#ittod

[jimmys-zeppelin]

ba baaam bam, ba baaam bam, ba baaam bam, ba baaam bam *drums kick in* bada bam bam bam bam-bam, bada bam bam bam bam-bam

[finalgirlmegumi]

Types of source:

1. Dude trust me

2. It is known among the wise

3. It was revealed to me once in a dream

[thefairywithboots]

The Mick Wall biography I ordered got delayed to arrive tomorrow but my In Through The Out Door CD should arrive here this evening.

Now I just need to emotionally prepare myself to listen to it.

[officialpenisenvy]

what are your favorite and least favorite lz songs?

oh godddd this question is so hard to answer. my least favourite songs are the hippie acoustic flower power ones (sorry mr plant) and also most of in through the out door (sorry mr jones). my favourite songs in chronological order are babe im gonna leave you and dazed and confused especially live + whole lotta love and heartbreaker ofc + since ive been loving you + most of lz4 tbh but especially black dog stairway and when the levee breaks + all of hoth but especially the rain song and no quarter + trampled underfoot and kashmir + all of presence but especially achilles last stand

[leapinarmadillo]

just need to announce that this is a pro-ITTOD blog. anti-ITTODers dni tbh

[percyandjimjam]

Hmmmmm, if you had to order the albums in order if your favourite to least, what would the order be? (Plz include coda because it's always left out :(. )

Ohh that’s tricky for sure 🤔 I guess it’d be LZ III, Houses of the Holy, LZ II, LZ IV, Physical Graffiti, LZ I (these are really a tie tho) Presence, Coda and ITTOD.

Yeah that’s sort of accurate I guess, I know my all time favorite but damn rating the rest is hard 😂

[jonesyjonesyjonesy]

Who do you think Jonesy is closest to? in Lz?

This is an interesting question since Jonesy mostly treated Zeppelin like a job and has even been quoted saying he didn’t really spend time with the boys outside of tours and work obligations.

On top of this, he seemed to isolate himself on tour in order to stay out of the fray (at least later in Zeppelin’s life).

However, I have a few conjectures from various accounts. I think he was probably closest to Bonzo during the tenure of the band, at least until the last few years. He had mentioned in an interview that he would stay up late with him on some tours because he was so homesick. Plus, I think they just had such a deep connection through their work together in the rhythm section.

I believe this changed ‘78/‘79/‘80 when he and Robert were the “relatively clean camp” when it came to substance use. With their collaboration on a lot of ITTOD, I wouldn’t doubt they had a period of closeness there.

However, it’d be foolish not acknowledge his connection to Jimmy. From their studio days, I think there is probably a history there that John could not share with either Bonzo or Robert. Sure, Jimmy and Robert are the dynamic duo of Zeppelin, but John was the only one able to challenge Jimmy and take him to task based on their long-standing professional and mutual respect.

Whether or not any of this translates to closeness, I don’t know. I don’t think John would describe it that way based on the way he speaks about that time of his life. I think they had good times and he has fond memories, but is he close with any of them? If he is, it certainly took a lot of work after the 90s.

Perhaps because of nostalgia, respect, and remorse, the only good answer would be Bonzo.

Those are just my two cents though!

[firethatgrewsolow]

Do share the circular mattress story with the fandom, please! ❤️

Well, unfortunately it's not a particularly long one, but it's still amusing (at least to me - definitely not to ABBA). During the sessions for ITTOD in Stockholm (at ABBA's Polar Studios for those that aren't familiar), it seems that Robert, Jimmy, and members of the group (Bjorn and Benny) enjoyed visiting a club of a certain variety. No names, but Robert referred to it as a "sss … sec … sex … sex club" during an interview in 2005. He elaborated with his usual Robbity panache: "People seemed to want to go to sleep very early when we got to them, because they immediately got out a circular mattress with a zip down the middle ... and ladies and men started going to sleep together while we were having a drinkie-winkie with Benny and Bjorn.” ABBA's official stance is that “they’ve never been at any sex club with Robert Plant.” 😁 So perhaps the truth lies in the middle? My guess is Robert certainly was. 😈

[goliah0]

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) | Official Trailer

Jimmy & Robert are in this documentary, interviewed separately. I think this is the closest we can get to them showing up together except the band documentary which seems will never be released...

Jimmy voiced his dislike of ITTOD, to some degree. By the way who has Jonesy's number?

They got David Gilmour AND Roger Waters in it, I'm impressed.

[midnightinwales]

@grapesnolives sorry it took a bit long, but I needed a free moment to write it down. I will try to explain the best I can, but keep in mind that I'm no musician or producer and I don't have the proper vocabulary to express it. I’ll be talking my feelings and impressions here.

