Great Rock Albums of 1979: Led Zeppelin- In Through the Out Door

If a metalhead who had been one since the 1980s or later was to listen to "In Through the Outdoor" by Led Zeppelin, they would have serious doubts about the band being one of the founding fathers of heavy metal. This album is a far cry from their earlier and much heavier material. There are no songs with that heavy rocking sound such as "Whole Lotta Love," "Communication Breakdown," "Rock and Roll" and my personal favourite, "Black Dog." Two reasons are cited for this: i) After the death of Robert Plant's son in 1977, he no longer was in the mood to sing, "It's been a long time since I rocked and rolled." I can't in any way blame him for that. ii) Led Zeppelin stated that they were looking to achieve some sort of musical integrity. 

Saying all of that, this is still a great album containing the high quality work one would have expected from Led Zeppelin. There is a little bit of humour to the album in my mind with songs like "Fool in the Rain" and "Hot Dog." The other tracks carry a more defined sound and the ten minute plus long "Carouselambra" is a classic trademark of the talented people that Led Zeppelin were. One minor note, if I was in any way producing the album, I would have put the excellent track, "All of My Love" at the very end. This would have been a great way to end the album and when I listen to it in its full, after hearing the aforementioned track, I don't really want to listen to the concluding track, "I'm Gonna Crawl" and that's not fair to it. 

Track Listing:

1. In the Evening

2. South Bend Suarez

3. Fool in the Rain

4. Hot Dog

5. Carouselambra

6. All of My Love

7. I'm Gonna Crawl

Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant- vocals

Jimmy Page- guitars

John Paul Jones- bass, keyboards

John Bonham- drums

This would be the last studio album made before the tragic death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 and for most people would spell the end of the band. Like so many, I associate "In Through the Outdoor" as their last hurrah but it is still a great one to finish off with and to me, they definitely achieve their musical integrity. 

Next post: Soundtrack- The Rose

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