Led Zeppelin II CD - Import

UK remastered reissue of 1969 album, packaged in a limited edition miniature LP gatefold sleeve. 9 tracks. Atlantic. 2003.

Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant (vocals, harmonica); Jimmy Page (acoustic, electric & pedal steel guitar, background vocals); John Paul Jones (organ, bass, background vocals); John Bonham (drums, tympani, background vocals).
Recorded in London, England and New York, New York in 1969.
Limited edition Dutch issue housed in a miniature LP sleeve replica of the original artwork. 2003.
Recorded quickly during Led Zeppelin's first American tours, Led Zeppelin II provided the blueprint for all the heavy metal bands that followed it. Since the group could only enter the studio for brief amounts of time, most of the songs that compose II are reworked blues and rock & roll standards that the band was performing on-stage at the time. Not only did the short amount of time result in a lack of original material, it made the sound more direct. Jimmy Page still provided layers of guitar overdubs, but the overall sound of the album is heavy and hard, brutal and direct. "Whole Lotta Love," "The Lemon Song," and "Bring It on Home" are all based on classic blues songs -- only, the riffs are simpler and louder and each song has an extended section for instrumental solos. Of the remaining six songs, two sport light acoustic touches ("Thank You," "Ramble On"), but the other four are straight-ahead heavy rock that follows the formula of the revamped blues songs. While Led Zeppelin II doesn't have the eclecticism of the group's debut, it's arguably more influential. After all, nearly every one of the hundreds of Zeppelin imitators used this record, with its lack of dynamics and its pummeling riffs, as a blueprint. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
From the first grinding notes of the famous vamp that introduces "Whole Lotta Love," LED ZEPPELIN II announces for all to hear that they are the definitive hard rock band of their generation. But before the listener can even settle into the groove, things takes a hard left turn into a spacey new rhythm, exotically flavored by Page's droning feedback and innovative use of a violin bow. By tune's end, Zeppelin has repeatedly toyed with the listener's expectations.
This subversive quality distinguishes most of the arrangements on LED ZEPPELIN II, as in the soft/hard dynamic shifts of "What Is And What Should Never Be," the gospelish mood of "Thank You," the rocking vamps and funk rhythms of "Heartbreaker" and "Living Loving Maid," and the country music echoes of "Ramble On." And in their appropriations of source materials from Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, and Sonny Boy Williamson, Page and company continued to mine the rich vein of the blues.

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.114) - Ranked #75 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "This album opens with one of the most exhilarating guitar riffs in rock & roll..."
Rolling Stone (12/13/69, p.50) - "...'Whole Lotta Love'...has to be the heaviest thing I've run across....The album ends with a far-out blues number called 'Bring It On Home', during which Rob contributes some very convincing moaning and harp-playing..."
Spin (12/03, p.122) - "...It's not heavy metal, but it's a damn fine blueprint..."
Q (8/00, p.126) - Included in Q's "Best Metal Albums Of All Time"
Q (6/00, p.75) - Ranked #37 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...A chugging monster, derailed into a lengthy free-form ju-ju freak-out. Then 'The Lemon Song' reverts to straight-ahead blues-rock pastiche..."