Wednesday 20 July 2016

Led Zeppelin (1975) Night Flight‏

 Beginning with a startlingly pretty opening as Jimmy Page's glistening guitar strums a progression alongside John Paul Jones's bright organ in what was a rare JPJ dominated track. The influence of the heavily phased opening bars of this can be heard later in Brit Pop songs such as Telling Stories by The Charlatans and Waterfall by the Stone Roses and gives the song a distinctive sound that would have fitted in Untitled Fourth album, of which it was left off, or even the effervescent sounds of their fifth album.  The pop sheen soon descends into a stilted country boogie with a strong Southern Rock vibe, Plant singing in a 'downhome' manner about.. not sure what, possibly combat troops on a night flight to a battle zone as there is an allusion to evading the US Military Draft; still active in 1971 when the track was recorded.

 It does suffer from a repetitive verse that frankly becomes embarrassing with Plant's accentuated grunts at the very end. But the track is sparkling with those magic intervals of phased guitar and organ wokr, once again a mellowish rocker from a heavy band that knew how to balance diverse elements such as country, Southern Rock and even an early example of Alternative Rock in the classic opening. Truly Unforgettable Zep gem that I have wanted to do for sometime


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