at its worst, Physical Graffiti towers above its hard rock peers of the mid-'70s.

Physical Graffiti - The Best of Led Zeppelin:
Physical Graffiti was my second Led Zeppelin album. I enjoyed it immediately, but I had no idea just how much it would later grow on me. Years since listening to it for the first time, it has advanced into probably somewhere around to my third or fifth favorite album. Songs like "Kashmir" are extremely hyped, and while I wouldn't say it's overrated, there is some really great stuff on here besides it. At first, Disc 1 was largely my favorite. "Custard Pie," "Houses of the Holy," "Trampled Underfoot," and "Kashmir" are instantly likable songs. Disc 2 took its time, but now it is at least as good as disc 1. "In The Light" and "Bron-Yr-Aur" are two of the best songs ever written, and sound absolutely beautiful here performed by Led Zeppelin. The last few minutes of "In The Light" are music heaven. Best Songs: In The Light In My Time of Dying Bron-Yr-Aur The Rover Night Flight Excellent Songs: Kashmir Custard Pie Down By The Seaside Ten Years Gone Houses of the Holy Wanton Song

KASHMIR:
The best song on this cd is Kashmir and I could play it over N over again. Go out and buy it today and I'll save you some money for the next cd you buy.

A DESTROYER OF AN ALBUM:
Still at the creative peak of their powers, Zeppelin unleashed Physical Graffiti - a double set that truly encompassed everything that the band had done to date stylistically. Continuing the trend of Houses of the Holy (and in fact, featuring tracks recorded from those sessions) - Physical Graffiti seemed to delve into almost every rock style available to the band's arsenal from blues to hard rock to rockabilly to folk to middle eastern to funk to just Zep. Highly original, highly inspiring and highly recommended.

• Custard Pie
• Rover
• In My Time of Dying
• Houses of the Holy
• Trampled Under Foot
• Kashmir
• In the Light
• Bron-Yr-Aur
• Down by the Seaside
• Ten Years Gone
• Night Flight
• Wanton Song
• Boogie with Stu
• Black Country Woman
• Sick Again