1979 was a strange, nervous time for Led Zeppelin. They were undoubtedly the biggest band in the world, their incredibly loyal following reversing the law of diminishing marginal returns that applied to just about every other artist. They had yet to reach their plateau, that moment where record sales and concert tickets levelled out then dropped off. There was never talk of their 'audience being more selective', sales falling and less than full venues. The 1977 Magick US Tour broke all records, and over a year after their last studio elpee Presence had become the first to gain a platinum award on advance sales all 8 elpees (including the film soundtrack) made brief appearances in the Billboard charts.
The tragic event that not only curtailed the tour prematurely but put the very existence of Led Zeppelin in doubt was a terrible blow to Robert, and no one would have been surprised if he would have walked away from it all. But, with love, support and time the healing process began. 1978 really did seem like the worst of times, but slowly and surely the green shoots of recovery stretched into the daylight. Tentative rehearsals took place at Clearwell Castle in the Forest of Dean in May 1978, as Jimmy remarked at the time "that was basically a period of us saying 'hello' again to each other musically".
The remarkable if fragmented rehearsal tape tells a much more positive story. Apart from the germ of Carouselambra that sees Led Zeppelin expanding the initial sections and dabbling successfully with keyboard driven Prog tendencies there's the untitled gem that starts the recording. Under the working title of Fire, it's a wonderfully evocative idea, with Bonzo pulling back into half time while Jimmy adds riffs, fills and stabs of sound behind a modern, catchy vocal. Sadly not explored further (as far as we know) when the band got to Stockholm six months later.
After Clearwell Robert was visual and active again, appearing on kids TV programme Tiswas and jamming across the midlands and Ibiza. By October the green light was flashed and Led Zeppelin reconvened at Ezyhire Studios in London to flush out the new ideas and grooves. After being offered time at Abba's Polar Studios - they were very keen to have as big a band as Led Zeppelin record there, turning the profile and reputation of the studio 'international' in one fell swoop - they took the 10 tracks we know (plus possibly Fire and more) over to Stockholm to begin the hardest showbiz test of them all - the comeback.
If the media was to be completely believed, the old wave was finished. Done. Anyone over or approaching 30 years old didn't understand or was incapable of making great rock 'n' roll music. But, by the end of 1978, the energy, hype and sheen of 'punk' had largely faded. It had reached its' nadir in the summer of '77, ironically while Led Zeppelin were laying waste to the US with 3 and a half hour shows of intense musicality, indulgence and pure theatre. The Pistols, Clash and all the rest registered very little in the great scheme of things, and by the time In Through The Out Door was being recorded it was the more visceral and adept artists holding firm. Elvis Costello, The Stranglers, XTC.
As 1979 unfolded, rumour and counter rumour muddied the waters. The sessions in Stockholm were sensational, even if the fulcrum had tilted a little. Jimmy was, as with Houses Of The Holy, aggregating responsibility and control, and Jonesy worked closely with Robert to bring a new vibrant melody to the new songs. In the wake of punk/new wave and the rise of the NWOBHM in direct conflict to that, Led Zeppelin responded with a conservative collection of songs centred around their musical sophistication and syncopation as well as their undoubted power and resonance.
The wait for In Through The Out Door was endless. We'd heard the rumours, knew of the recording dates, worked out the timescale and logistics in our heads. But the wait went on. As spring blossomed negotiations set up their live return at Knebworth. But the weeks and months dragged on. Finally the shows came and went and still no elpee. Rumours of a single, an ep from the sessions to be given away or sold at Knebworth were unfounded. So we waited.
Finally, 16 days after that first show in that field near Stevenage, I got my hands on In Through The Out Door. Initially I was impressed but not bowled over. By the 4th or 5th listen the nuances, the class and the vibrancy poured through. The immediate tracks held firm and those slower burners came to the fore. It was only 39 months later that Coda gave us three extra tracks from the sessions that would have changed the mood and complexion of the elpee. For me, Hot Dog was the only real blip. South Bound Suarez and Fool In The Rain are so refreshing and classy, the syncopation and style a really positive and forward thinking sign. Once again Led Zeppelin had redefined the boundaries others had chosen to place around them.
