November 19, 1982 - Coda
A month after my last release and a long three years since their last album "In Through The Out Door", Led Zeppelin released their ninth album, aptly titled "Coda" on November 19, 1982. On September 25, 1980 drummer John Bonham was found unresponsive by John Paul Jones and he was later pronounced dead due to pulmonary aspiration. Bonham had consumed 40 shots of vodka in a 24 hour period and died choking on his own vomit. This is some incredibly sad news that absolutely derailed arguably the greatest rock band to ever play. After his death, the remaining three members decided they could not continue without their longtime friend and disbanded Led Zeppelin. This album "Coda" is a collection of unreleased B-sides and live tracks and would serve as their final album. When it was re-released on CD years later, an additional 4 songs were added to the track list and it's this extended version of the album that I have in my library. It's obviously very sad that there will be no more new Led Zeppelin, but at least we get a proper send-off for arguably the greatest drummer to ever live. Let's give it a listen!
"Side three" as I'm gonna call it begins with "Baby Come On Home", a B-side from their debut record "Led Zeppelin", but straight away you can hear that while it's definitely still Led Zeppelin, they sound much more mature and it sounds unlike anything off that amazing debut album. Jones plays some slow piano (something he didn't play on any of "Led Zeppelin"'s tracks) that sounds pretty good and Page plays a light breezy guitar riff while Plant sings a smooth verse. It sounds more like something off "Physical Graffiti" than something written in 1968, but it sounds really well done! Plant laments the departure of his woman and in the chorus he pleads for her to come back home while Bonham steps it up a bit with some nice drumming. We even hear Jones play a bit of old 60s organ that I think sounds great and they smoothly roll into another slow verse. Jones continues the organ in this verse and he and Plant both sound amazing as they slowly move into another chorus. It's right into another verse and Page adds a bit more cool guitar along with everything else to make things somehow even better! This leads into the chorus for a final time as they jam it out a couple times with Plant performing some excellent vocals all the way to the end. I see why they cut this, because it's style is unlike the other songs on "Led Zeppelin", but that was awesome! Up next is "Travelling Riverside Blues" and this song as well as the next one is a live BBC performance from the summer of 1969. Page leads the way with some cool blues-y guitar and Plant's vocals sound tremendous as usual as he comes in to sing a solid verse. They continue to jam this main riff for several minutes as Plant continues to sing nicely and Page continues with the same guitar riff. Finally we reach the guitar solo and Page plays some decent stuff in this smooth solo before resuming the main riff once again after a nice drum fill by Bonham. They continue to jam out the main riff and Plant sings "squeeze my lemon, 'til the juice runs down my leg" with some lyrics that would later become "The Lemon Song". Jimmy plays some more cool guitar towards the end as they slowly fade out this cool but not amazing song. Track 11 is "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" a combination of a cover of "White Summer" by the Yardbirds (of which Page is a former member) and the cool instrumental from their debut album for a song that's over eight minutes long! Bonham does a nice cymbal roll to start it off before Page takes over with some mesmerizing guitar. He plays a true solo for several minutes and words do not do justice as he is all over the place playing some fantastic guitar! After a spectacular opening he moves into a more standard style of riff but it's one that still sounds pretty great! It's a very cool riff that continues Page's true guitar solo and he even has some more awesome soloing to go! Bonham comes in and plays some nice speedy drums in the background while Jimmy continues to blow our minds with some amazing guitar! It sounds pretty freaking incredible and once again word do not do justice to the amazing music being played. This segues beautifully into "Black Mountain Side" as Page plays a spiced up version of the already pretty cool song. It's an incredible instrumental song and I think it's easily my favourite off this collection of unreleased material, masterfully done Mr. Page! The final song on the album was originally the B-side for the "Immigrant Song" single, titled "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do". It's a smooth light rock song with Page leading the way as usual with some nice guitar as Plant sings a nice verse, unsurprisingly about a pretty girl. This catchy verse leads right into a similar chorus with more cool guitars and I like it when Plant escalates to his really solid yelling vocals. They move to another verse and chorus and we learn the girl Plant is singing about is "on the corner" and she's "drunk all the time". A bit of a spin on things as the light mood suggests more of a typical love song. They continue the verse and chorus pattern a couple more times and Plant and Page both spice things up near the end with some cool guitar and some classic rambling vocals. It ends a little abruptly, but it's a cool song and a decent way to end the final Led Zeppelin record.
