Led Zeppelin II

Infobox Album
Name = Led Zeppelin II
Type = studio
Artist = Led Zeppelin


Released = 22 October 1969
Recorded = January–August 1969
Olympic Studios, London;
Mirror Sound, Los Angeles;
Mystic Studios, Los Angeles;
Morgan Studios, London;
A&R Studios, New York City;
Juggy Sound Studio, New York City;
Atlantic Studios, New York City;
Mayfair Studios, New York City;
Hut, Vancouver.
Mixed at A&R Studios.
Length = 41:24
Label = Atlantic
Producer = Jimmy Page
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:he61mpc39f8o link]
*"Q" Rating|4|5 [http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=124582&resource=124582&fixture_artist=144739 October 2000]
*Robert Christgau (B) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Led+Zeppelin link]
*"Rolling Stone" (Unfavorable) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ledzeppelin/albums/album/204696/review/6068144/led_zeppelin_ii link]
Last album = "Led Zeppelin"
(1969)
This album = "Led Zeppelin II"
(1969)
Next album = "Led Zeppelin III"
(1970)

"Led Zeppelin II" is the second album released by English rock band Led Zeppelin in 1969. Here they further developed ideas established on their debut album, creating a work which became even more widely acclaimed and arguably more influential. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:he61mpc39f8o Review at All Music Guide] ] cite journal |last=Gilmore |first=Mikal |title=The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin |journal=Rolling Stone |issue=1006 |date=August 10, 2006 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11027261/the_long_shadow_of_led_zeppelin/print |accessdate=2007-12-09 ]

Recording sessions

The album was recorded during a hectic and much-traveled period of the band's career from January through August 1969, when they completed four European and three American concert tours. Each song was separately recorded, mixed and produced at various studios in the UK and the U.S. Some of the recording studios utilised by the band were far from state-of-the-art. One studio in Vancouver had an eight-track set up that did not even have proper headphone facilities.Dave Schulps, [http://www.iem.ac.ru/zeppelin/docs/interviews/page_77.trp Interview with Jimmy Page] , "Trouser Press", October 1977.] As was later noted by singer Robert Plant:

The album was not entirely recorded on the road, however. As the album's guitarist and producer Jimmy Page explained:

"Led Zeppelin II" was Led Zeppelin's first album to utilise the skills of recording engineer Eddie Kramer, whose prior work with Jimi Hendrix had impressed the band's members, especially Page. According to Led Zeppelin expert Dave Lewis:

Kramer and Page formed a strong partnership, as exhibited in the central section of the track "Whole Lotta Love". Kramer later said, "The famous Whole Lotta Love mix, where everything is going bananas, is a combination of Jimmy and myself just flying around on a small console twiddling every knob known to man."

Music

The finished tracks reflect the raw, evolving sound of the band and their innovations as live performers. It has been suggested that "Led Zeppelin II" largely writes the blueprint for 1970s hard rock. Blues-derived songs like "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker", "The Lemon Song" and "Bring It On Home" are now standards of the genre, where the guitar-based riff (rather than vocal chorus or verses) defines the song and provides the key hook. Such arrangements and emphasis were at the time atypical in popular music. As such, the album is generally considered to be very influential on the development of rock music, being an early forerunner of heavy metal, and inspiring a host of other rock bands including Van Halen and Guns N' Roses.

"Led Zeppelin II" also experimented with other musical styles and approaches, as on the alternately soft-and-loud "What Is and What Should Never Be" and "Ramble On" (which featured Page's acoustic guitar), or the pop-influenced ballad "Thank You". With its mysterious atmospherics, "Ramble On" helped develop hard rock's association with fantasy themes, which had partly derived from the psychedelic rock of two to three years before, but also from lyricist Robert Plant's personal interest in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. This direction would later culminate on Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album (and countless subsequent groups would later carry the influence to further extremes). Conversely, the instrumental "Moby Dick" features an extended drum solo by John Bonham, which would later be extended to a half-hour or more in live Led Zeppelin concert performances.

Jimmy Page's contribution to this album was significant, as his electric guitar solo on the song "Heartbreaker" was emulated by many younger rock guitarists, and exemplifies the group's intense musical attack. Page's innovative recording and drum miking effects on tracks such as "Ramble On" and "Whole Lotta Love" also demonstrated his considerable skill, resourcefulness and originality as a producer. This was the first Led Zeppelin album to feature Page playing a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, the guitar he helped make famous.

The album also marked a certain honing of singer Robert Plant vocal approach,Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for "The Complete Studio Recordings"] and also signaled his emergence as a serious songwriter. His name had been absent from the songwriting credits of the first album because of previous contractual commitments that resulted from his earlier association with CBS Records as a solo artist. His influence on tracks such as "What Is and What Should Never Be" and "Ramble On" were pointers to the musical future of Led Zeppelin.

