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Review of Led Zeppelin's "Led Zeppelin II"

© Nick Bendel

Led Zeppelin II (1969), not surprisingly, is the second album from rock legends Led Zeppelin. What's so good about this album is that even though it features some great guitar moments, they never extend to the point of self-indulgence. Led Zeppelin II has both good guitar and good songs.

This is immediately demonstrated with the opening track, the classic "Whole Lotta Love." Loud and exciting this shows the band- Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham - at its best. Incidentally all four members share the credit for writing this song and while it is Page and Plant who are the greatest contributors throughout the album, both Jones and Bonham make extensive and valuable contributions.

The following songs reinforce the quality of both band and album. "What is and What Should Never Be" comes next, while some of the guitar on "The Lemon Song" is incredible. "Thank You" has an anthemic quality about it, despite being more soothing than the noise before it. The introductory guitar sequence to "Heartbreaker" confirms a return to the exuberance of earlier songs. While being of the same strong standard it is still something of a shame - more variety of the kind of "Thank You" may have been more pleasing.

"Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)" and "Ramble On" is more of the same. However well written these pieces may be, there's only so long that one can keep listening to the same thing. So when "Moby Dick," the following instrumental, appears it is about time. It is a pleasant diversion and forms a nice lead-in to the closing track "Bring It On Home."

Led Zeppelin II, all criticisms aside, is a good album. Still, it is far from perfect. While the music and musicianship are beyond reproach, there is an obvious lack of imagination. More variety would have made for better listening.

RATING: 7.5/10

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