Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (2xCD) | Freebird Records Super Sale

Physical Graffiti would also arrive on a brand new imprint, as Page recalled: “It was the first [Led Zeppelin] album that was going to be on the Swan Song record label that Peter Grant had helped put together for the band with Atlantic. Having a record label was a really cool idea, because it gave us a chance to showcase people that we really liked and respected, so, as an example, Paul Rodgers’ band, Bad Company, which was one of the first releases and also, the Pretty Things, we all did highly of, and I thought what they did on Swan Song was good.”

When queried about the album’s evocative title, Page says it was just a reflection of the times.

“Graffiti had started to appear on buildings at the time, and usually it was quotes from William Blake, and it wasn’t in the graffiti which we know think of, which was more from the hip-hop times,” Page explained. “Nevertheless, graffiti was appearing, and I imagined something, which was like a physical reaction to it. Since we were in a recording studio, if you’re doing a recording, and it’s going on the tape, even though its magnetic tape, that’s like a graffiti in itself. The music was a physical manifestation.”

Physical Graffiti was an immediate smash. Released on February 24, 1975, it flew to #1 on the US charts on March 22, 1975. The LP commanded the #1 spot until May 3, 1975, when it was finally dethroned by Chicago VIII.

“All of us knew that it was a monumental piece of work, just because of the various paths that we’d trodden along to get to this,” Page remembered. “It was like a voyage of discovery, a topographical adventure”.

1. Custard Pie
2. The Rover
3. In My Time Of Dying
4. Houses Of The Holy
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Kashmir
7. In The Light
8. Bron-Yr-Aur
9. Down By The Seaside
10. Ten Years Gone
11. Night Flight
12. The Wanton Song
13. Boogie With Stu
14. Black Country Woman
15. Sick Again