The Cavern
Rock & Words
CODA (Led Zeppelin, 1982)
Artist: Led Zeppelin (B+)
Recording Dates: Leftovers from ’70 – ‘78
Release Date: November 19th, 1982. UK
Record Label: Swan Song
Producer: Jimmy Page
Rating: 3
Era: Hard Rock (1968-???)
Subgenre: Hard Rock
Best Song: I guess Bonzo's Montreux?
Tracklist 1) We're Gonna Groove; 2) Poor Tom; 3) I Can't Quit You Baby; 4) Walter's Walk; 5) Ozone Baby; 6) Darlene; 7) Bonzo's Montreux; 8) Wearing And Tearing.
But what the hell happened to Led Zeppelin??? What happened to what for several years was considered the greatest machine to ever soar through the skies of Rock? Did their creativity burn out? Did they finally realize they were made of lead and fall straight and without pause into complacency, releasing albums just for the sake of releasing them, recycling themselves, and launching the material they had discarded as bad from albums that already showed an obvious decline? Were Jimmy and Robert already thinking about their next cheesy project of orchestrated ballads? Yes . Apparently, all of that.
But there are a couple of factors to consider, which don't justify or mitigate the terrible quality of Coda, but are worth keeping in mind: By the time this album came out, John Bonham had been drowning in his own vomit for two years. Well, not exactly, they'd already cleaned him up and buried him, but you get the idea (me and my bad jokes). And the rest of the band, after considering for about 25 minutes finding a replacement and carrying on (legend has it they were talking about Cozy Powell), ended up deciding that Led Zeppelin was a band of four irreplaceable pieces and that losing one meant there was no more Led Zeppelin. Wise decision, it's like if the Beatles had continued without Paul after the relationship fractured: they wouldn't have been the Beatles anymore.
In any case, I think the Lead Dirigible cycle had come to an end, and I don't believe they would have released better albums than this one in the '80s, even though the band was about to embark on a US tour and had high hopes for a resurgence. The second thing to consider is that Swan Song, the band's label, still owed Atlantic Records an album. I don't really understand the reasons for this, since the band already had their own label; perhaps it was part of the contract to get out of Atlantic, which, in any case, remained the distributor. The fact is that with one more album, they would be free of the contract, and they found material to complete one last album, partly out of nostalgia, partly as a tribute, and partly to settle a debt.
Some are live tracks from the tremendous '70 tour, still in universities and small venues, which , to make it look better, they cleaned up, removed the crowd noise, Jimmy added guitar overdubs , and voilà . They were ruined with those pounding guitars that at times sound more like Steve Jones than Jimmy Page.
For many, it's clear that the logical next step was to release an album of outtakes , but what everyone's wondering is why these particular tracks. The truth is, they had nothing else to work with. All the other outtakes from their album sessions had ended up being used on later albums, so they really had nothing left to draw from.
The release of *In Through The Outdoor* had given them enough breathing room to break their own concert attendance record in Copenhagen, with 104,000 people in August 1979. After the album tour, the band disbanded for a break. They were feeling somewhat uninspired and lacking in creativity. In June, they reunited for a mini-European tour, with shorter shows , Jimmy cutting out the lengthy solos and jams , and sounding more raw. On June 27th , in Nuremberg, the concert had to be stopped midway because Bonzo collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. The tabloids immediately began speculating about drugs, but the band simply said it was indigestion.
The truth is, Bonzo had no control over his drinking at that time. He ate token amounts, but drank industrial quantities of alcohol, which is why he looked bloated and overweight. He had always boasted that his drinking didn't interfere with his work, but he was starting to arrive late to rehearsals, his playing was getting slower and slower, and they had already had to cancel a concert because of it. He had already quit heroin, but he was taking a medication called Motival that reduced his anxiety and kept him in a good mood. In mid- June , the band flew to California to finalize the details of their US tour and trash a few hotels before returning to Europe to continue the mini-tour. The '80 Tour would be their first in the USA in three years, and they were returning to the territory they knew best.
But Bonham wasn't the only one with problems. Jimmy couldn't control his drug use either, deep in heroin and tranquilizers. Some nights he'd try to play direct and raw like punk, and other nights he'd revert without warning to apocalyptic solos. The doctor who accompanied them during tour preparations accused him of stealing Qualudes from the medicine cabinet and was about to report him to the California police. Robert Plant's marriage was falling apart and divorce was imminent. Jonesy was, as always, the most focused and level-headed, without the typical problems of rock stars. But the band was optimistic about the tour. In one of the interviews Page gave around that time, he said they would be entering the studio at the end of the year, and that their next album would be "a construction of harmonies using the guitar, with authentic orchestration." Jimmy had even bought a new mansion in Windsor, which he planned to remodel to add a huge rehearsal and recording studio with the latest technology.
