
The album features some of Zep's most ambitious recordings to date, most famous of which is the dense and hypnotic "Kashmir," with a pounding polyrhythmic groove, rich brass and string sounds, and evocative lyrics all lending to the track's epic feel, and yet, despite its immense popularity and radio play, following the majestic build up through 4:20, "Kashmir" deteriorates quickly into tedium unless it's 3am and you're high. (Remember that time on acid when you listened to the inner groove of Sgt. Pepper for nearly an hour? Same idea.) As an interesting comparison, the second disc's "In the Light" (longer than everything but "In My Time of Dying") is a masterful tune that more than justifies its length, with its shifting moods signaling the onset of the album's more varied (and ultimately more rewarding) second half.
The layered guitars of "Ten Years Gone" create
a massive wall-of-sound effect; elsewhere, the band kicks out some of the grittiest
horn-dog hard rock of their career with tracks like the underage groupie tribute
"Sick Again" (but check out the codicil of an adult below), the
hammering "The Wanton Song," and a blistering funk duo in the
muff-diving "Custard Pie" and motor-working metaphors of
"Trampled Underfoot." The band's mastery of light and shade is
evidenced on tracks like the mystical "The Rover," hooky "Houses
of the Holy," and the mellow "Down by the Seaside," while their
bluesy side is explored via the laid back acoustic jam "Black Country
Woman," and the extended slide-guitar driven "In My Time of
Dying." Whether laying down massive, imposing sagas or laid-back, loose
rockers, Physical Graffiti has the ability to draw you in so that
even after years of listens, you're still interested in what's around
the corner. As such, it most fully realizes Zeppelin's inherent desire and
ability to take the listener on a journey.
The length of certain tracks and "Sick Again" are really my only complaints. A single LP would have made for a better album, but then we'd be robbed of also-rans superior to the best of other bands. And "Sick Again" is just Houses of the Holy rehash. I'm sure I was in teenage bliss chanting "fucking sick again" like a teen-aged rapper, but "Sick Again" was a poor production choice for the LP's finale, even if that's nitpicky.