Is IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR the Best Led Zeppelin Album?

With songs like "Fool In the Rain" they definitely sound like they are heading a different direction and it would have been interesting to hear what a late period Led Zep would have done with some of Robert Plant's early solo spaghetti western pop songs. I think with some JP Jones arrangements and some of Page's sly guitar playing, those songs would be much more interesting.

The Zep record that I never really had when I was a kid but have been enjoying a few times in the past year or so is Prescence. "Tea for One" is probably one of their best songs that you never hear.

It is hard for me to pick a favorite, as I have had copies of I and II at least since I was eleven years old. If for some reason I get sent to a prison camp and could only have one, I'd probably take Physical Graffitti, as it is a double and has some of the best epic songs like "Ten Years Gone", "Kashmir" & "Trampled Under Foot".

i like 3 and physical graffiti best

Yeah, this is their best. I understand that the synths put a lot of the hardcore Zepheads off, but c'mon. As someone stated before, "I'm Gonna Crawl" may be their most underrated track.

so their cynical psychedelic abba disco blues crossover fooled me only once as a young person of 14

i initially admitted i enjoyed this carouselambra thing of jones that all the heavies in the zep newsgroup didn't like

i explained jones vs. page to them i suppose, and that song, and how it was the ultimate madison avenue b side etc., and some of them had liked the explanation, but i got run outta town that newsgroup, by the bluesey heavies

and i played it to some younger disco-oriented kids more recently, and they thought it was cool and heavy, and then i told them it was by led zeppelin, and these younger people were surprised and a bit sick

and i've only recently tried to bother about led zeppelin as a curiosity, and most of the other songs don't interest, but as carnaby st. musicians compromised by blues racket payoff, they were still musically interesting, 1969-72, and then occasional appearances like this

What's with this anti-popist need to insult the band's fans in the course of praising the band?

Sisters of the way-side bide their time in quiet peace,
Await their place within the ring of calm;
Still stand to turn in seconds of release,
Await the call they know may never come.
In times of lightness, no intruder dared upon
To jeopardize the course, upset the run;
And all was joy and hands were raised toward the sun
As love in the halls of plenty overrun.

Still in their bliss unchallenged mighty feast,
Unending dances shadowed on the day.
Within their walls, their daunting formless keep,
Preserved their joy and kept their doubts at bay.
Faceless legions stood in readiness to weep,
Just turn a coin, bring order to the fray;
And everything is soon no sooner thought than deed,
But no one seemed to question in anyway.

How keen the storied hunter’s eye prevails upon the land
To seek the unsuspecting and the weak;
And powerless the fabled sat, too smug to lift a hand
Toward the foe that threatened from the deep.
Who cares to dry the cheeks of those who saddened stand
Adrift upon a sea of futile speech?
And to fall to fate and make the ’status plan’
Where was your word, where did you go?
Where was your helping, where was your bow? bow.
Dull is the armour, cold is the day.
Hard was the journey, dark was the way. way.
I heard the word; I couldn’t stay. oh.
I couldn’t stand it another day, another day,
Another day, another day.

Touched by the timely coming,
Roused from the keeper’s sleep,
Release the grip, throw down the key.

Held now within the knowing,
Rest now within the peace.
Take of the fruit, but guard the seed.

They had to stay!

Held now within the knowing,
Rest now within the beat.
Take of the fruit, but guard the seed...

Reissue is 100% righteous but there needs to be another disc with the Bonham outtakes.

Just saw the 2-disc in a store--They redid it with the paper bag!

I need to know if it has the inner sleeve that changes colors. I don't want to buy one or open one or anything.

"carouselambra" is grade a post-punk prog

'Carouselambra' is good and everything, but to answer the question posed in the title: No.

I can't help but wonder where Zeppelin would have gone after this record had John Bonham lived, though. Would they have come back with something a little harder on the next go-round? It's interesting to imagine Zeppelin competing with the NWOBHM in the early '80s.

a good late period Zep album:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Pictures_at_Eleven.jpg

"carouselambra" and "i'm gonna crawl" are the best. kinda uneven record but that's its charm i think

xpost:

Jesus christ, that album sleeve!

