Jump to content

Led Zeppelin II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Edelmand (talk | contribs) at 13:18, 27 March 2009 (→‎Music: Plant quote). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Untitled

Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released 22 October 1969 on Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at several locations in the United Kingdom and North America from January to August 1969.

Upon release, Led Zeppelin II earned a considerable amount of sales and served as Led Zeppelin's first album to reach number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It also sold over 500,000 copies in its first year of release. In 1970, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

On 15 November 1999, it was certified duodecuple platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), following sales in excess of twelve million copies. Following its initial reception, it has been recognized by writers and music critics as one of the greatest and most influential rock albums recorded.

Led Zeppelin II has also been cited by critics as a blueprint for 1970s hard rock. In 2003, the album was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Conception

Background

Led Zeppelin II was conceived during a hectic and much-traveled period of the Led Zeppelin's career from January through August 1969, when they completed four European and three American concert tours.[1] Production was entirely credited to lead guitarist, songwriter, and producer Jimmy Page, while it also served as Led Zeppelin's first album to utilise the recording techniques of engineer Eddie Kramer.

The album furthered the lyrical themes established on their debut album, Led Zeppelin (1969). This progress helped create a work that became more widely acclaimed and influential than its predecessor. With elements of blues and folk music, it also exhibits the band's evolving musical style of blues-derived material and their guitar and riff-based sound.

Each song was separately recorded, mixed and produced at various studios in the United Kingdom and the United States. The album was literally written on the road and, during periods of a couple of hours in between concerts, a studio was booked and the recording process begun, resulting in a sound with spontaneity and urgency through necessity.[1] Some of the recording studios used by the band were not the most advanced. One studio in Vancouver, credited as "a hut",[2] had an eight-track set up that did not even have proper headphone facilities.[3][4]

The group's lead singer Robert Plant later discussed the writing and recording process, stating "It was crazy really. We were writing the numbers in hotel rooms and then we'd do a rhythm track in London, add the vocal in New York, overdub the harmonica in Vancouver and then come back to finish mixing at New York."[5] "Thank You", "The Lemon Song" and "Moby Dick" were overdubbed during the tour, while the mixing of "Whole Lotta Love" and "Heartbreaker" was also done on tour. Page later stated "In other words, some of the material came out of rehearsing for the next tour and getting new material together."[4]

Recording

Recording sessions for the album took place at Olympic and Morgan Studios in London, England, A&M, Quantum, Sunset, Mirror Sound and Mystic Studios in Los Angeles, California, Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, A&R, Juggy Sound, Groove and Mayfair Studios in New York City, and a "hut" in Vancouver, British Columbia.[2]

The album was Led Zeppelin's first record to utilise the skills of recording engineer Eddie Kramer, whose prior work with Jimi Hendrix had impressed the band's members, especially Page. Led Zeppelin expert Dave Lewis wrote of the album's production, stating "That the album turned out to be such a triumph, in particular for a production quality that still sounds fresh today, was in no small way due to the successful alliance with Page and Kramer in the control room."[3] Kramer and Page formed a strong partnership, as exhibited in the central section of the track "Whole Lotta Love". Kramer later said, "The famous Whole Lotta Love mix, where everything is going bananas, is a combination of Jimmy and myself just flying around on a small console twiddling every knob known to man."[3]

In another interview, Kramer later gave great credit to Page for the sound that was achieved, despite the inconsistent conditions in which it was recorded, stating "We did that album piece-meal. We cut some of the tracks in some of the most bizarre studios you can imagine, little holes in the wall. Cheap studios. But in the end it sounded bloody marvellous. There was a unification of sound on [Led] Zeppelin II because there was one guy in charge and that was Mr. Page."[6] Page and Kramer spent two days mixing the album at A&R Studios.[6]

Album sleeve design

The album sleeve design was from a poster by David Juniper, who was simply told by the band to come up with an idea that was "interesting". His design was based on an old photograph of the Jasta 11 Division of the German Air Force during World War I, the famed Flying Circus led by Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.[3] After the picture was tinted, the faces of the four members of the band were airbrushed on from a 1969 publicity photograph, as well as the faces of band manager Peter Grant and tour manager Richard Cole.[3] The woman in the picture is Glynis Johns, the mother from Mary Poppins. Her presence in the photo is an obvious play on the name of recording engineer Glyn Johns. The other face added was that of bluesman Blind Willie Johnson. The cover also pictured the outline of a Zeppelin on a brown background, which gave the album its nickname "Brown Bomber".[3]