That is the end of "Coda" and for a B-side album I thought it was pretty great! Usually B-sides means lesser material that wasn't good enough for the album, but when you make as much great music as Zeppelin does, even your B-sides are above average! I thought there was lots of great music on this album and it's pretty cool to hear Led Zeppelin through the ages as there are songs from throughout their career. I thought it was a pretty darn good album overall, but so are all their other albums! I previously had their most recent album "In Through The Out Door" as their least-good album and as great as this new album is, I don't think it quite surpasses that one. "Coda" had some really great older material, but it also had some clear B-side material and I think it falls just short of their final studio release. Sadly, this brings us to to the end of Led Zeppelin and while they will be sorely missed, they go down as one of, if not the greatest rock band of all time. All nine albums are great music, especially the top six, which are all absolutely amazing records. Without further delay, here is my final rankings for Led Zeppelin...
1. Led Zeppelin II
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Presence
4. Houses Of The Holy
5. Physical Graffiti
6. Led Zeppelin IV
7. Led Zeppelin III
8. In Through The Out Door
9. Coda
This also happens to be the final release of the year, and so begins my year-end wrap-up! 7 albums in 1982 is one more than last year, but still way down from most years in the 70s. There was still some pretty good stuff though if you know where to look (or listen)!
Favourite song of the year: There were several pretty cool metal songs off Iron Maiden's newest album, but I think my favourite song was "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" off of "Coda". When the song is just Jimmy Page and his guitar for the most part, that's a nice recipe for success as he showed (for the last time) that he is one of the all-time guitar greats.
Top 3 Albums of the year:
1. The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden
2. Coda by Led Zeppelin
3. Diver Down by Van Halen
Zeppelin's swan song was pretty cool, but Iron Maiden keep getting better and better and released quite a great album to top the list. Can they keep ascending? Tune in next year to find out!
The album begins with "We're Gonna Groove" which was played live at a show in 1970, but the crowd noise has been eliminated. It still sounds like a live performance though as we hear Jimmy Page leading the way with a nice guitar riff and Jones and Bonham contributing a fine rhythm section. Robert Plant begins the verse with his usual amazing voice and this would've been an amazing time to see them, just a couple months after the release of "Led Zeppelin II". The fast-paced verse leads right into a similar chorus and Bonham continues to play some nice drums while Plant sings the name of the song a few times. It's right back into another quick verse and chorus before Page takes off for a guitar solo. He plays some cool stuff overtop of this main beat and it's a pretty lengthy solo for a song that is under three minutes long, not that I'm complaining! Page returns to the main riff as we hear a final verse and a couple more quick chorus's before they end this nice little jam. The next song "Poor Tom" is a B-side from the "Led Zeppelin III" sessions and Bonham opens it by himself with a nice little drum beat. Plant starts to sing a verse overtop and Bonham does a nice job of carrying things by himself. Page eventually comes in with some light guitar that sounds pretty good and definitely gives off a "LZIII" vibe. It's a soft and quiet main riff but it still sounds pretty good and while I can see why this didn't make the cut the first time, I'm happy to hear it now. Plant adds some harmonica to the mix for the final minute and it fits this song pretty nicely. They end it on a nice note and while this song is not a headbanger, it was still a nice smooth song. Track 3 is "I Can't Quit You Baby (live)" and it was performed at the same concert as the first track. This is a Willie Dixon cover that was off their debut album and like the last track it seems to have been chosen to showcase the skills of Bonham. While it does have some nice drums, there are great contributions from everyone on this song as Plant kicks things off and Page plays some excellent guitar. Plant holds some nice long notes in a great vocal display and the guitar and drums are both fantastic throughout this song, with the nice slow bass by Jones keeping it all together. After a couple great verses Page goes off for the extended guitar solo, and he plays some extraordinary guitar that sounds just so awesome! Seeing this live would've been mind-blowing as Jimmy is all over the guitar playing some incredible stuff. After this phenomenal solo they play a final epic verse before Bonham finishes things off with a nice little drum roll ending. The last song on this side is a "Houses Of The Holy" B-side titled "Walter's Walk". Page plays a catchy guitar riff and Bonham and Jones both play some solid rhythm to carry this fast-paced song as Plant oohs and ahhs inbetween his lyrics in the verse. They continue to jam this solid, but not amazing riff for the whole song but after two minutes Page begins to solo overtop. He plays some solid stuff overtop the main riff but I can also understand why this didn't make the cut for such a great album. They resume the main riff and everything but the guitar drops out for a few seconds as Page continues to play some pretty cool stuff. Everything comes back in as the guitar drives a new fast-paced riff and Plant does some classic rambling vocals as the song and side slowly fade to a close.
