Dregs

Led Zeppelin II. Two and a half Stars.

Two albums in one year? Bound to be some superfluous material then.

Still, the opener holds all the promise in the world. Whole Lotta Love rocks, but not as much as you might expect. It's got a weird little midsection that actually works really good at lengthening the track. It's the best song on II.

What Is and What Should Never Be is also very good. Alternating between quiet verses and an easy to remember, slamming chorus.

The Lemon Song has a good riff. It's six minutes long, and functions as a rewrite of the bluesy unhappiness from the band's debut. Only this time, it lacks panache. First time I've wanted to describe one of their songs as angst-ridden complaining. I just find this one boring. It goes nowhere and accomplishes nothing.

Thank You sports acoustic flourishes. It's kind of sweet and romantic. But after the last song, I think an attention-grabbing track would have been better appreciated. I've nothing against this song, but it might have been better served by a later placement.

Heartbreaker has a great riff. But just listen to the lyric sometime. How many ways can Plant write a she-devil song before it gets old? There's a definate feeling on II of fishing for material...

That one ends very abrubtly, and Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) starts in the same way. It's short and pretty fun. Another cool riff.

Ramble On sports more acoustics, a reference to Tolkien, a return to the rambling man theme, another rocking chorus and one of the better lyrics you'll hear on this CD. I'd say it works pretty well.

Moby Dick is filler in every sense of the word. It consists of... another riff, and a drum solo. Yep, I'm serious. Now, I don't find it annoying, but come on guys... if you've got that little material, why not wait a little longer?

Of course, you could look at it as them clearing out the salt cellars for a fresh start with III...

Bring it on Home is a paean to the blues (who's surprised?). It's interesting and weird, before it leapfrogs into a typical Zeppelin tune, that is...

It concludes this unfortunately weak entry in the Led Zeppelin saga. The whole thng has a simpler feel than the debut, a real sophomore effort. A few tracks make it worth a listen, but I know it won't be getting many more plays from me...

No, I don't always agree with AllMusic...