Music

"Whole Lotta Love"
The first single contains strong blues influence and sexual lyrical themes with a predominant guitar riff by Jimmy Page.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The finished tracks reflect the raw, evolving sound of the band and their ability as live performers. The album has been noted for featuring a further development of the lyrical themes established on their debut album, creating a work which would become more widely acclaimed and arguably more influential.[7][8] "Whole Lotta Love" and "The Lemon Song" both feature sexual themes, as the latter contains a metaphor, which, according to one music writer, implores "unnamed ladies to squeeze his lemon 'til the juice runs down my leg.'"[9] In the words of lyricist Robert Plant:

Led Zep II was very virile. That was the album that was going to dictate whether or not we had the staying power and the capacity to stimulate. It was still blues-based but it was a much more carnal approach to the music and quite flamboyant. It was created on the run between hotel rooms and the GTOs, and that was quite something.[10]

Led Zeppelin II also features experimentation with other musical styles and approaches, as on the alternately soft-and-loud "What Is and What Should Never Be" and "Ramble On" (which featured Page's acoustic guitar), or the pop-influenced ballad "Thank You". With its mysterious atmospherics, "Ramble On" helped develop hard rock's association with fantasy themes, which had been partly derived from the psychedelic rock genre of two to three years before, but also from Plant's personal interest in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien.[3] This musical direction would later culminate on the band's untitled fourth album (and countless subsequent groups would later carry the influence to further extremes). Conversely, the instrumental "Moby Dick" features an extended drum solo by John Bonham, which would be extended further during Led Zeppelin concert performances.[3]

Jimmy Page's contribution to this album was significant, as his electric guitar solo on the song "Heartbreaker" was emulated by many younger rock guitarists, and exemplifies the group's intense musical attack.[3] Led Zeppelin II is the band's first album to feature Page playing a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, the electric guitar he helped make famous. Page's innovative recording and drum miking effects on tracks such as "Ramble On" and "Whole Lotta Love" also demonstrated his considerable skill, resourcefulness and originality as a producer.[11] Rolling Stone magazine later called Page's guitar riff for the latter song "one of the most exhilarating guitar riffs in rock & roll."[12] Band member and multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones later discussed Page's contributions, stating:

Jimmy started coming into his own as a producer around "Whole Lotta Love". The backwards echo stuff. A lot of the microphone techniques were just inspired. Everybody thinks he goes into the studio with huge walls of amps, but he doesn't. He uses a really small amp and he just mic's it up really well, so it fits into a sonic picture.[11]

— John Paul Jones

The album's material marked a certain honing of singer Robert Plant's vocal approach,[13] and also signaled his emergence as a serious songwriter.[4] Plant's name had previously been absent from the songwriting credits of the band's first album due to the previous contractual commitments that resulted from his earlier association with CBS Records as a solo artist. His influence on tracks such as "What Is and What Should Never Be" and "Ramble On" were pointers to the musical future of Led Zeppelin.[3]

Plant has commented that it was only during the sessions for Led Zeppelin II that he started to feel at home as a vocalist in the studio with Led Zeppelin. In a 2008 interview for Uncut, he stated "[D]uring Led Zep I (1969) as far as I was concerned, I thought that I was going to [leave the band] anyway. I didn't feel that comfortable because there were a lot of demands on me vocally - which there were all the way though the Zeppelin thing. And I was quite nervous and didn't really get into enjoying it until II."[14]

Release and reception

The album was released on 22 October 1969 on Atlantic Records, with advance orders of 400,000 copies.[15] The advertising campaign was built around the slogan 'Led Zeppelin II Now Flying'.[3] Commercially, Led Zeppelin II was the band's first album to hit #1 in the U.S., temporarily knocking The Beatles' Abbey Road (1969) from the top spot, where it remained for seven weeks.[3] By April 1970 it had registered three million American sales, whilst in Britain it enjoyed a 138 week residence on the LP chart, climbing to the top spot in February 1970.[3]

The album also yielded Led Zeppelin's biggest hit, with the track "Whole Lotta Love". This song reached #4 on the Billboard Top 100 in January 1970, after Atlantic Records went against the group's wishes by releasing a shorter version on 45. The single's B-side, "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)", also hit the Billboard chart, peaking at #65 in April 1970. The album helped establish Led Zeppelin as an international concert attraction, as for the next year, the group continued to tour relentlessly, initially performing in clubs and ballrooms, then in larger auditoriums and eventually stadiums as their popularity grew.[16]

