CODA. A fitting title for the album that ends Led Zeppelin. Released in 1982, Zeppelin basically owed Atlantic Records one more album. As a result, we get this collection of outtakes. My relationship with CODA is a bizarre one. I may have heard this album one or two times in my life - maybe. I can’t remember a specific time I sat down for the CODA experience. However, I have heard all these tracks countless times.
In the early nineties, for the first time, Jimmy Page remastered the Led Zeppelin catalog. There was an awesome 4 CD box set released in 1990 and in 1993, BOX SET 2 was released. Between those two sets, one could own every Led Zeppelin song sequenced in a unique order. I got both sets when I was in high school, so this is how I’m familiar with the CODA tracks. Really, nothing that stands out as all time classic, though there are some enjoyable songs that for me, work well in the context of these box sets.
“We’re Gonna Groove” My favorite CODA track and a cover song given a really hard edge by Zeppelin that does not appear on any albums. Recorded live from Royal Albert Hall, the same show that appears on the DVD.
“Poor Tom” A folksy, atmospheric LED ZEPPELIN III outtake that has a cool drum beat throughout. Nice acoustic work and Plant vocals, would have worked well on the album.
“I Can’t Quit You Baby” Again from the Royal Albert Hall show. This has a lot more passion and fire than the LED ZEPPELIN I version, so this is my favorite version by far.
“Walter’s Walk” Nice beat and an OK riff. These verse vocal sounds a bit underdeveloped and this is a HOUSES OF THE HOLY outtake, so you know I’m obligated to say still better than “D’yer M’aker,” but not any of the outtakes used on PHYSICAL GRAFFITI.
“Ozone Baby” Three out of the next four of these are IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR outtakes and are more guitar oriented than anything that appeared on the album. This song, though played by better musicians, sounds closer to, dare I say, punk.
“Darlene” A simple, fun rocker. Nothing major, again more guitar oriented like the other ITTOD outtakes, but not quite as punk.
“Bonzo’s Montreux” Recorded by John Bonham in 1976. He came down to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline to make make records with - Jimmy Page. Jimmy produced this for Bonzo during some down time, really just a case of Bonham experimenting with electronic drums. I’m more a “Moby Dick” guy and prefer acoustic drums.
“Wearing and Tearing” The closing track and another ITTOD outtake. This one is really heavy and has a punk energy, yet played with a technicality the punks could never match. That speed riff is quite awesome.
That would be the end of the album, however, in reissues, a couple of bonus tracks normally appear.
“Hey, Hey What Can I Do” I could have included this in the LED ZEPPELIN III discussion but will leave it here. The b-side to “Immigrant Song” and the only non album b-side this band ever released. An acoustic classic with some real catchy melodies about Plant’s “street corner girl.” Would have fit well on the third album, I love this track better than any song on CODA.
“Baby Come On Home” Made it’s premier in 1993 on BOX SET 2. A first album outtake, this has a real lounge like, smokey pool room ballad feel to it and there are a few tracks I wished it would have replaced on the first album.
So there it is, the Led Zeppelin catalog. Robert Plant would go on to have an extremely prolific solo career that continues to this day that frankly, I need to explore more. The first two solo albums, which I’ve heard a few times, are enjoyable. Page less prolific, work briefly with Paul Rodgers in The Firm, David Coverdale and even Plant himself in the nineties. John Paul Jones I’ve lost track of, though I’m aware of Them Crooked Vultures and some production duties, namely with Heart. Yup, as of this writing, the other three guys outside of Bonham are still with us.
A great, decade long catalog who, like The Beatles, knew when to call it quits. I’m glad you guys seem to enjoy Zeppelin.
