Review Summary: The soft songs are more prevalent here than on the previous releases, but for the most part, the balance isn't tipped over.
The most striking difference between
III and its predecessors is the songwriting growth of the band. Sure, it is also considered a departure from the first two albums, showing a softer side of the group as it immersed itself in folk music, but there’s quite a few rockers and blues songs here to mix things up, not to mention the existence of folk songs in the first two albums. No, the
major difference has to be the increasing amount of original material and the shaping of the group’s songwriting identity, as this album is
full of new compositions.
So, the album can be divided into a ‘hard’ and a ‘soft’ side like the previous ones, but the contrast is much clearer now. The former side boasts an incredibly unique production style; while the compositions themselves are hard, crude and aggressive, the guitars are fairly clean and sound like they have been recorded through a radio system, thus having a ‘fuzzy’ tone. Check the opening
Immigrant Song, for instance; the riff is dark, menacing and rapid, Plant is wailing like a banshee, Bonham and Jones sound tight and heavy, but Jimmy contrasts all of these aspects with a clean and sharp tone in his guitar. And thanks to the terrific songwriting, the song can be established a rightful classic that pushed even further the heavy metal genre thanks to Page’s and Plant’s contributions.
The other two ‘heavy’ numbers are
Celebration Day and
Out On The Tiles and out of the two, I prefer by far the former; it is catchier, a better showcase for the guitar and the pulsating rhythm is something else entirely. Just listen to the ‘cracking’ guitar at the beginning before Bonham crashes in with his trademark drumming, as well as the fiery, melodic solo afterwards. Terrific tune. The latter number doesn’t impress me very much; it is more or less a (heavier) sequel to
Living Loving Maid, which means it is just a standard, typical hard rock song with few redeeming qualities.
Since I’ve Been Loving You is the second milestone from this album; definitely one of the most passionate and sincere blues songs ever put to tape, it boasts an incredible performance from every member. Jones contributes some of the most haunting organ playing I’ve ever witnessed, inserting beautiful and economic lines throughout the whole tune. Jimmy delivers one of the finest, most soulful performances of his career; every note he plays oozes with passion and melancholy, but the icing on the cake has to be his electrifying, relentless solo in the middle; Bonham is playing around with dynamics; one moment loud and devastating, the other quiet and subtle, he never puts a foot wrong here. Finally, Plant seduces the listener with his emotional, poignant singing and his fragile stuttering is, simply put,
breathtaking.
The soft side, now, features crystal clear acoustic guitars which are embellished with all kinds of instruments;
Friends has heavy Eastern influences, both in the repeating riff Jimmy comes up as well as in the prominent use of strings and tribal percussion that embellish the tune with a majestic, dark feeling.
Gallows Pole instead goes for a pure folk arrangement, complete with banjos and mandolins, as well as plain strumming and a restrained performance from Plant. Don’t be mistaken, though; the song quickly picks up the pace thanks to Bonham’s intense drumming while Page adds ‘fuzzy’ soloing above Plant’s increasingly ‘rougher’ delivery.
That’s The Way is, quite possibly, the best ballad since
Babe I’m Gonna Leave You and it shows; the tender and romantic atmosphere created by the acoustic guitar overdubs, the mandolin and the eerie dulcimer would be hardly replicated by the band during their career. What is more, Robert is at his introspective best here, drawing an intimate picture about two people’s relationships with all its shortcomings. Such a beautiful song!
Tangerine may be somewhat naïve and simplistic emotionally, but none of that minor cons can detract from the solidly written melody and the convincing performance from Robert. The climax of the song is, naturally, Jimmy’s slide solo; beautifully harsh and embellished with a terrific fuzz tone, it further shows the man’s creativity with the 6 string instrument.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp is an acoustic country boogie, with Bonham thumping steadily his bass drum throughout the song and Page engaging in terrific strumming and fingerpicking lines throughout.
Hats Off To (Roy) Harper has no reason to exist, though; what
exactly is the point of the song, I wonder? The tune is as follows: Robert sings through a distorted effect a non-existent melody and Jimmy plays ‘sloppily’ his slide for about 3 minutes. Eh? No emotion, no melody and not even an interesting arrangement are the song’s ‘qualities’; I understand it’s a tribute to old folk singers and all that crap, but it doesn’t belong on this album
at all. Maybe they should have released an album called ‘Copying Our Idols’ and shove that tune in. Yeah, much better that way.
All in all, this is generally an excellent effort. The songwriting is improved, the group enriches its sound with various musical instruments and the vibe is significantly different than the first two albums. The main setback of the album, though, is that only half of the songs here can be considered prime Zeppelin recordings. The rest of the songs are either solid, but not exceptional (
Friends, Tangerine, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp), forgettable (
Out On The Tiles) or completely atrocious (
Hats Off To (Roy) Harper). Still, inconsistent as this album might be, it is still an excellent release by the group, so be sure to give it a listen.