My issue with HOTH (and to lesser extent LZ III, LZ IV, PG, but you can hear a bit of that on the other albums too, save LZ I, not much on LZ II) is that there is a very audible layer of something on top of the actual sound of voice and instruments. Again, I'm not sure if it’s literally on top of the sound, I've no idea how sound engineering works, I can only say what it sounds like to me. It's as if there was a filter that changes the overall quality of the sound, covers the natural sound, or buries it. And it's very evident precisely because you can clearly hear the instruments and the voice beneath it. In that regard the production of LZ albums is great - there's so much raw playing and realness that you can actually experience, as if you were with the band in the room (compare it with modern over-produced, auto-tuned and hypercorrected computerised sound, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) But on top of that great quality of their craft and the sense of proximity to the instruments is something like a filter or a cover - as if they were in a plastic tube, a glass bubble, underwater, or covered with foil. And sometimes it's more the voice, sometimes more the instruments. For instance TSRTS - what the hell is with Robert's voice? It's definitely manipulated in some way, but I'd say it's like he is singing in a chamber with plastic walls. Voice covered in foil. I'm not sure if that makes any sense to you lol. And there's that quality (in the sense of trait or characteristic) on the whole sound of the album. And it's there to some extent on all of them, though less so on Presence imo, and not really on LZ I. ITTOD is a bit strange in that regard and I haven’t listened to it as a whole enough to give my view now. It’s also not consistently there to the same extent on all songs – some have it way less than others (staying in HOTH - The Crunge or even The Rain Song are much more immediate with their sound than, say, TSRTS or No Quarter). I guess you could say that it’s a feature of production - some songs have more elements to them, are more complex, have more layers or instrumental parts to piece together, so you need to produce them more than others. Sure, that’s fair, I just don’t like the sound they end up having. I also don’t like the inconsistency re layers of instruments vs voice. Some have one upfront, some have the other. And again, sure, maybe that’s not a bug in itself, but I like my albums consistent in sound, especially if I’m listening to the whole thing, not only chosen pieces. And that’s very audible to me on some songs from nearly all of their albums.

Another thing is the overall type of sound or I guess style of production / sound engineering that is characterised by what I can only describe as ringing sound. Think of playing the triangle, it’s that kind of metallic reverberation I’m referring to. I think it’s a style of sound that was popular back then that I’m just simply not a fan of.  It’s also interesting that it’s on Led Zeppelin’s albums because to me it thins the sound. The metallic quality makes it less huge, less powerful, definitely less warm, though I suppose more focused in a way, so it works well for production in the studio (as opposed to live performances) where you want to focus on each instrument and the voice separately, but make them a whole. I mean, the kinds of details musically that you can hear on these albums are astonishing. You know every instrument was paid attention to. In that sense it’s incredible. But it lacks a sense of warmth that is on LZ I imo and again a bit more on Presence. It’s varying on PG.

Which brings us to the possible reason for that (apart from me having cancellable opinions and being musically dumb lmao) – Robert’s voice changing. As it was thinning, becoming less round, less full, less warm, the accompanying sound was changing as well. I think Jimmy was experimenting with the things he could do to perhaps cover that a bit or redirect the sound to make it work with the change. Not sure I like what he’s done exactly.

And here we come to what is probably the main culprit in all of my complaining – I got into Led Zeppelin by listening mainly to live performances. Not necessarily bootlegs, but the soundtrack to TSRTS, DVD 1 – Royal Albert Hall 1970, DVD 2, and other live performances they recorded. The O2 Arena concert as well. Earl’s Court 1975. And once you listen to that a lot – that massive, huge, incredibly powerful sound which is (as someone once wisely said) not even in volume, but in dimension – the album version will always be underwhelming. Even the greatest things. Compare the sheer power of even the very first notes of Kashmir at Knebworth vs the album version. Don’t get me wrong, I love the album version. I listen to it more than it’s healthy, probably. But it doesn’t knock me down and transport my whole being nearly physically with the sheer power of the sound. I feel it’s not that real and warm and strong, even if I can appreciate the intricacies of their playing, because it’s so detailed. It still feels underwhelming. Even if the album versions may be more perfect technically.

So, there it is, my totally cancellable and uneducated opinion / impression that will get me into Led Zeppelin hell. Jimmy will be waiting for me with horns on his head, pointing a pitchfork in my direction, if the fans don’t get me first.

Having said all of that, I of course listen to the albums almost religiously and think they’re nearly the greatest thing that has ever happened to music. I just need some time to get used to their sound.

I'm curious

[jimmys-zeppelin]

this may be controversial but in through the out door is the only lz album where I love every single song on it...

[finalgirlmegumi]

ITTOD has in the evening which is in the top 5 best lz songs .

[tremble-and-shake]

Robert’s laugh will definitely lift your mood, so give it a listen!

[girlofthemoon75]

Jimmy at Swan Song Office, giving an interview for the release of ITTOD, 1979

[jonesyjonesyjonesy]

actually ittod is a masterpiece I don’t know what you’re talking about

[summerofsmiles]

Appreciation post for John Paul Jones because this man has been a musical beacon for me my whole life. When I was 12/13, I used to tell people that I wanted to go to music college and be John Paul jones when I grew up bc I wanted to be an arranger/orchestrator, classical and contemporary performer, and a film composer—a triple threat just like JPJ. And now I’m at music college, doing all those things in some capacity, and I still wholeheartedly say I want to be John Paul Jones when I grow up. I just love Jonesy sm.