Led Zeppelin's final tour ended on July 7th in Berlin, as they cancelled their two Paris concerts. They returned to London to rehearse in the studio for their American tour and begin working on new songs. September 24 , 1980, would be the last time Led Zeppelin performed together.
Rex King was the driver who picked up Bonzo in the morning. He collected him at his house, but Bonham insisted on being taken to a pub before rehearsal because he didn't want to arrive without his "breakfast." At the pub, Bonzo devoured a substantial breakfast of four quadruple vodkas and two ham rolls (I suppose so no one could say he hadn't eaten anything). That's the equivalent of 16 shots of vodka just for breakfast! At the studio, he continued drinking heavily, and then they all went to Page's house. It's estimated that in those 24 hours he drank the equivalent of 40 shots of vodka. Is that four bottles? At midnight , he collapsed in Jimmy's living room, and somehow they all carried him to a bedroom and, supposedly, left him there, as is the universal custom in such cases. The next day, it was 1:45 in the afternoon, and John still hadn't come down. Benji LeFavre, the band's new tour manager, and John Paul Jones went to the room to find the enormous drummer lying face up, choked on his own vomit. The autopsy found no other drugs, only industrial quantities of alcohol—enough to start a distillery. Bonham was cremated on October 10 , 1980, and the US tour was canceled. On December 4 , the band released a statement saying that looking for a replacement would be an insult to their bandmate, and that they could not continue as a band, thus officially ending Led Zeppelin. That same week, John Lennon would be murdered in New York...
The album starts with “We're Gonna Groove". I suppose it's a desperate attempt to maintain that tradition of opening albums with a kick-ass . Yep , it's a furious rocker , but it's light years away from " Black Dog ," " Immigrant Song," " Whole Lotta Love," or even "Good Times, Bad Times." I guess it's one of the tracks that comes close to being decent on this album. This Ben E. King cover is one of those they used to open their early concerts on the 1969 tour, when they were still playing in colleges and small venues. This is a live recording from the night of January 9 , 1970, but Jimmy Page erased any trace of the audience, completely removed the original guitar track, and added overdubs of guitars. That's why it sounds like three or four guitars alternating or interweaving. However, the mix is bad , the guitars are too sharp, the cymbals are poorly EQ'd and overpowering the bass, and the vocals are muddy, although Robert was at his peak at the time. form and even without its usual excesses. The song was going to be included on LZ II, but just like “ Since "I've Been Loving You" was postponed. It has a good level of energy and a very promising start, but after a minute you realize the song doesn't have many variations. The solo Page added in '82 is flat, lacking creativity… I would have liked to hear the real live version.
Next up is “Poor Tom”, which was recorded for the Album III sessions at Bron- Yr - Aur . It’s a warm, acoustic country-folk track that kicks off with a strange, fast but not heavy beat from Bonzo, before the acoustic guitar riffs join in. It’s soft, hypnotic, and fits perfectly into the acoustic atmosphere of Album III. Why was it left off the album? Possibly because after a while it also starts to feel sedating, and possibly because they risked being sued by the Rolling Stones for plagiarizing “ Prodigal Son” from Beggar’s Album almost note for note . So many years later, I suppose that risk is no longer there.
I was originally going to mark “I Can't "Quit You Baby" in red. In fact, I still believe it's by far the best song on the album. But that would be disrespectful to their botched job. This is a live version from the early years (also from January 9 , 1970, at the Royal Albert Hall), which Jimmy also rearranged to remove that effect. It would become one of the central themes of Zeppelin's performances until they replaced it with " Since "I've Been Loving You." Being so good, so energetic, with great solos and such a bluesy feel , why is it cheating? Because the two BBC live versions are infinitely superior, so this was pointless. Not even the attempt to pass it off as a studio version, because it had already appeared on the debut album. Yes, it's a big flashback, but I think there were already enough better versions of the same song, and it adds absolutely nothing to Coda. Besides, and speaking frankly, it wasn't even part of the concert, as they want us to believe: Ladies and gentlemen, this was the soundcheck that night. Seriously.
The ugly part comes with “Walter's Walk”. Ugly with a capital U. It 's supposedly one of the outtakes from the Stargrooves sessions in 1972 for the Houses of the Holy album. But the vocals were clearly recorded much later. It's Robert's singing style from the In Through the Outdoor era , and some even say he re-recorded the vocals in 1982. In fact , it's generally too punkish to believe it's from the early '70s. A pounding beat, a weak and forgettable melody, no hook, a guitar riff that's too simple, too heavy, too repetitive to believe Page conceived it back in '72. It's truly a song that could have easily been on the Sex Pistols' Nevermind the Bollocks . The guitar isn't too different from Steve Jones's, and the groove, in general, is lacking. If it weren't for Plant's unmistakable voice ( even in terrible shape), if I heard this song without knowing who played it, I'd laugh out loud if someone told me it was Led Zeppelin. The theory is that in '72 they had a very basic demo from which they took the drums, and that, along with "Wearing and Tearing ," it's a kind of mocking response from Page to the punk movement because of the polished sound they gave it.