Side two contains three B-sides from their most recent album, starting with "Ozone Baby" which has a really catchy beat. Jones is playing some nice almost Geddy-like bass as Page leads the way with a smooth and very catchy guitar riff. Plant's vocals also sound very smooth in the verse which leads right into an even catchier chorus. Plant sings "oooo, it's my love. Ooooo it's my own true love" and his oooos sound pretty great! They smoothly resume the main riff but it's a quick turnaround to another chorus before Page takes things in a new direction. He leads a new riff that follows the same beat and sounds pretty cool and Plant sings a nice new verse that seamlessly leads back to another chorus. Page goes off for a guitar solo and he delivers some great fast notes in this cool part that leads...you guessed it, right into another chorus. They play it a couple more times before finally bringing this pretty catchy song to a close. The next song is another "In Through The Out Door" B-side titled "Darlene" and like most of this album Jones is on keyboards as he plays some nice backing piano and Page leads the way with a nice slow guitar riff. They begin in the chorus as Plant sings only "Darlene" several times over in a chorus that's not bad but not amazing either. They move into a short verse but it's not long before it's back to the repetitive chorus. After another short verse Page goes off for a guitar solo and while he's not shredding it or playing anything complicated, he plays a solid solo that fits the mood of the song nicely and it leads right into a piano solo for Jones! He does a pretty great job playing some cool piano in this solo and after a couple.nice drum fills by Bonham things move to a new verse with Plant singing some nice high vocals over a nice upbeat guitar riff. Jones continues to play some great piano in this new verse and after Plant finishes his lyrics Page and Jones both rock out for the final minute as things slowly fade to an end. We hear some pretty excellent guitar and piano in this fading ending and despite a repetitive opening they turned this into a pretty cool song. Track 7 is a drum solo by Bonham called "Bonzo's Montreux" that was recorded in 1976. John plays a cool opening drumbeat and after every eight bars or so he stops for dramatic effect before thundering back in with some more cool drums. He eventually adds more toms into the mix and by a minute and a half in he is going full force with an arrangement of crazy percussion that all sounds pretty great! It's so amazing to hear more great Bonham drumming after his death and this is the kind of song that really shows off his talents in a very cool way. He continues to play some excellent stuff in his showcase song as the beat goes on. He never lets up for the whole four-plus minutes and I'd have been content if it had kept going! A very cool drum solo that is a perfect tribute to Bonham. The final song on this side is "Wearing And Tearing" and while it's also a B-side from their most recent album, it doesn't sound like Led Zeppelin near the end of their career, it sounds like some of their early work! For one, Jones is on bass, and the tempo is also very fast-paced with Page leading the way with a great main guitar riff. When Plant comes in to sing the verse everything else slows right down as Robert leads an epic verse. The fast opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff as they speed it up again with Plant singing overtop this time. They break it down again for another slow epic verse, followed by another quick, catchy chorus. It's a pretty good formula that sounds pretty sweet, so why not do it all a third time through?! I'm not complaining since everything sounds great and after another verse and chorus it seems like it might be solo time, but Page just continues to jam to the fast-paced chorus riff while Plant does some "hey hey hey" in the background. I think a wicked little solo would've been awesome but things are still going strong and they bring it back for another epic slow verse and a final chorus before ending things on a nice note. This second side was pretty great all-around and this would've been a fine stopping point, but we have a bonus "third side" to go!