The opener In The Evening is a grandiose stomp, leaning back but with an open sound for the future, Fender Strat and Yamaha dream machine keyboard fanfares as opposed to Les Paul and Fender Precision unison riffs, strident without sludge.
Carouselambra was a muse, another previously unexplored direction showing they could go ANY way they wanted and make more than a fist of it. All My Love was beautiful, gentle and a lovely homage. Such a shame for me the companion disc version wasn't the unfaded complete take bootlegged decades before on Studio Daze. Perhaps the most essential outtake of all in Zeppelin's history, the call and response stringbender coda is unequalled and so emotional. I'm Gonna Crawl is another underrated gem, perhaps because of the wave of strings and downbeat feel of the piece. Robert lets go and Jimmy delivers.
The other tracks from the session show Led Zeppelin were more sophisticated than ever, maturing song by song and open to all musical influences and directions. The biggest regret for me in the whole history of Led Zeppelin is that they were still producing, searching and inventing new music. The next elpee would have been something else. Years ago, a friend made an interesting point that if you mixed Presence and In Through The Out Door into a 2 elpee set it would be sensational. I tend to agree. A good thought for sure. The 3 outtakes we have are lively, strident and fun. But the choice for the more conservative tracks for the final elpee was certainly deliberate if not totally correct. Ozone Baby would have sat on the end of side one very nicely for me....
Reaction was expected and hysterical. No.1 in the UK and US, millions sold. Records broken and rumours of their impending fall and decline grossly exaggerated. The entire Led Zeppelin catalogue (again!) entered the Billboard top 200, and In Through The Out Door sat astride the charts at the top. Press vitriol and indifference mattered nowt, we knew. The sleeve was masterful. 6 characters, 6 different viewpoints so therefore 6 different sleeves. Sepia toned with a swipe to reveal a full colour scene bursting forth. Like wiping a dirty window. The quip that 'it doesn't matter what the sleeve is, it'll sell millions even if it was in a brown paper bag' was taken to the nth degree. The inner sleeve is another tongue in cheek schoolboy statement, changing colour when water is added. Finding an uncoloured original inner is getting hard 39 years on....
Listening back now, In Through The Out Door is a fine elpee. the next step on what should have been an ongoing journey. The musicality is better than ever, the syncopation and inventiveness supreme. It was, however, to be their epitaph. As Knebworth was perhaps the last great festival event, then In Through The Out Door is possibly the last great album of an era, the final statement of progressive music.
The remarkable if fragmented rehearsal tape tells a much more positive story. Apart from the germ of Carouselambra that sees Led Zeppelin expanding the initial sections and dabbling successfully with keyboard driven Prog tendencies there's the untitled gem that starts the recording. Under the working title of Fire, it's a wonderfully evocative idea, with Bonzo pulling back into half time while Jimmy adds riffs, fills and stabs of sound behind a modern, catchy vocal. Sadly not explored further (as far as we know) when the band got to Stockholm six months later.
After Clearwell Robert was visual and active again, appearing on kids TV programme Tiswas and jamming across the midlands and Ibiza. By October the green light was flashed and Led Zeppelin reconvened at Ezyhire Studios in London to flush out the new ideas and grooves. After being offered time at Abba's Polar Studios - they were very keen to have as big a band as Led Zeppelin record there, turning the profile and reputation of the studio 'international' in one fell swoop - they took the 10 tracks we know (plus possibly Fire and more) over to Stockholm to begin the hardest showbiz test of them all - the comeback.
If the media was to be completely believed, the old wave was finished. Done. Anyone over or approaching 30 years old didn't understand or was incapable of making great rock 'n' roll music. But, by the end of 1978, the energy, hype and sheen of 'punk' had largely faded. It had reached its' nadir in the summer of '77, ironically while Led Zeppelin were laying waste to the US with 3 and a half hour shows of intense musicality, indulgence and pure theatre. The Pistols, Clash and all the rest registered very little in the great scheme of things, and by the time In Through The Out Door was being recorded it was the more visceral and adept artists holding firm. Elvis Costello, The Stranglers, XTC.