“Ozone Baby” at least has a more memorable riff and a bit more melody, but… It’s an outtake from In Through The Outdoor , and it feels like an overly lightweight rocker , with a ridiculous chorus: “Uh- uuuh” es my love , Uh- uuuh es my " Love ..." repeating ad nauseam. The guitars are far too condescending, only the solo is decent, if anything. The rhythm section is good; Jones salvages the song as best he can with deep scales, and Bonzo does what he can considering it's a fast-paced ballad, but there wasn't much he could do with the structure. It's curious, shortly after the release of Coda, when he released his album Principle of Moments , Robert Plant complained about the cheap imitations of Led Zeppelin, namely Def Leppard, Poison , and the like. It's curious because with this song I can almost imagine Led Zeppelin in the '80s with makeup and spandex , and that's when I say... " Phew ! We dodged a bullet there."
“Darlene” follows the same vein, though it's one of the decent tracks. It sounds like a Houses of the Holy outtake because of its laid-back style and the way Plant attacks the song, but the truth is it was also from the In Through The Outdoor sessions . Heck, even the guitar solo sounds like it's from that era. Jones also has his moment with a good piano solo, not exactly boogie , but very rhythmic and playful. “Heavy Dance Music,” says Starostin. It's one of those light, Zeppelin-esque tracks that on other albums barely register as filler, the band having fun in something little more than a jam , but here it seems like one of the highlights. Curiously, it would be one of the album's standout tracks, and of those, the one that would reach the highest on the charts, peaking at #4.
I suppose the only track that truly contributes something, that has at least some sentimental and musical value, is “Bonzo Montreux”, attributed to the “John Bonham Drum Orchestra .” And indeed, it's not a drum solo in the traditional sense; it's a veritable orchestra of percussion and effects. Many people believe that “Moby Dick” is Bonham's only drum solo. And in a way, it is. He recorded this track in September 1976 at Mountain Studios in Montreux , Switzerland. It's not a live track from the band's last performance in Switzerland, as some have suggested (apparently, Jimmy wanted live tracks to sound like studio recordings and vice versa...). Some say it surpasses “Moby Dick.” I have my doubts. What is certain is that it's a masterclass in drumming; it's more listenable because it has a rhythm, you can hear certain patterns from songs like “ Whole Lotta Love,” and the tremendous power with which John hit the drums . But a drummer friend once told me, “With ‘Moby Dick’…” Bonham has created many great drummers. It's a subject that anyone who picks up a drumstick studies for years, and it never ceases to teach you new things every time you try it. It teaches you the entire basic arsenal of tricks you need to be a good drummer, and if you're smart, it opens the door to so much more. Another issue is that Page started experimenting with sounds and effects, adding percussion, and overall it ends up sounding like Bonzo is playing with an electronic drum kit here, when in reality it seems to me that Jimmy somewhat masked Bonham's more direct effect by pounding his drums with a more direct sound. All in all, this track is worth the Coda.
“Wearing and Tearing” is awful, also from the In Through sessions. The song comes from Johnny Rotten once calling Led Zeppelin a dinosaur band, in the most derogatory sense. Jimmy Page, instead of taking it in stride, took it personally, and this was a sort of response. The best hard rock band in history in a pathetic attempt at punk, and ending up sounding, in fact, like a dinosaur band . If it sounds pathetic with the Rolling Stones, here they're practically saying, “Move over, here I come.” Seriously? I mean… REALLY? So this is how the last album from one of the best bands in history ends? Right at the end, when Plant is yelling those “You know , you know , you know , you know …” (you think the record is scratched until you realize it’s an MP3), it’s almost unlistenable . No, it’s rather sad, and it makes you grateful the band broke up before this became commonplace in the 80s. Seriously, if you have outtakes, leave them as outtakes, don’t release them on an album to rip people off. No, not even as a tribute to a fallen friend. Not even for nostalgia. Not even to pay off a debt…
Fortunately, Coda didn't manage to tarnish the legendary Led Zeppelin name. In fact, Coda reached number 4 on the charts, partly due to nostalgia for John Henry Bonham, and partly because by then, glam rock bands with tights, false eyelashes, and spiky hair were already dominating the charts. In a way, Coda didn't clash with that sound. And that's also a shame.
Placing it as a sequence from the Hindenburg disaster, " Precense" and "In Through the Out Door" represent those famous photos of the burning airship plummeting down. You know it's not good, that disaster is coming, but it still has something powerful, awe-inspiring about it, with the helium exploding, and you can't look away. The Coda is what follows, the band trying to play under tons of burning canvas on the floor…
By Corvan
Jul/3/2013