Side two contains three B-sides from their most recent album, starting with "Ozone Baby" which has a really catchy beat. Jones is playing some nice almost Geddy-like bass as Page leads the way with a smooth and very catchy guitar riff. Plant's vocals also sound very smooth in the verse which leads right into an even catchier chorus. Plant sings "oooo, it's my love. Ooooo it's my own true love" and his oooos sound pretty great! They smoothly resume the main riff but it's a quick turnaround to another chorus before Page takes things in a new direction. He leads a new riff that follows the same beat and sounds pretty cool and Plant sings a nice new verse that seamlessly leads back to another chorus. Page goes off for a guitar solo and he delivers some great fast notes in this cool part that leads...you guessed it, right into another chorus. They play it a couple more times before finally bringing this pretty catchy song to a close. The next song is another "In Through The Out Door" B-side titled "Darlene" and like most of this album Jones is on keyboards as he plays some nice backing piano and Page leads the way with a nice slow guitar riff. They begin in the chorus as Plant sings only "Darlene" several times over in a chorus that's not bad but not amazing either. They move into a short verse but it's not long before it's back to the repetitive chorus. After another short verse Page goes off for a guitar solo and while he's not shredding it or playing anything complicated, he plays a solid solo that fits the mood of the song nicely and it leads right into a piano solo for Jones! He does a pretty great job playing some cool piano in this solo and after a couple.nice drum fills by Bonham things move to a new verse with Plant singing some nice high vocals over a nice upbeat guitar riff. Jones continues to play some great piano in this new verse and after Plant finishes his lyrics Page and Jones both rock out for the final minute as things slowly fade to an end. We hear some pretty excellent guitar and piano in this fading ending and despite a repetitive opening they turned this into a pretty cool song. Track 7 is a drum solo by Bonham called "Bonzo's Montreux" that was recorded in 1976. John plays a cool opening drumbeat and after every eight bars or so he stops for dramatic effect before thundering back in with some more cool drums. He eventually adds more toms into the mix and by a minute and a half in he is going full force with an arrangement of crazy percussion that all sounds pretty great! It's so amazing to hear more great Bonham drumming after his death and this is the kind of song that really shows off his talents in a very cool way. He continues to play some excellent stuff in his showcase song as the beat goes on. He never lets up for the whole four-plus minutes and I'd have been content if it had kept going! A very cool drum solo that is a perfect tribute to Bonham. The final song on this side is "Wearing And Tearing" and while it's also a B-side from their most recent album, it doesn't sound like Led Zeppelin near the end of their career, it sounds like some of their early work! For one, Jones is on bass, and the tempo is also very fast-paced with Page leading the way with a great main guitar riff. When Plant comes in to sing the verse everything else slows right down as Robert leads an epic verse. The fast opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff as they speed it up again with Plant singing overtop this time. They break it down again for another slow epic verse, followed by another quick, catchy chorus. It's a pretty good formula that sounds pretty sweet, so why not do it all a third time through?! I'm not complaining since everything sounds great and after another verse and chorus it seems like it might be solo time, but Page just continues to jam to the fast-paced chorus riff while Plant does some "hey hey hey" in the background. I think a wicked little solo would've been awesome but things are still going strong and they bring it back for another epic slow verse and a final chorus before ending things on a nice note. This second side was pretty great all-around and this would've been a fine stopping point, but we have a bonus "third side" to go!
