Recorded quickly during Led Zeppelin’s first American tours in 1969, ‘Led Zeppelin II’ provided the template for ‘heavy rock’. Since the group could only enter the studio for brief amounts of time, most of the songs are reworked blues and rock & roll standards that the band was performing on-stage at the time. Not only did the short amount of time result in a lack of original material, it made the sound more direct.
Jimmy Page still provided layers of guitar overdubs, but the overall sound of the album is heavy, hard and direct. “Whole Lotta Love,” “The Lemon Song,” and “Bring It on Home” are all based on classic blues songs – only, the riffs are simpler and louder and each song has an extended section for instrumental solos. Of the remaining six songs, two sport light acoustic touches (“Thank You,” “Ramble On”), but the other four are straight-ahead heavy rock that follows the formula of the revamped blues songs.
While ‘Led Zeppelin II’ doesn’t have the eclecticism of the group’s debut, it’s arguably more influential. (AMG)
This 2014 edition was remastered by Jimmy Page.
Track Listing
SIDE A:
- Whole Lotta Love
- What Is And What Should Never Be
- The Lemon Song
- Thank You
SIDE B:
- Heartbreaker
- Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
- Ramble On
- Moby Dick
- Bring It On Home Companion Audio
SIDE C:
- Whole Lotta Love (Rough Mix With Vocal)
- What Is And What Should Never Be (Rough Mix With Vocal)
- Thank You (Backing Track)
- Moby Dick (Backing Track)
SIDE D:
- Heartbreaker (Rough Mix With Vocal)
- Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman) (Backing Track)
- Ramble On (Rough Mix With Vocal)
- La La (Intro / Outro Rough Mix)
