2. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

Released: 5 October 1970
My pressings:
Original UK Atlantic LP with plum label. "Do what thou wilt / so mote it be" etched in the run out grooves
1977 US Atlantic LP with green/orange label
2001 Classic Records 200g LP

Imagine hearing the oft-held myth that Led Zeppelin III is the band's "acoustic album", sitting down with a cup of tea expecting something John Martyn-esque, and Immigrant Song blares out the speakers. It is completely understandable why this label is attached to the album, after all, the majority of Side B is Zep unplugged, but there's an argument to be made that it's probably the most eclectic collection in their canon (Remember, much of the wide-ranging material on Physical Graffiti hails from sessions up to five years prior). The album features the simmering blues rock of Since I've Been Loving You, the out-and-out thrash of Immigrant Song, the Indian drone of Friends, the trad folk of Gallows Pole and the country hoedown of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Listening to the tracks in sequence it's a little bit like turning the famous volvelle wheel on its front cover; you're not sure what you're going to find next...

The writing of the album couldn't have been more different from its two predecessors. Following an exhaustive American tour, guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant decamped to an isolated cottage in Wales's Snowdonia with no running water or electricity. It was here, and inspired by folkies John Fahey and Bert Jansch, that the pair wrote the bulk of the lighter material on the album, as well as fine-tuning an old song of Page's from his Yardbirds days, Tangerine. The rural theme to the album continued with the band choosing to record Page and Plant's new songs at East Hampshire mansion Headley Grange using portable equipment (this too provided a contrast to earlier albums which were recorded in London studios Olympic and Morgan and over in New York).

When released in its intricate pin-wheel sleeve in October 1970, Led Zeppelin III confounded many critics and fans who were looking for a new Whole Lotta Love and thought the band had gone soft. From 2020 eyes however, the album can be viewed as a stepping stone to their all-conquering untitled fourth album, and a stairway to the mighty Stairway To Heaven, that inescapable millstone around the band's neck and distills the eclectic nature of LZIII into one 8-minute track. Fundamentally though it is a strong set of songs showing a band already restless with their existing repertoire and wanting to do something different. They certainly succeeded.

Bonus tracks relating to the album were released in 2014-15 across the deluxe editions of LZIII and Coda. These can be compiled into one handy playlist or onto CD-R and I've appended a suggested tracklist below:  

1. Hey Hey What Can I Do (Coda Deluxe)
2. Poor Tom (Coda Deluxe)
3. Bron-Yr-Aur (Physical Graffiti)
4. St. Tristan's Sword (LZIII Deluxe)
5. Key To The Highway / Trouble In Mind (LZIII Deluxe)
6. The Immigrant Song (Alternate Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)

7. Friends (Track, No Vocal) (LZIII Deluxe)
8. Celebration Day (Alternate Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)
9. Since I've Been Loving You (Rough Mix of First Recording) (LZIII Deluxe)
10. Bathroom Sound (Out On The Tiles) (Track, No Vocal) (LZIII Deluxe)
11. Gallows Pole (Rough Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)
12. That's The Way (Rough Mix) (LZIII Deluxe)

13. Jennings Farm Blues (Early version of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp) (LZIII Deluxe)

14. Poor Tom (Instrumental Mix) (Coda Deluxe)

15. Friends (Bombay Orchestra) (Coda Deluxe)

BTW *this* was folded up inside my UK original. It's dated 1971, but I'd like to think the previous owner thought it was a better fit to enclose it into LZIII than IV.