In 1970 the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.[3] On 10 November 1969, the album was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and, in 1990, it earned platinum status after selling over one million copies. By 14 November 1999, Led Zeppelin II had sold over twelve million copies and was certified duodecuple platinum by the RIAA.[17]

Influence

Led Zeppelin II has been cited by music writers as a blueprint for 1970s hard rock.[7][18] Blues-derived songs like "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker", "The Lemon Song" and "Bring It On Home" have been cited as standards of the genre, where the guitar-based riff (rather than vocal chorus or verses) defines the song and provides the key hook.[3] Such arrangements and emphasis were at the time atypical in popular music.[7] Page's guitar solo in "Heartbreaker" featuring rapid-fire runs of notes tapped only by the left hand, was a major inspiration to the later work of metal soloists and "shredders" such as Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai.[19] As such, the album is generally considered to be very influential on the development of rock music, being an early forerunner of heavy metal, and inspiring a host of other rock bands including Van Halen, Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith.[7][20]

Since its initial critical reception, Led Zeppelin II has been acknowledged by many critics and music writers as one of the most influential albums of rock music, and has earned several accolades from music publications, frequently placed at or near the top of "best album" lists.[21] In 1989, Spin magazine ranked the album number 5 on its list of The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time.[21] In 2000, Q magazine placed Led Zeppelin II at number 37 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[22] In 2003, the album was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[12]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Grammy Award United States "Grammy Award for Best Recording Package"[23] 1970 Nominee
Guitarist United Kingdom "Top 50 Most Influential Guitar Albums of All Time Ever"[24] 1994 3
Mojo United Kingdom "The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made"[25] 1996 41
The Guitar United States "Album of the Millenium"[26] 1999 6
Q United Kingdom "100 Greatest Albums Ever"[27] 2003 37
Robert Dimery United States 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[28] 2005 *
Classic Rock United Kingdom "100 Greatest British Rock Album Ever"[29] 2006 8
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame United States "The Definitive 200: Top 200 Albums of All-Time"[30] 2007 47
Q United Kingdom "50 Years of Great British Music (1960s)"[31] 2008 *

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Whole Lotta Love"Bonham, Dixon, Jones, Page, Plant5:34
2."What Is and What Should Never Be"Page, Plant4:47
3."The Lemon Song"Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant6:20
4."Thank You"Page, Plant4:47
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Heartbreaker"Bonham, Jones, Page, Plant4:15
2."Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)"Page, Plant2:40
3."Ramble On"Page, Plant4:35
4."Moby Dick"Bonham, Jones, Page4:25
5."Bring It On Home"Page, Plant4:19


Chart history

Album

Chart (1969) Peak position
Japanese Albums Chart[32] 8
US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart[33] 1
French Albums Chart[34] 3
Canadian RPM Top 100 Albums Chart[35] 1
UK Albums Chart[36] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[37] 2
Australian Kent Music Report Top 100 Albums Chart[38] 1
German Albums Chart[39] 1

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1970 "Whole Lotta Love" US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart[40] 4
1997 "Whole Lotta Love" UK Singles Chart[41] 21
1970 "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart[42] 65

Certifications

Country Sales Certification
Austria (IFPI) 10,000+ Gold[43]
Argentina (CAPIF) 30,000+ Gold[44]
United States (RIAA) 12,000,000+ 12x Multi-Platinum[45]
Canada (CRIA) 900,000+ 9x Platinum[46]
France (SNEP) 200,000+ 2x Gold[47]
Germany (IFPI) 200,000+ Platinum[48]
Australia (ARIA) 280,000+ 4x Platinum[49]
United Kingdom (BPI) 1,200,000+ 4x Platinum[50]