Zep wasn't much better

I can't help but wonder where Zeppelin would have gone after this record had John Bonham lived, though. Would they have come back with something a little harder on the next go-round?

In a 1998 Guitar World magazine interview, Page was asked about the paradigm shift of the album's composition and style:

GW: I thought maybe you were losing your enthusiasm for the band.
Page: Never. Never. In fact, Bonzo [i.e. drummer John Bonham] and I had already started discussing plans for a hard-driving rock album after that. We both felt that In Through the Out Door was a little soft. I was not really very keen on "All My Love". I was a little worried about the chorus. I could just imagine people doing the wave and all of that. And I thought, 'That is not us. That is not us.' In its place it was fine, but I would not have wanted to pursue that direction in the future.[20]

I can't help but wonder where Zeppelin would have gone after this record had John Bonham lived, though

plant got phil collins and cozy powell

page might've gone with another heroin addict (martin hannett?) or maybe totally XYZ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0-TaCF-5Fg

Yeah, Page is totally OTM about 'All My Love' - I'm generally a big fan of Zeppelin in "ballad mode", but I've always found 'All My Love' a bit too sappy.

What are some other records that sound like ITTOD, or at least like parts of it? I feel like it can't be singular, but it has an unusual sort of "Heavy Rock Band Comin Down Hard" feel to it, where the drums are still big but the vibe is deflated.

george gosset! love that man

shit i hope this isn't him
http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/the-press-nz/obituary.aspx?n=&pid=175425058&referrer=0&preview=True

oh shit, yeah I hope so too

rip

They never sounded more sluggish than on the mid section of carouseLambra

To answer the question of the thread title - no, it’s zeppelin 3

The best album is 3-4-5-6.

the best led zeppelin album is all of them

All of them except In Through The Out Door, which is not bad at all but #1 is seven-way tie.

I’m Gonna Crawl vs Tea for One

“If I dream too much tonight, somebody please bring me down”

Do we need a Songs in which the singer is tired of being high and wants to come down thread? cf Ashes to Ashes

What are the words to carouselambra anyway

we may never know

1977: In which bonzo

"In the Evening" is Zep's best song.

"No Quarter" is an absolute banger. Jones was the most (the only) understated member of the band, but was likely the most talented as well.

I thought HOTH my fave for 20 years but eh fuck it -- ZOSO it is.

They are all the best Zeppelin albums.

I myself have never had any problems with Dyer Makr

Yeah, I've got no problem with it. If that's the worst thing on a record, well, great record! Zep always sounds like Zep, and as long as it sounds like Zep that's good enough for me.

"The Crunge" is the funniest thing they did (intentionally)

I think The Crunge kinda sucks, but I was surprised to learn that ppl dislike D'yer Mak'er.

Not least Page and Bonham, reportedly!

I don't hate "D'Yer Maker" but it's pretty slight and mostly salvaged by the vocal performance.

Which would be ok if it didn't seem to be so beloved by radio stations

I'd say "Hot Dog" is more intentionally funny than "The Crunge" but I'd take "D'yer Mak'er" over "All of My Love" as a single for the drums alone.

the best zep records are physical graffiti, presence (shh), and iii

Today I'd go:

III
IV
PG
Presence
HOTH
ITTOD
II
I

iv only suffers from me overplaying it as a kid, solid ranking

I returned to IV last week after finishing Marc Spitz's bio and fell in love again, in large part thanks to "Going to California" and "Four Sticks," neither of which earning much AOR play here.

I would have a similar list but have it:

HOTH
PG
III
IV
Presence
ITTOD
I/II (tie!)

With those first four more or less interchangeably awesome.

I'm in the Crunge/D'Yer Maker-hating camp but the other six songs on HotH are just so good that I'd still probably rank it as their 2nd-best afer III.

Yeah, that's how I feel. I mean, I don't hate those songs, but they're almost like interludes to me. A la "The Baby Song" on Husker Du's "Flip You Wig." It doesn't really matter how annoying and stupid it is.

the crunge is worthy of existence bc of that drum beat

plant’s vocals on hoth are all sorts of fucked up which is the real problem

the crunge is worthy of existence bc of that drum beat

And the bassline

No album that contains both "The Crunge" and "D'yer Mak'er" can be considered the best anything, except maybe the Best Album That's Still Somehow Pretty Good Even Though It Has "The Crunge" And "D'yer Mak'er" On It

hahaha

I agree with Alfred's list. That's my order as well.

