One thing I admire about Led Zeppelin is that in the ten years they were together they constantly updated their sound. For example, they could have easily made a career out of playing sloppy electric blues like they did on their immensely popular first album. And considering that both albums were made in 1969, rush releasing their second album could have been given as a legitimate excuse for copping out. But they chose not to go in that direction, and if Led Zeppelin II isn't as polished as their later, more "mature" work, it does tighten up the loose screws from Led Zeppelin while still retaining the loud and wild atmosphere that made their debut a commercial success.

Things get off to a rapid start with the opening track and Top 5 hit single, "Whole Lotta Love." Jimmy Page lays down a monster guitar riff over which Robert Plant screams frantically and brags about giving "you every inch of my love." If Plant were any less restrained, he would come across like a rapist on Viagra. Instead, in the psychedelic middle section, which was excised from the single, he sounds like a guy with a week-old erection who has just gone on a bad acid trip, moaning and shrieking until Page's solo offers some (masturbatory?) relief.

The wide-eyed lustfulness continues on "The Lemon Song," which shines the spotlight on John Paul Jones' blues n' boogie bass playing. Unfortunately, much of the song, including the beginning of Page's guitar solo at the break, borrows heavily from Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor." And Plant's raucous line about squeezing his lemon "'til the juice runs down (his) leg" is hardly original either. I've heard that line on a Robert Johnson record. That the band chose to credit themselves as composers of this piece is troubling. If they were as indebted to the blues as their music seemed to indicate, then why blatantly steal songs written by African-American artists?

[Note: A good giveaway that a Led Zeppelin song is not an original is when the song is credited to all four band members. Play along at home and see if you can identify the bluesman being ripped off. "Whole Lotta Love" is one example--it is actually Willie Dixon's "You Need Love" as performed by Muddy Waters. "Bring it on Home" is listed as a Page-Plant composition, but was also written by Dixon for Sonny Boy Williamson. The band did eventually share composer credit with Dixon and Howlin' Wolf on the above numbers, hopefully with money exchanging hands for past royalties.]

Side two opens with "Heartbreaker" which features yet another killer riff from Page, and tells the story of how lothario Plant got dumped by a seductress. The song segues nicely into "Livin' Lovin' Maid," perhaps telling how the heartbreaker in the previous song ended up. I find this section to be the hardest rocking (as opposed to hardest blues playing) part of the album.

Slowing down the tempo somewhat are the jazzy "What Is and What Should Never Be" and the half-acoustic "Ramble On." Both of these songs are good cool downs of what came before ("Whole Lotta Love" and "Heartbreaker/Livin' Lovin' Maid," respectively), though Plant's J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired lyrics on the latter song make me wince. But the best of the slower numbers is the song that closes Side 1, "Thank You." On this track, Plant is at his most tender and open. Of course, that could simply be another way of getting the babe into bed, but I'll buy it as genuine emotion.

If the sun refused to shine
I would still be loving you
When mountains crumble to the sea
There will still be you and me

I've never been fond of drummer John Bonham's solo piece, "Moby Dick." On this four minute instrumental, Bonham flails uncontrollably (barehanded, mind you) in between short interjections by Jones and Page, like a man chained to his drum kit and on the verge of breaking free of his choke hold. Maybe it worked better live where Page and Jones could also stretch out, but what this studio version demonstrates is that if he didn't have music to give him focus, wild man Bonham probably would have ended up somewhere in lockdown.

So, mostly great stuff on Led Zeppelin II. It shares some similarities with their first album, like referencing the Hindenberg in its cover art, but on the whole it improves upon the debut by shortening the playing time of each track and adding some variety to the music.

Recommended: Yes