October 22, 1969 - Led Zeppelin II

Just 10 months after their debut, Led Zeppelin released their second album of 1969, "Led Zeppelin II" on October 22. This album, like their first, is heavily blues-influenced and it features another Willie Dixon cover. It also has 6 original songs, and two not quite covers, but reworkings of other blues songs. Let's dive right in!

Side 1 begins with "Whole Lotta Love", where some of the lyrics were directly taken from Willie Dixon's "You Need Love". Dixon would end up getting a songwriting credit, making this song one of the "reworkings". The music however is all Zeppelin, led by a catchy riff from Jimmy Page. Robert Plant sings how he's going to give her his lovin' and there's a fun guitar slide after he sings the name of the song. After a couple verses though the fun part begins. If you've never listened to this song with headphones, do so immediately. This whole part bounces back from ear to ear with great drumming by John Bonham, some very trippy guitar and Plant's trademark vocal antics. This amazing little bit ends with one hell of a guitar solo by Page before it moves into the third verse. Plant delivers a very long "love" before they jam into a fadeout. Bonham has some noce fills near the end. ⁹Track 2 is "What Is And What Should Never Be". It starts with a cool bass riff from John Paul Jones and slow guitar. It speeds up for a faster very fun chorus. After the second verse there's a guitar solo that starts quiet, but ends up like a more typical Page solo. After another run if cool bass the song finishes out with a bunch of Plant's antics, including lots of "baby". "The Lemon Song" is another reworking of the song "Killing Floor" by Howlin' Wolf, which is reflected in the lyrics. It has a cool blues riff with some great bass by Jones. Page goes off for an extended guitar solo that is pretty sweet, then the blues riff resumes, with Jones really turning it up on bass. Plant sings "Squeeze me babe, 'til the juice runs down my leg" which is just great. It's then Page's turn to turn it up as they return to the extended solo, but it's even better! I really love this song, excellent bass from Jones. Page plays a twelve-string guitar on the side's closer "Thank You", which was a love song written by Plant for his wife. It also features Jones on Hammond organ, which paired with Plant's voice sounds beautiful. Page plays a nice guitar bit and Bonham is tight on drums as always. Jones plays a cool organ solo for over a minute as the song fades out to end side 1.

Side 2 kicks off with "Heartbreaker", which is driven by a catchy and quite cool.guitar riff. The lyrics are about a woman who breaks his heart, and even calls out another guy's name in bed. Ouch. The highlight for sure though is a Page guitar solo; and this time it really is just him playing. He reels off a pretty awesome solo before the band returns, and he continues to solo over them. What a phenomenal solo. The final verse leads right into the next track "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)". It's led by a fun fast riff and is about a woman living the good life (apparently because of alimony payments we hear). I like when it slows down and Plant sings "so you better lay your money down". It also has a shirt guitar solo. Track 7 is "Ramble On", with the lyrics inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien. He sings about needing to move on and find a woman. It's carried by a really good bass and acoustic guitar duet. Electric guitar joins the mix eventually and I really like how it all sounds. Plant sings thatbhe finds his girl in Mordor, but "Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her". I'm a huge LOTR fan so I approve greatly. The song ends with some more classic Plant-isms layered over one another. The next song "Moby Dick" was written to showcase John Bonham's drumming, and it does a great job. It begins with quite a catchy riff and there's some great guitar by Page early on. After a minute though the drum solo begins, with Bonham playing mostly on the toms. He plays very lightly, and it's quieter than what you would expect a drum solo to be, but I think it still sounds great. It then speeds up into a louder, very cool part before exploding into a truly epicly amazing part! Words really don't do it justice, John Bonham was a legend. The band returns to play out the end of the song, and as a big fan of great drum solos, I thought this song was really awesome! The album ends with "Bring It On Home", another Willie Dixon cover. It begins very quiet, with just a blues guitar riff and Plant on harmonica. Eventually they turn on the juice, and this blues song takes on a more conventional Zeppelin sound. I really like it from here on out, as all members contribute some great stuff as they jam out to end the album.

That is the end of "Led Zeppelin II", and wow, what an excellent album that was. Led Zeppelin are truly making some of the  best music I've ever heard in 1969, and it's still crazy to think that both this and their debut album came out this year. Speaking of which, how does this compare with "Led Zeppelin"? Both albums are really great, but I think "Led Zeppelin II" has several really awesome songs that carry it over the top. The fact that they were able to improve on such an awesome debut is quite remarkable. Could they top this one? I can't wait to see them try! Up next is my last full album of 1969, and it's a double album at that!