My list changes all the time, but I typically do rate HOTH highest. It may have to do with the fact that it was the first Zeppelin album I ever bought, but I really do think it holds together the best all these years later.

Current ranking for me:

PG (Disc 1 >>>>>>>>>>> Disc 2)
IV
II
I
Presence
HOTH
ITTOD

But The Song Remains The Same (the latter-day reissue with improved sound and bonus tracks) sits between the top four and the bottom three.

You don't rate II at all?

er, III

The Song Remains the Same was a pretty anemic live album, especially in comparison to the later releases.

You don't rate III at all?

I'd put it right above ITTOD. "Immigrant Song" is great, but everything else is Not What I Come To Led Zeppelin For.

As it happened, before Grant died, Page and Plant (together and separately) signed on with Who and Judas Priest manager Bill Curbishley.

Fact: Bill Curbishley is former West Ham and Charlton Athletic manager Alan Curbishley's older brother.

I have never been able to get into III really, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. my herb-ass ranking:

IV
I
Houses
PG
Presence
III
II
Out Door

S tier:
Untitled 4th album

A tier:
II
III
Houses of the Holy
Physical Graffiti
2003 live albums

B tier:
Presence
S/t
The Song Remains the Same

C tier:
In Through the Out Door

Presence
PG
IV
HOTH
III
I
ITOD
Coda
II

I know I ranked them on some other thread but couldn't find it. I'm sure this is close to the previous ranking.

Bold move, ranking Presence at #1. Achilles is undeniably great.

Honestly, there is not a single Zeppelin song where I have a single problem with any of the bass, guitar or drums, or really even the vocals, which is why I don't have a problem with any Zeppelin album. Maybe the orgasmic stuff in the middle of a Whole Lotta Love is kind of annoying, or the pitched up vocals on Houses? But ultimately, not really.

Presence
PG
HOTH
I
III
IV
II
IOTD
Coda

Though I really love them all, agreed there isn't any song in the catalog that I have a real problem with

Going back to 79-80 when I started buying LZ records, Presence has always been my favorite by a mile and II has been my least favorite by 2 miles. Everything in between waxes and wanes in interest to me (III sometimes moves up to #2 for years at a time and I think I put "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" at the top of my tracks ballot 11 years ago (!))

The artwork for Presence was eerily prescient of the mobile phone.

What Imp of the Perverse lead Plant to title his most beautiful post-Zep creation "Big Log"?

I believe it's a trucking term, Plant racing in to fill the void BTO had left in the market.

Elsewhere I suggested Houses of the Holy outtakes that could replace the unloved songs on the proper record (although I think it's fine as it is):

- "Houses of the Holy" in place of "The Crunge"
- "The Rover" in place of "Dancing Days" (they're both great)
- "Black Country Woman" in place of "D'yer Mak'er"

These days...

IV
Side Two of PG
III
II
HOTH
I
Side One of PG
ITOD
Presence

I don't understand not liking The Crunge, but w/e.

ITTOD is NOT their best album but I do love how much it shows evolution in what they were listening to and trying to do. Bonham on Fool in the Rain has to be the most iconic Purdie shuffle not played by Purdie. Plus there's the Latin breakdown on that song, it's kind of bananas.

"the most iconic Purdie shuffle not played by Purdie"

I'd vote for Rosanna

Queue famous Jeff Porcaro video where he explains how the Rosanna beat is a combination of the Purdie shuffle and Fool in the Rain, with a bo diddly beat added in as well.

I don't know which comes out of nowhere more, the Latin part of Fool in the Rain or the kind of '50s bit at the end of The Ocean. Maybe the latter. One of their hardest, most awesome grooves, and ends with a giddy goof.

“Queue famous Jeff Porcaro video“
You mean cue right
Anyway yeah good video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtrJOJbv7Ns

Thanks mn

“Jimmy page said ‘we’ve very much gone back to our roots on this album’”

Just four guys in a room

How can I get a job going to New Orleans and photographing all the bars