Led Zeppelin - Coda

Led Zeppelin – Coda

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Here’s another exercise in backfilling, which is what Led Zeppelin did to fulfill a 5 album contract with Atlantic, two years after the passing of John Bonham.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Led Zeppelin
ALBUM: Coda
LABEL: Swansong
SERIAL: 79.0051-1
YEAR: 1982
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England

LINEUP: Robert Plant – vocals * Jimmy Page – guitars * John Paul Jones – bass, keyboards * John Bonham – drums

TRACK LISTING: A1 We’re Gonna Groove * A2 Poor Tom * A3 I Can’t Quit You Baby * A4 Walter’s Walk * B1 Ozone Baby * B2 Darlene * B3 Bonzo’s Montreux * B4 Wearing And Tearing

WEBLINKS: Site Link

Background

Here’s another exercise in backfilling, which is what Led Zeppelin did to fulfill a 5 album contract with Atlantic. Two years after the passing of John Bonham, LZ cobbled together a collection of eight tracks to wrap it all up. I don’t think they put a great deal of effort in, as these were outtake tracks from previous sessions deemed appropriate enough to put onto this final effort.

The Songs

The time span of this material runs from 1968 through to 1978. The original eight tracks of ‘Coda’ clocked in at 33 minutes. Was it value for money? Probably not, but in 1982 you wouldn’t find too many LZ fans complaining. The previous 1979 album ‘In Through The Outdoor’ only contained seven tracks, and that went to no#1. Go figure.

‘We’re Gonna Groove’ is one of the earliest Zep tunes, many long in the tooth fans may remember this track from their early 70’s live performances. ‘Poor Tom’ is all over the place stylistically, sort of country bumpkin rock. ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ is a jam session taken from a sound check (not sure when). It sounds a bit loose obviously. The pick of the bunch for me is ‘Walter’s Walk’ which is a bona-fide stomping rocker penned during the ‘Houses Of The Holy’ era.

‘Ozone Baby’, ‘Darlene’ and ‘Wearing And Tearing’ were sourced from the ‘In Through The Outdoor’ sessions, and were left off on what was a very poor album. At least one or two of these could have been added, ‘Hot Dog’ could have been dropped so too ‘South Bound Suarez’ and the balance of the album shifted. ‘Wearing And Tearing’ was a very angsty rocker, reflective of the 1979 scene at the time. Finally, ‘Bonzo’s Montreux’ was a drum solo instrumental recorded in 1976. How much musical value it gave to ‘Coda’ is debatable.

In Summary

Obviously ‘Coda’ is not a patch on their previous albums, considering the circumstances in which the songs were assembled here. The album had many territory releases during 1982, plus hundreds of reissues since, the best being the 2015 ‘Deluxe’ edition with the black cover including an extra fifteen companion tracks.

With this chapter of the band now at an end, it saw the personnel move onto other projects including solo albums. Messrs Page and Plant in particular were very active in the 80’s and 90’s and as at the time of writing, they were still very active in the music industry. The members did bring the car out of the garage once for the 2007 Ahmet Ertgun Tribute show bringing in Bonzo Junior, Jason Bonham on drums, but that was it. How appropriate.

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Playlist: Led Zeppelin - Coda (Full Album)
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