Personnel

Musicians

Production

Notes

  1. ^ a b Rosen, Craig (1996). The Billboard Book of Number One Albums: The Inside Story Behind Pop Music's Blockbuster Records (1st ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 118. ISBN 0-8230-7586-9.
  2. ^ a b Cleveland, Barry.Guitar Player: Mixing Led Zeppelin II. New Bay Media, LLC. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lewis, Dave (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, pp. 13–19. ISBN 0-7119-3528-9
  4. ^ a b c Schulps, Dave. Interview with Jimmy Page, Trouser Press, October 1977.
  5. ^ Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 32.
  6. ^ a b "Their Time is Gonna Come", Classic Rock Magazine: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin, 2008, p. 21.
  7. ^ a b c d allmusic: Led Zeppelin II. All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  8. ^ Gilmore, Mikal (10 August 2006). "The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin". Rolling Stone (1006). Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  9. ^ Twist, Carlo. Blender: The Ultimate Guide to Music and More - Led Zeppelin. Maxim Digital. Retrieved on 2009-02-09.
  10. ^ Nigel Williamson, "Good Times...Bad Times", ‘’Uncut’’, May 2005, p. 56.
  11. ^ a b “I first met Jimmy on Tolworth Broadway, holding a bag of exotic fish...”, Uncut, January 2009, p. 40.
  12. ^ a b RS500: 75) Led Zeppelin II. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  13. ^ Liner notes by Cameron Crowe for The Complete Studio Recordings, p. 9.
  14. ^ Jones, Allan. "Robert Plant: ‘We did what we set out to do...’", Uncut Magazine, May 2008, pp. 38-43.
  15. ^ Welch, Chris (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. ISBN 0-85797-930-3, p. 40.
  16. ^ allmusic: Led Zeppelin - Bio. All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  17. ^ RIAA: Gold & Platinum. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  18. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2007). All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock‎ (1st ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 98. ISBN 0-87930-917-2.
  19. ^ Brown, Pete (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists (1st ed.). San Francisco: Hal Leonard. p. 165. ISBN 0-7935-4042-9.
  20. ^ Hoard (2004), p. 479.
  21. ^ a b Acclaimed Music: Led Zeppelin II. AcclaimedMusic. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  22. ^ Tower: Led Zeppelin II. Tower.com. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.
  23. ^ "Grammy Award for Best Recording Package (David Juniper) - 11 March 1970". Grammy. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  24. ^ "Top 50 Most Influential Guitar Albums of All Time Ever - December 1994". Guitarist. Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ "The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made - January 1996". Mojo. Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "Album of the Millenium - December 1999". The Guitar. Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ 2003 "100 Greatest Albums Ever - January 2003". Q. Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ Dimery, Robert - 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die; page 156
  29. ^ "Classic Rock - 100 Greatest British Rock Album Ever - April 2006". Classic Rock. Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "The Definitive 200: Top 200 Albums of All-Time". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (United States). Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ "50 Years of Great British Music - March 2008". Q. Retrieved 2009-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  32. ^ "Top 100 Albums - 25 December 1969". Oricon. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  33. ^ "The Billboard 200 - 27 December 1969". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ "Top 100 Albums - 1969". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  35. ^ "RPM Albums Chart - 24 January 1970". RPM. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  36. ^ "Top 100 Albums - 7 February 1969". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  37. ^ "Top 20 Albums - 1 March 1970". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  38. ^ Kent, David (1993). "Top 100 Albums - 2 March 1970". Australian Chart Book 1970-1992 (1st ed.). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. p. 53. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  39. ^ "Top 100 Albums - 6 April 1970". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  40. ^ "Hot 100 Singles - 31 January 1970". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  41. ^ "Top 100 Singles - 13 September 1997". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  42. ^ "Hot 100 Singles - 4 April 1970". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ "Verband der Österreichischen Musikwirtschaft: Led Zeppelin II - 8 August 1991". IFPI. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  44. ^ "CAPIF: Led Zeppelin - 1993". CAPIF. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  45. ^ "RIAA.org Led Zeppelin II - 15 November 1999". RIAA. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  46. ^ "CRIA Led Zeppelin II - 28 February 2000". CRIA. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  47. ^ "Disque en France: Led Zeppelin II - 18 October 2001". SNEP. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  48. ^ "Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Led Zeppelin II - 2003". musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  49. ^ "ARIA Album Accreditations - 31 December 2007". ARIA. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  50. ^ "BPI Led Zeppelin II certification - 26 September 2008". BPI. Retrieved 2009-01-19.

References

  • Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-74320-169-8.


Preceded by Billboard 200 number one album
27 December 1969 - 2 January 1970
17 January - 23 January 1970
31 January - 6 March 1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Abbey Road by The Beatles
 UK Albums Chart number-one album
7 February 1970 - 14 February 1970 		Succeeded by
Motown Chartbusters Vol. 3 by various artists
Preceded by
Abbey Road by The Beatles
 Australian Kent Music Report number one album
2 March - 5 April 1970 		Succeeded by
Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel

Template:RIAA Diamond

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Led_Zeppelin_II&oldid=280002728"