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Shuffle of the week #36

1. Ministry – Just One Fix (Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs, 1992) [singlepic id=315 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Brutal noise from Chicago’s industrial metal band. Album full of samples featuring famous movie quotes, for example Frank Sinatra’s “I wanna fix! Gimme a fix!” on this track. For those moments when you’re absolutely in no need of melody.

2. The Great Society – White Rabbit (Conspicuous Only in Its Absence, 1968) [singlepic id=318 w=80 h=50 float=left]

The typical San Francisco’67 beat only kicks in after an elaborate Eastern instrumental intro, with snakes being hypnotized while the tempo grows. Grace Slick with her first band, which she founded together with her husband and brother in law after being inspired by The Beatles and… Jefferson Airplane, the band she would later join to record this song with for the second time. Live album that was recorded in 1966 and released in the aftermath of Airplane’s success. Truly recommended to people who like this latter band.

3. Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way (Rumours, 1977) [singlepic id=313 w=80 h=50 float=left]

California ten years later, from an obscure gig to a totally polished radio hit single. Lindsey Buckingham’s song, about his troubles with Stevie Nicks.

4. The Doors – The End (The Doors, 1967) [singlepic id=4 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Travelling back again with the epic end piece of The Doors’ debut album. Molded into its ultimate version (the one that ended up on the record) after intensely touring the LA circuit and performing this song each time at the end of the gig. Covered by Nirvana, Nico and Homer Simpson.

5. Tortoise – Monica (Standards, 2001) [singlepic id=40 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Nothing outstanding, but an album that’s worth to be played once a year. ‘Benway’ from the same album already came by, as it was one of the 10 tracks of the very first shuffle.

6. Pink Floyd – Let There Be More Light (A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968) [singlepic id=95 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Awesome opening track, with the techno-intro being a showcase for Waters’ bass playing. Waters remained as Floyd’s  main songwriter on this album, but was still clearly inspired by Barett (and, appearantly, Sgt.Pepper’s).  New member Gilmour takes on the lead vocals during the chorus, and plays his first Floyd solo towards the end of the song. About time for a review of this album.

7. Animal Collective – Visiting Friends (Sung Tongs,2004) [singlepic id=312 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Strumming acoustic guitars, and Devendra Banhart like he’s experimenting with a voice scrambler for the first time. Never paid much attention to this album because of the fascination for later work, from the band as well as Panda Bear.

8. Songs:Ohia – Hot Black Silk (Axxess & Ace, 1999) [singlepic id=316 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Opening track from third album. Also one of the highlights, with Molina’s beautiful voice shining on this acoustic singer-songwriter song.

9. Madrugada – Hands Up / I Love You (The Nightly Disease, 2001) [singlepic id=314 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Talking about impressive voices, what to say about about Sivert Hoyem? Norwegian alternative rock band that released some solid albums like this one and The Deep End (2005). And of course they released a live album with the legendary title Live at Trafalmadore, after the alien planet in Kurt Vonnegut’s novels.

10. Steely Dan – Peg (Aja, 1977) [singlepic id=317 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Closing with this magnificent jazzy track from Steely Dan’s sixth  and best-selling album. Of course not recorded in a couple of weeks, the guitar solo in this song alone was attempted by no less than eight session guitarists.

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“Call me the Hunter, that’s how I got my fame”: Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin)

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Year: 1969

Genre: Blues Rock, Hard Rock

Preceded by: –

Followed by: Led Zeppelin II (1969)

Related to: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced, Blue Cheer – Vincebus Eruptum

 

 

It’s January 1969 and The Beatles are digging their way through the Get Back-sessions. During a little break they are talking about a new album that Jimmy Page has produced.   ‘Wasn’t he the one who was in the Yardbirds?’, asks George Harrison. The Yardbirds was the favorite band of Jimi Hendrix when he brought together blues rock, psychedelic rock and hard rock on his 1967 debut with the Experience. Two years later, Page has his own band, releasing their own album. ‘With a kid called John Bonham on drums. He is unbelievable.’, according to the rattling Fab Four.