"Side three" as I'm gonna call it begins with "Baby Come On Home", a B-side from their debut record "Led Zeppelin", but straight away you can hear that while it's definitely still Led Zeppelin, they sound much more mature and it sounds unlike anything off that amazing debut album. Jones plays some slow piano (something he didn't play on any of "Led Zeppelin"'s tracks) that sounds pretty good and Page plays a light breezy guitar riff while Plant sings a smooth verse. It sounds more like something off "Physical Graffiti" than something written in 1968, but it sounds really well done! Plant laments the departure of his woman and in the chorus he pleads for her to come back home while Bonham steps it up a bit with some nice drumming. We even hear Jones play a bit of old 60s organ that I think sounds great and they smoothly roll into another slow verse. Jones continues the organ in this verse and he and Plant both sound amazing as they slowly move into another chorus. It's right into another verse and Page adds a bit more cool guitar along with everything else to make things somehow even better! This leads into the chorus for a final time as they jam it out a couple times with Plant performing some excellent vocals all the way to the end. I see why they cut this, because it's style is unlike the other songs on "Led Zeppelin", but that was awesome! Up next is "Travelling Riverside Blues" and this song as well as the next one is a live BBC performance from the summer of 1969. Page leads the way with some cool blues-y guitar and Plant's vocals sound tremendous as usual as he comes in to sing a solid verse. They continue to jam this main riff for several minutes as Plant continues to sing nicely and Page continues with the same guitar riff. Finally we reach the guitar solo and Page plays some decent stuff in this smooth solo before resuming the main riff once again after a nice drum fill by Bonham. They continue to jam out the main riff and Plant sings "squeeze my lemon, 'til the juice runs down my leg" with some lyrics that would later become "The Lemon Song". Jimmy plays some more cool guitar towards the end as they slowly fade out this cool but not amazing song. Track 11 is "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" a combination of a cover of "White Summer" by the Yardbirds (of which Page is a former member) and the cool instrumental from their debut album for a song that's over eight minutes long! Bonham does a nice cymbal roll to start it off before Page takes over with some mesmerizing guitar. He plays a true solo for several minutes and words do not do justice as he is all over the place playing some fantastic guitar! After a spectacular opening he moves into a more standard style of riff but it's one that still sounds pretty great! It's a very cool riff that continues Page's true guitar solo and he even has some more awesome soloing to go! Bonham comes in and plays some nice speedy drums in the background while Jimmy continues to blow our minds with some amazing guitar! It sounds pretty freaking incredible and once again word do not do justice to the amazing music being played. This segues beautifully into "Black Mountain Side" as Page plays a spiced up version of the already pretty cool song. It's an incredible instrumental song and I think it's easily my favourite off this collection of unreleased material, masterfully done Mr. Page! The final song on the album was originally the B-side for the "Immigrant Song" single, titled "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do". It's a smooth light rock song with Page leading the way as usual with some nice guitar as Plant sings a nice verse, unsurprisingly about a pretty girl. This catchy verse leads right into a similar chorus with more cool guitars and I like it when Plant escalates to his really solid yelling vocals. They move to another verse and chorus and we learn the girl Plant is singing about is "on the corner" and she's "drunk all the time". A bit of a spin on things as the light mood suggests more of a typical love song. They continue the verse and chorus pattern a couple more times and Plant and Page both spice things up near the end with some cool guitar and some classic rambling vocals. It ends a little abruptly, but it's a cool song and a decent way to end the final Led Zeppelin record.
That is the end of "Coda" and for a B-side album I thought it was pretty great! Usually B-sides means lesser material that wasn't good enough for the album, but when you make as much great music as Zeppelin does, even your B-sides are above average! I thought there was lots of great music on this album and it's pretty cool to hear Led Zeppelin through the ages as there are songs from throughout their career. I thought it was a pretty darn good album overall, but so are all their other albums! I previously had their most recent album "In Through The Out Door" as their least-good album and as great as this new album is, I don't think it quite surpasses that one. "Coda" had some really great older material, but it also had some clear B-side material and I think it falls just short of their final studio release. Sadly, this brings us to to the end of Led Zeppelin and while they will be sorely missed, they go down as one of, if not the greatest rock band of all time. All nine albums are great music, especially the top six, which are all absolutely amazing records. Without further delay, here is my final rankings for Led Zeppelin...
1. Led Zeppelin II
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Presence
4. Houses Of The Holy
5. Physical Graffiti
6. Led Zeppelin IV
7. Led Zeppelin III
8. In Through The Out Door
9. Coda
This also happens to be the final release of the year, and so begins my year-end wrap-up! 7 albums in 1982 is one more than last year, but still way down from most years in the 70s. There was still some pretty good stuff though if you know where to look (or listen)!
Favourite song of the year: There were several pretty cool metal songs off Iron Maiden's newest album, but I think my favourite song was "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" off of "Coda". When the song is just Jimmy Page and his guitar for the most part, that's a nice recipe for success as he showed (for the last time) that he is one of the all-time guitar greats.
Top 3 Albums of the year:
1. The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden
2. Coda by Led Zeppelin
3. Diver Down by Van Halen
Zeppelin's swan song was pretty cool, but Iron Maiden keep getting better and better and released quite a great album to top the list. Can they keep ascending? Tune in next year to find out!
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