As 1979 unfolded, rumour and counter rumour muddied the waters. The sessions in Stockholm were sensational, even if the fulcrum had tilted a little. Jimmy was, as with Houses Of The Holy, aggregating responsibility and control, and Jonesy worked closely with Robert to bring a new vibrant melody to the new songs. In the wake of punk/new wave and the rise of the NWOBHM in direct conflict to that, Led Zeppelin responded with a conservative collection of songs centred around their musical sophistication and syncopation as well as their undoubted power and resonance.
The wait for In Through The Out Door was endless. We'd heard the rumours, knew of the recording dates, worked out the timescale and logistics in our heads. But the wait went on. As spring blossomed negotiations set up their live return at Knebworth. But the weeks and months dragged on. Finally the shows came and went and still no elpee. Rumours of a single, an ep from the sessions to be given away or sold at Knebworth were unfounded. So we waited.
Finally, 16 days after that first show in that field near Stevenage, I got my hands on In Through The Out Door. Initially I was impressed but not bowled over. By the 4th or 5th listen the nuances, the class and the vibrancy poured through. The immediate tracks held firm and those slower burners came to the fore. It was only 39 months later that Coda gave us three extra tracks from the sessions that would have changed the mood and complexion of the elpee. For me, Hot Dog was the only real blip. South Bound Suarez and Fool In The Rain are so refreshing and classy, the syncopation and style a really positive and forward thinking sign. Once again Led Zeppelin had redefined the boundaries others had chosen to place around them.
The opener In The Evening is a grandiose stomp, leaning back but with an open sound for the future, Fender Strat and Yamaha dream machine keyboard fanfares as opposed to Les Paul and Fender Precision unison riffs, strident without sludge.
Carouselambra was a muse, another previously unexplored direction showing they could go ANY way they wanted and make more than a fist of it. All My Love was beautiful, gentle and a lovely homage. Such a shame for me the companion disc version wasn't the unfaded complete take bootlegged decades before on Studio Daze. Perhaps the most essential outtake of all in Zeppelin's history, the call and response stringbender coda is unequalled and so emotional. I'm Gonna Crawl is another underrated gem, perhaps because of the wave of strings and downbeat feel of the piece. Robert lets go and Jimmy delivers.
The other tracks from the session show Led Zeppelin were more sophisticated than ever, maturing song by song and open to all musical influences and directions. The biggest regret for me in the whole history of Led Zeppelin is that they were still producing, searching and inventing new music. The next elpee would have been something else. Years ago, a friend made an interesting point that if you mixed Presence and In Through The Out Door into a 2 elpee set it would be sensational. I tend to agree. A good thought for sure. The 3 outtakes we have are lively, strident and fun. But the choice for the more conservative tracks for the final elpee was certainly deliberate if not totally correct. Ozone Baby would have sat on the end of side one very nicely for me....
Reaction was expected and hysterical. No.1 in the UK and US, millions sold. Records broken and rumours of their impending fall and decline grossly exaggerated. The entire Led Zeppelin catalogue (again!) entered the Billboard top 200, and In Through The Out Door sat astride the charts at the top. Press vitriol and indifference mattered nowt, we knew. The sleeve was masterful. 6 characters, 6 different viewpoints so therefore 6 different sleeves. Sepia toned with a swipe to reveal a full colour scene bursting forth. Like wiping a dirty window. The quip that 'it doesn't matter what the sleeve is, it'll sell millions even if it was in a brown paper bag' was taken to the nth degree. The inner sleeve is another tongue in cheek schoolboy statement, changing colour when water is added. Finding an uncoloured original inner is getting hard 39 years on....
Listening back now, In Through The Out Door is a fine elpee. the next step on what should have been an ongoing journey. The musicality is better than ever, the syncopation and inventiveness supreme. It was, however, to be their epitaph. As Knebworth was perhaps the last great festival event, then In Through The Out Door is possibly the last great album of an era, the final statement of progressive music.
