After the successes of their first two albums, Led Zeppelin quickly recorded this, their third album. However, this album is somewhat different to the first two Led Zeppelin albums, being of a more acoustic nature. Let’s take a listen to this album and see how it differs from the other Led Zeppelin offerings.

We begin with Immigrant Song which begins with some catchy beats and guitar playing, and Robert Plant’s inimitable screaming. This is a fantastic start to this album, and sounds really top. The lyrics here are really quite good as well, and this piece is extraordinarily good. Amazing listening for a two and a half minute piece, it sounds great.

Following is the studio chatter intro to Friends, which then goes into a nice acoustic piece with bongos. Before long, Robert Plant’s awesome singing and a beautiful string section emerge to reveal a great musical beauty here. A brilliant and rather exotic listen, this is a top listen. Led Zeppelin were a great band to listen to, and this song is one of the many examples of that. Towards the end, the piece speeds up and the strings become much more prominent. It ends with a keyboard wah-wah sort of sound that lowers in pitch gradually.

Celebration Day comes next, and has some interesting guitars in the intro, before kicking straight into an excellent Rock groove that sounds awesome. The playing and musicianship by all the members of Led Zeppelin here are fantastic. This is undeniably catchy and wonderful music, and puts all the critics who disliked the band at the time to shame. An amazing listen, and totally good from start to finish.

Since I’ve Been Loving You is an extended piece that has a semi-Blues feel to it, but has a freestyle feeling to it, much more like Jazz music in delivery. Still, this is wonderful music and sounds very naturally played and delivered throughout. It is an original and amazing listen that sounds like an ode to lovemaking. Some awesome singing and screaming from Robert Plant is here, and the guitar playing from Jimmy Page is really top notch. No wonder people still love Led Zeppelin so much to this day, this is an incredible listening experience. It goes into a more subdued part in the second half of the song, before launching into an excellent finale that is a must listen. Great song.

Next is Out On The Tiles which has an unusual sounding guitar riff, and some rather different drumming from John Bonham. It is another underrated tune from Led Zeppelin that sounds as wonderful and fresh today as it did way back in 1970. Robert Plant chants that the only thing he needs is love, and the rest of the band back him up wonderfully. The last part of this song is very much an excellent jam that is expertly delivered. Another fine listen. Very catchy.

Following is Gallows Pole which begins with acoustic guitar strumming and Robert Plant singing. Before long, some unusual instrumentation enters, including multiple guitar based instrumentation and, what sounds like, Mandolin and Banjo. A very nicely crafted and created piece that sounds awesome and impressive. John Bonham’s drumming is really great here. There is a fuzz guitar solo by Jimmy Page in the middle here, and the whole song builds up to a frenzy towards the end. Brilliant.

Tangerine has a false intro, before launching into a 12 string acoustic masterpiece that sounds a lot like a prototype Stairway To Heaven which is really awesome. It is a really top listening experience and sounds really sweet. Halfway through is another fuzz guitar solo. This whole thing is wonderfully delivered and structured, with a bit more wah-wah guitar sounds here. Another great song by Led Zeppelin.

That’s The Way has more acoustic strumming and a great amount of multitracked guitars here to enjoy. This is an interesting piece of music, quite like a story being written, but in a musical sense. Robert Plant’s excellent vocals raise this piece to a great level of musical listening. Simple musicality, with some amazing sounds from all four members of Led Zeppelin. There are some unusual sounds here, being a mixture of electronics and guitars, in the background. Some reversed sounds then enter, and there is a nice little jam towards the end here. John Paul Jones’s bass playing sounds awesome here. A nice listen.

Next is Bron-Y-Aur Stomp which starts off with uptempo and cheerful sounding acoustic guitar, before a kick drum beat initiates this song. This is an excellent listen, and sounds really marvelous. Some hand claps and Robert Plant’s singing then push this song along in a fun way. It is a great mix together, and just sounds really awesome. Some really excellent acoustic guitar playing by Jimmy Page is right here on this song. Another great tune.

Last here is Hats Off To (Roy) Harper which sounds like a continuation of the previous song before it. It has slide guitar, vocals with a load of sound effects on them to sound like blues harmonica and a cool sonic sensibility. The sonic sounds here are amazing on this track. This finishes off a great album, and a must listen for fans of Led Zeppelin in general. Nice music.

This album is definitely one of the more underrated albums released in the history of music. Still, it does not stop this from being a wonderful and excellent listening experience. If you like Led Zeppelin and if you are a real acoustic music fan, this should be a necessary listen to have in your music collection.

Awesome.

9/10