Led Zeppelin, Dan Deacon and Mark Lanegan Band: Album reviews

5 / 5 stars
Physical Graffiti

FORTY years on, Zeppelin’s masterpiece remains as enthralling and entertaining as ever

Led Zeppelin, Dan Deacon, Mark Lanegan Band, album, review, Martin TownsendPH

Zeppelin’s masterpiece remains as enthralling and entertaining as ever

Remastered from the original analogue tapes by Jimmy Page, the sound is crystal clear and sharp as a razor, particularly on the punchy Night Flight and whimsical Down By The Seaside, Robert Plant’s stab at Neil Young-style soft rock. Of the truly gigantic tracks, Kashmir (re-titled as Driving 

Through Kashmir), In My Time Of Dying and In The Light all appear in fascinating early versions on the extra disc, while Trampled Underfoot (originally titled Brandy & Coke) has a wonderful litheness in its initial form.

DAN DEACON

Gliss Riffer (Domino)

Artist and musician Deacon proved one of the most fascinating experimental talents in American music with his 2012 album of nuanced electronica, America. Gliss Riffer falls short of such greatness but there are some beautiful moments, including Meme Generator, which threads a simple but mesmerising melody across industrial beats.

VERDICT: 3/5

MARK LANEGAN BAND

A Thousand Miles Of Midnight: Phantom Radio Remixes (Heavenly)

Phantom Radio gave the ex-Screaming Trees singer his first Top 20 album in the UK but the strength of that record lay in the wobbly gruffness of his vocal and the way the arrangements were built around it. A couple of these remixed versions, Judgement Time, for instance, which adds a monastic chorus to great effect, keep the voice at the centre of things. But too often the remix simply clogs up the original with dance rhythms.

VERDICT: 2/5 

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