OTHER TECH

"Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" was my favorite track on Led Zeppelin II. Maybe it was just teenage hormones, but the way the song took off like a shot appealed to me. Like you could OUTRACE society. And I've always been about playing outside society.

But now although when I hear "Living Loving," I STILL love the way Robert sings "umbrella," and the break with "merry-go-round" and the SHIMMY in Plant's voice when he sings "Tellin' tall tales of how it used to be," the track just doesn't resonate in quite the same way.

I was never a huge fan of "Whole Lotta Love." There just wasn't enough there, beyond the riff. Or maybe it's just that the track was SO big in my high school back in October '69, I got burned out and abandoned it. Led Zeppelin had been my secret. And within a week of II's release, EVERYBODY knew about the record, and Jimmy and the boys were their favorite new band. Hell, maybe that's why I glommed on to "Living Loving."

"What Is and What Should Never Be" hearkens back to the first album. A long slow-burning blues number that erupts with passion. And until Physical Graffiti, I always loved that first album best, and maybe do again, so all of these years later "What Is and What Should Never Be" sounds SPECTACULAR! It resonates. This is the sound that the Black Crowes are so often reaching for but failing to achieve. Because they just don't have the soul.

But people never talked about "What Is and What Should Never Be" - they reserved their comments for "The Lemon Song," with the juice running down Robert's leg. I personally thought it was a bit too obvious. But, except for the lyrics, the main riff would sit perfectly in the aforementioned Physical Graffiti, when Jimmy Page stretched out and was less worried what the audience would find palatable (even more so than with III).

"Heartbreaker" has that bungee jump of a riff, bouncing all over the place. Can't say anything negative about this track, which I loved back then and still do. Hey, fellas, have you heard the news???

"Moby Dick" ranks with the Nazz's "She's Goin' Down" as the best song to contain a drum solo. Sure, the Nazz break was oh-so-brief, but still, in this era after "Toad," Bonham didn't make you feel like your limits were being tested. Especially since you were stoned out of your mind most of the time you were listening anyway, and there was that great intro and outro riff.

"Bring It on Home" did what today's groups are oblivious to. It showed Zeppelin wasn't a one-note band. Shit, the first half of "Bring It on Home" sounds almost like folk music, cut in a hamlet far from the mainstream in Mother England. Or maybe it's closer to John Hammond, Jr. That fretwork is so sexy, it ENRAPTURES YOU!