Plant has commented that it was only during the sessions for this album that he started to feel at home as a vocalist in the studio with Led Zeppelin:

Album sleeve design

The album sleeve design was from a poster by David Juniper, who was simply told by the band to come up with an idea that was "interesting". His design was based on an old photograph of the Jasta 11 Division of the German Air Force during World War I, the famed Flying Circus led by Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. The original picture can be seen here [http://www.gwpda.org/photos/Jasta11.htm] . (The German air force used Zeppelins as airships for bombing military and civilian targets during the war). After the picture was tinted, the faces of the four members of the band were airbrushed on from a 1969 publicity photograph, as well as the faces of band manager Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole. The woman in the picture is Glynis Johns, the mother from "Mary Poppins". Her presence in the photo is an obvious play on the name of recording engineer Glyn Johns. The other face added was that of bluesman Blind Willie Johnson. The cover also pictured the outline of a Zeppelin on a brown background, which gave the album its nickname "Brown Bomber".

In 1970 the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

Release, reception and acclaim

The album was released on October 22, 1969, with advance orders of 400,000. The advertising campaign was built around the slogan 'Led Zeppelin II Now Flying'. Commercially, "Led Zeppelin II" was the band's first album to hit #1 in the U.S., temporarily knocking The Beatles' "Abbey Road" from the top spot, where it remained for seven weeks. By April 1970 it had registered three million American sales, whilst in Britain it enjoyed a 138 week residence on the LP chart, climbing to the top spot in February 1970.Dave Lewis (1994), "The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin", Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9]

The album also yielded Led Zeppelin's biggest hit, with the track "Whole Lotta Love". This song reached #4 on the Billboard Top 100 in January 1970, after Atlantic Records went against the group's wishes by releasing a shorter version on 45. The single's B-side, "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)", also hit the Billboard chart, peaking at #65 in April 1970.

The commercial success of this album also brought with it—as with their debut album—accusations of plagiarism (e.g. Willie Dixon's claim to the lyrics for "Whole Lotta Love"In 1985 Willie Dixon won damages, and the right to a credit, over allegations that the lyrics of "Whole Lotta Love" plagiarised his "You Need Love", first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962. Dixon is credited on the album "How the West Was Won". On "Led Zeppelin II", the beginning and ending of "Bring It On Home" are lifted from a Willie Dixon song of the same name (recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson in 1963). Dixon is not listed on the original album, but is credited on "How the West Was Won". [http://www.content.loudeye.com/scripts/hurl.exe?clipid=002742001180006900&cid=600111 Williamson sound clip] (in Windows Media format)] ).

In 2000 "Q" magazine placed "Led Zeppelin II" at number 37 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. RS500|75

Track listing

ide one

#"Whole Lotta Love" (John Bonham, Willie Dixon, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant) – 5:34
#"What Is and What Should Never Be" (Page, Plant) – 4:45
#"The Lemon Song" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) – 6:19
#"Thank You" (Page, Plant) – 4:50On the cassette of Led Zeppelin II, Heartbreaker is on the 4th track of side A after the Lemon Song, while Thank You is on the 1st track on side B.

ide two

#"Heartbreaker" (Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant) – 4:14
#"Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" (Page, Plant) – 2:39
#"Ramble On" (Page, Plant) – 4:24
#"Moby Dick" (Bonham, Jones, Page) (instrumental) – 4:22
#"Bring It On Home" (Page, Plant) – 4:20

Note: Some cassette versions of the album altered the song order so that side one ended with "Heartbreaker" and side two began with "Thank You". Other cassette versions also present "Heartbreaker" as the second track on side one and "What Is and What Should Never Be" as track one on side two. These variations were presumably to make the length of each side approximately the same. On vinyl versions, side one ended with "Thank You" and side two began with "Heartbreaker". This order is reflected above and is preserved on all CD releases.

"Heartbreaker" and "Living Loving Maid" flow so naturally from one to the next that DJs (on independent or classic rock stations that still play such music) often play the two together. When listeners hear the first song end, they expect to hear the second begin, and not hearing it is often jarring.

On the original British copies of "Led Zeppelin II", the label on the record lists "Killing Floor" as the third track and is credited to Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf's real name), while the liner lists "The Lemon Song" and credits Led Zeppelin.

Personnel

Led Zeppelin

*Jimmy Page – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, backing vocals, producer
*Robert Plant – vocals, harmonica
*John Paul Jones – bass guitar, organ, backing vocals
*John Bonham – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

*Peter Grant – executive producer
*Eddie Kramer – engineer, mixing
*George Chkiantz – engineer (tracks 1 and 2)
*Chris Huston – engineer (tracks 3 and 8)
*Andy Johns – engineer (track 4)
*Bob Ludwig - mastering engineer

CD Mastering engineers
*Barry Diament - original CD (mid-1980s)
*George Marino - remastered CD (1990)

Charts

Album

References

External links

*
* [http://www.music-nerds.com/music.php?id=28] Album Review

succession box
before = "Abbey Road" by The Beatles
title = "Billboard" 200 number one album
years = December 27 1969 - January 2 1970
January 17 - January 23 1970
January 31 - March 6 1970
after = "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkelsuccession box
before = "Abbey Road" by The Beatles
title = Australian Kent Music Report number one album
years = March 2 - April 5 1970
after = "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel