Physical Graffiti

Brilliant thank you. I was even more delighted when I realised that I had ordered the vinyl edition by a happy mistake. Lovely art work. Well worth the money.Brilliant addition to my collection of now three vinyls -Queens Greatest Hits,Darkside of the moon and now this. I am delighted to now own this superlative album. I remember my trawel through record shops as a teenager in the 80’s when I used to look in awe at this album and it’s intriguing artwork Thank you it’s an unexpected addition to my vinyl collection.

Classic led Zeppelin with some of their best music.

Fantastic album. For a Led Zeppelin fan it’s a must

I'd almost forgotten how brilliant this double album was - side 2 in particular, featuring Houses of the Holy, Trampled Underfoot and, of course, Kashmir, probably showcases Led Zeppelin at their zenith. The 180 gram vinyl feels satisfyingly heavy and both records play perfectly. The original album artwork has been faithfully recreated too. The currently advertised price is an absolute bargain for this legendary double album.

Some of this might get very nit picky and nerdy........but why review an album that so many others have and not add something new? Firstly, the packaging is too yellow(let's get the negs out of the road before hitting the main course). It looks sickly in this tone. The care taken with other aspects, some done to perfection, could well have extended to printing it right. The die cut windows are wonderful, all of the inside artwork wonderfully reproduced to a tee. The sleeve inside which the cd's sit in their won printed bags, again doe to perfection. So, mostly top notch. The booklet is an almost total disappointment. The contact sheets would look great in the 12" vinyl size, but here, in miniature, they are just an eye test. There is also a spelling mistake. B.P. fallon has become B.P. Fallen.......... I wonder if they are trying to suggest something. Ok, gripes over. What about the contents? Well, this is all good news as far as the main discs go. The remastering has been a relevation in some cases and an improvement in all. A veil has been lifted right across the album and things can be heard that are on the original cd, but not as clearly. On Boogie With Stu the slap back reverb really pings across the stereo soundstage. Pages acoustic guitar work at the start now sounds clear enough to hear the plectrum hitting the strings whereas before it was just the sound coming out of the body of the guitar. Interestingly, the channels have been reversed. Stu used to be in the left speaker, now he is in the right. Bonhams sticks hitting the frame around the drum shell at the end really come across as wood on metal, rather than clicks. On In the Light the big plus is John Paul Jones bass playing. The remastering has really helped make his playing stand out, not louder, just clearer. Towards the end of this song he improvises over the repeating chords and adds all sorts of wonderful runs. At one point he plays a series of two note bass chords, which I had never noticed before. Amazing! Pages remastering has made a great album an essential one, for lovers of rock. The bonus cd is disappointing but not surprisingly so. I reckon Jimmy has got some sort of big live concert release idea going on. At least I hope so considering the amount of live gigs he has tucked away in the vaults. That would also explains the paucity of live bonus material since Zep 1. Overall a winner. Essential for Zep fans. As for the bonus material, I could take it or leave it in this instance.

Love it

Zeppelin's sixth studio album appeared in 1975, a generous 80 minutes of music spread over two 12" vinyl disks in those days known as a `double album'. PG contains a mix of styles ranging from pounding hard rock numbers (`Trampled Underfoot' was inspired by Robert Johnson's `Terraplane Blues') through poignant reflective songs with great dynamics like `Ten Years Gone' and `Down by the Seaside'. Add in a boogie-woogie jam, a short acoustic guitar piece, a thunderous 11-minute re-work of the gospel classic `In my Time of Dying' and the seminal `Kashmir': an epic, majestic number of awesome power "like the last dinosaur on Earth walking up the path" by common consent one of Zeppelin's finest moments (if not THE finest) and you have a truly classic album. In fact, PG is so packed with great songs it's difficult to pick out highlights without going through the complete song list as many excellent reviews have done already. If you're new to exploring the music of this talented British rock band from the 1970s, PG might be a good place to start because it has just about everything. Around half the songs were new compositions from 1973-75 and the remainder re-worked numbers - in some cases extensively re-worked - which hadn't made previous album releases, for example the title track from the `Houses of the Holy' album which didn't make the final cut of that 1973 release, but was revived for inclusion on PG. All four band members are here on top form, the contributions of John Paul Jones on `Trampled Underfoot', `In the Light' and `Kashmir' being particularly outstanding. The end-result is every bit as great as the `runes album' (LZ4) but more stretched-out and varied with greater scope; more the rounded collection than unified vision. PG showcases Zeppelin at the height of their creative powers and belongs in any collection of classic rock music. It's still selling after 35 years, still sounds fabulous and has found new generations of young fans not even born when this music was created.

Words for what, excellent

Obra maestra. Edición magnífica.

Novembre 73. Libérés d’une tournée qui commençait à prendre des allures de pensum, surtout pour un John Paul Jones sur le seuil de rupture, Led Zeppelin entre pour la sixième fois en studio, plus particulièrement dans leur manoir Headley Grange, pour y enregistrer un nouvel album et organiser le lancement de leur propre label, Swan Song. Pour bien gérer ces deux affaires, le groupe va ainsi prendre son temps et, pratiquement sept mois, pour sortir aux forceps, un objet rare, à la fois controversé, adulé, singulier tant par sa forme que son contenu : Physical Graffiti. Composé pour moitié de nouveautés, dont une certaine Kashmir qui deviendra avec le temps l'incantation majeure du dirigeable, tandis que se retrouvent certains morceaux écartés lors de sessions précédentes, pour l’autre, ce disque est d’une emphase confinant à la majesté. Sur ce double album donc, deux époques, deux formules magiques aux prétentions diverses, mais qui laissent derrière elles une telle impression, que l’on en arrive à pardonner le dispensable. Témoins d’une période riche en influences, si le premier volume se veut le retour en grâce d’un heavy blues n’hésitant pas quelques nappes orientales, le second disque laisse le goût mitigé d’une performance non aboutie. Non pas que ce dernier soit mauvais, mais surtout parce que la recette appliquée manque de cette touche de spontanéité si caractéristique du groupe. Néanmoins, comme souvent dans sa discographie et à l’appui de quelques titres phares, Led Zeppelin nous livre un ensemble de grande facture. On l’aura deviné, malgré quelques errances, à un moment ou à un autre, Physical Graffiti est le genre d’album qui vous prend au corps et ne vous lâche plus. En dominant son sujet sur Custard Pie, puis évitant la démonstration de slide sur l’intense In My Time Of Dying, le dirigeable fascine par cette faculté naturelle de nuancer la violence d’un souffle de sensualité. Car si le jeu musical est intense, c’est au travers de contrées plus aériennes, plus folk que Page et consorts s’avèrent les plus fertiles. Alors que certains verront dans ce double enregistrement, une contestable opposition des genres, une indigente volonté de remplissage, il en est d’autres qui, en abandonnant toute résistance, se laisseront parcourir par cette sensation si étrange, que l’on nomme parfois, l'évidence. En négligeant le quelconque et hormis le pouvoir incomparable de l’hypnotique Kashmir, absout de tout solo, la plupart des morceaux ne s’aventurent que très rarement dans l’ordinaire. Sans les nommer tous, on soulignera le mélodique, The Rover, Trampled Under Foot pour son groove communicatif, puis, dans un registre un peu plus soft, Ten Years Gone ou Down By The Seaside, dont on aurait tort de se priver. Exercice délicat, si peu de doubles albums ont su passer les frontières du temps, cet objet violent nimbé d’inspiration reste un évènement lors de chaque écoute. Peut-être un peu trop long, peut-être un peu trop, tout simplement, Physical Graffiti résume cependant, à lui seul, ce que furent les seventies : un laboratoire au service d’une certaine idée de la musique. A la fois, discipline physique d’un John Bonham souverain, fin de cycle pour un Robert Plant victime d’une usure prématurée de ses cordes vocales et révélateur d’un John Paul Jones lumineux d’opportunisme, cette maison du sacré voué à l’héroïsme de Page ressemble par bien des égards à sa pochette à tiroirs : plurielle, tout en étant unique.

Nie będę pisał o muzyce , wszyscy znają i wiedzą , że jest wspaniała. Jakość płyty b. dobra, jest prosta nie ma wad, dźwięk jest b. dobry.

Lovely artwork on the vinyl cover the mix sounds muddy but it does so on cd also buy the vinyl guys

Simplesmente fantástico. Álbum perfeito desde o primor da capa criativa e grandes clássicos do Zeppelin. Na minha opinião a obra prima desta banda maravilhosa. Produto entregue perfeito.