Later that year, this new band called Led Zeppelin would release their classic hard rock album Led Zeppelin II, which would knock The Beatles’ Abbey Road  from #1. But what about their bluesy debut album? And what about this band in general?

The Yardbirds were falling apart in 1968 with Jeff Beck forming his own band (The Jeff Beck Group) and bass player Chris Dreja becoming a photographer. However, they still had some contractual obligations for a tour in Scandinavia. So remaining member Jimmy Page decided to bring in singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham, two members from Band of Joy, and complete the tour as The New Yardbirds. Some guy called John Paul Jones contacted the band himself to become the new bass player. They performed in Denmark for the first time together and completed the tour successfully.

Shortly after the tour, the band began to record their first album, consisting of songs they had played during  their live gigs. It was recorded in a very short time period, with Page covering all the costs. But Dreja forced the new band to change its name, as they were only allowed to use ‘The New Yardbirds’ for their final tour. This is how Led Zeppelin was born, choosing an image of the famous burning Hindenburg (the former pride of nazi Germany), a ‘lead zeppelin’, for the album cover. The album would contain a heavy blues rock sound (including some covers of traditional American blues songs), combined with some extreme guitar-driven and riff-based hard rock sound, just like Hendrix did two years earlier.

Sure thing is that the traditional blues is better represented on this album, most notably with the Willie Dixon covers ‘You Shook Me’ and ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’. The first one has a typical slowly lingering blues beat, with a very cool instrumental part in the middle of the song where a screaming Plant is continually echoing Page’s guitar sounds. The song caused a dispute with Page’s former buddy Jeff Beck, as he had recorded the same song some months before. The other Dixon song is also a typical blues rock song, with a jazzy drum and bass combo, filled up by a plonking Page. A little less bluesy is the ballad ‘Your Time Is Gonna Come’ (about an unfaithful girl), which is instead characterized by a beautiful organ intro by Jones and a sing-along chorus.

The hard rock songs on the album are easily to distinguish by their higher pace. One of them is the fantastic opener ‘Good Times Bad Times’. I still consider this one of the best opening songs ever: the intro with the guitar and cymbals combo, the bass loop in the bridge, the guitar solo, the rocking kick-drum: from the very start of this debut you can hear what kind of geniuses those instrumentalists actually are. This is even taken one level higher on my favorite Zep track and one of my all-time rock favorites overall: ‘Dazed and Confused’. There’s the thrilling bass intro, the absolute superb drumming from Bonzo, the haunting middle part where Plant’s voice serves as a fourth instrument, and then… a huge instrumental explosion with Bonzo’s drumming seeming to chase Page’s solo like a mad dog, an absolute rock masterpiece. Especially those kind of songs show that Led Zeppelin probably was the best group of rock instrumentalists ever having played together. A last song of this kind is ‘Communication Breakdown’, a very uptempo song with again a fast drum and bass section, it even reminds you of a punk song.

The three other songs can not really be placed in one or another category. Sure, closing song ‘How Many More Times’ kinda sounds like a blues song, but it’s best known for the fantastic bolero rhythm, which pushes the song along in a very bombastic way, another favorite. ‘Black Mountain Side’ to the contrary is a kind of strange song on a Zep record. It’s an instrumental, with Page on a steel-string guitar and a guest appearance on tabla to give the song its eastern character. Those sounds will return in several songs on later albums. The same goes for ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’, which is as mystic as some famous songs on for example Zep’s fourth album. It’s basically a duet between Plant’s voice and Page’s acoustic guitar, but the strange balance between calmness and anger makes this song a real gem.

After Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin would continue to make high quality and very successful albums, incorporating folk en Celtic music influences, becoming the absolute number one rock act of the seventies. The band disbanded in 1980 following the death of Bonham and was described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as being ‘as influential in the seventies as The Beatles were in the prior decade’. So if you still haven’t heard a song of those guys, start with one of those first two albums because they will kick you in the face like an angry gnu.

Top Tracks:
1. Dazed and Confused
2. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
3. How Many More Times