Goal: Become a legit Led Zeppelin Fan: In Through the Out Door

My takes on Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, and Presence.

I know y'all were concerned I'd never finish this series, but here it is, the last Zeppelin album (more or less): In Through the Out Door released in 1979.

1. "In the Evening" - Synthy and repetitious, this song is kind of boring. While Page comes in with some sweet guitar action at about 3:45, it's too little too late.

2. "South Bound Saurez" - One of the few songs that Jimmy Page had no part writing (he and John Bonham consistently showed up late for song writing sessions for this album), it's a fun and piano-heavy song. It's one of the more organic songs on the album, and I love that John Paul Jones really gets to shine through. Bonus awesomeness: "sha-la-la-la"s lead out the song.

3. "Fool in the Rain" - It was about 3 years ago I asked someone who this song was by and my interest in Led Zeppelin was piqued because it was so unlike the rest of their stuff I had heard. Little did I know it was mostly because Plant and Jones were the main writers for this album. Anyway, fun fact: the samba rhythm in the song middle was influence by the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. One more reason to love soccer. Also, some of my favorite Bonham drumming happens in the transition back to the original rhythm and temp from the samba.

4. "Hot Dog" - An English band doing American rockabilly. It's basically 1950s rock but with harder core(?) soloing.

5. "Carouselabra" - THIS SONG IS SO LONG! AND INCREDIBLY SYNTHESIZER HEAVY. Ahem. Back on track, this song reminds of "The Song Remains the Same" in that it's almost a little too upbeat. Unfortunately, it gets really repetitious and there's just not enough guitar to rock my socks off; it's hidden by obnoxious synthesizer insanity except for the merciful (although long) slow middle portion. At least they acknowledge the ridiculousness in the fact the song is named after carousel music.

6. "All of My Love" - This is the second song on the album that was completely written by John Paul and Robert. It's almost a little too synth-tastic for me to really get behind, mostly because the keyboard is set to "strings." If you're going to go synthesizer, use as a unique instrument, not as a replacement, you know. Anyway, it's kind of distracting from all the cool things going on musically, like the Spanish guitar solo in the middle. Also, this song features a key change, and it's kind of weird.

7. "I'm Gonna Crawl" - Speaking of keyboards set to "strings." The beginning of this song almost feels like a spiritual you would sing in middle school to a prerecorded track. Anyway, I really enjoy the swaying 6/8 time of the song that offers a great background to some prime Jimmy solo action which is a refreshing change from the rest of the album.

Overall assessment: It's unfortunate that the two musically harder members of the band were wasted and late during the recording of this album because it's missing the bluesy grit I love most about Led Zeppelin. There are some interesting songs on the album, but it suffers from a severe case of the synthesizers that prevents me from listening to it straight through.