1. Whole Lotta Love

2. What Is And What Should Never Be

3. The Lemon Song

4. Thank You

5. Heartbreaker

6. Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)

7. Ramble On

8. Moby Dick

9. Bring It On Hom

amazon
Riff rock had been what Jimmy Page's former band, the Yardbirds, were all about, and on Led Zeppelin's second album, released, like its predecessor, in 1969, the inventive guitarist demonstrated that he'd indeed learned his lessons well. Witness "Whole Lotta Love," a woozy epic based on one simple, head-banging-friendly guitar riff. Or the mock-dramatic "Heartbreaker," propelled by far more intricate but similarly effective note squashing. Between Page's sonic wizardry, John Bonham beating his drums into submission ("Moby Dick"), and the juice running down Robert Plant's leg ("The Lemon Song"), Led Zeppelin here just about succeeded in raising rock & roll excess to an art form

all music guide
Recorded quickly during Led Zeppelin's first American tours, Led Zeppelin II provided the blueprint for all the heavy metal bands that followed it. Since the group could only enter the studio for brief amounts of time, most of the songs that compose II are reworked blues and rock & roll standards that the band were performing onstage at the time. Not only did the short amount of time result in a lack of original material, it made the sound more direct. Jimmy Page still provided layers of guitar overdubs, but the overall sound of the album is heavy and hard, brutal and direct. "Whole Lotta Love," "The Lemon Song," and "Bring It on Home" are all based on classic blues songs -- only, the riffs are simpler and louder and each song has an extended section for instrumental solos. Of the remaining six songs, two sport light acoustic touches ("Thank You," "Ramble On"), but the other four are straight-ahead heavy rock that follow the formula of the revamped blues songs. While Led Zeppelin II doesn't have the eclecticism of the group's debut, it's arguably more influential. After all, nearly every one of the hundreds of Zeppelin imitators used this record, with its lack of dynamics and its pummeling riffs, as a blueprint. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

jack feeney
Now this is the stuff. The rough edges of the debut album have been polished off and we're left with a near-perfect set. Every song justifies its inclusion and none could be called filler. The only song that jars me a little is the ballad "Thank You". Stick to hard rockin', boys. I've heard it described as beautiful but it ain't. An paean to Plant's wife I think. Well that's the criticism out of the way, prepare for the praising. The most famous and best song on here is "Whole Lotta Love". The one that made them stars. The riff was recently voted the best ever and deservedly so. You all know it (Brits anyway) as it is used for the Top of the Pops theme music. The lyrics are all less than subtle innuendo ripped off from various blues men. Still it fucking rocks. With bells on. Speaking of ripping off blues songs, also present is the blues medley "The Lemon Song". The song is based around Howling Wolf's "Killing Floor" but with nods to Robert Johnson. Incredulously they had the audacity to claim they wrote it themselves and gave themselves sole writing credits and therefore publishing. The cheeky gets. Anyway it's more interesting than the blues covers on the first album and is one of their trademark tunes. The final song "Bring it on Home" also has strong links in the blues. The first two minutes consists of a muddy delta blues style before breaking into a piercing electric riff and a crunching section which makes good use of brass towards the end. Understatedly clever. The penultimate track is another trademark, "Moby Dick". It is basically a three minute drum solo beginning with a riff augmented from a song they cover on the BBC Sessions whose name escapes me. I actually find it surprisingly enjoyable. It's certainly mercifully short compared to the version on The Song Remains the Same. There's only one pop effort on here, the lightweight "Living Loving Maid". The break from the end of "Heartbreaker" into "Living Loving Maid" is superb. While we're at it, "Heartbreaker" itself is also superb. Based around a so-stupid-it's-clever riff, the accompaniment drops out in the middle for a bit of twiddling from Page before the drums and bass catch up again. I'm not too keen on the solitary guitar part as it is quite hard to play a good solo unaccompanied (only Hendrix really mastered it) but once the song breaks back in again you ain't complaining. Shall I mention the two remaining songs? Yeah, why not, this has been a bit of a short review. Probably better for it, mind. Anyway the second song "What is and What Should Never Be" is an enjoyable romp, again utilising the quiet-loud formula which shows Led Zeppelin had far more dimensions to their music than they are often given credit for. The last song to be mentioned is "Ramble On". A stupid name but a good song. Again using the loud-quiet/acoustic-electric formula to great effect. To summarise: Led Zeppelin rock. And don't you folk forget it. 10/10

metal reviews
A big breakout and improvement, with kudos given due to the fact that it was released in the same year as the debut. Just about every track receives airtime on AOR stations, even today. Solid work throughout-- and it's 30 freakin' years old!!
What can be said? "Whole Lotta Love," "Heartbreaker," "Living Loving Maid," "Ramble On".... the list is daunting, to say the least. Still to be mentioned is the grooving guitar parts of "Moby Dick," the smooth flow of "What Is And What Should Never Be," the solid "Lemon Song," and also the occasionally overlooked "Bring It On Home."
Again, it's been 30 years... Time to dust this gem off again, eh?

mark prindle
Hate to be a spoilsport, but the murky production pretty much ruins this one for me. I guess the point was to make a really "heavy" album, and I suppose to that end it's successful, but the loss of clarity sucks away a lot of what made the debut so darned memorable. Don't grab my butt; most of the melodies are great, and the legendary hard rockers "Whole Lotta Love," "Heartbreaker," and "Livin' Lovin' Maid" sound wondermous in this low-end context, but I'll be slingshot if muddying up the downright lovely "Thank You," "Ramble On," and "What Is And What Should Never Be" wasn't just a foolish engineering error. I hope they've never forgiven themselves. The whole thing sounds just like the cover looks: dirty, murky, brown, ugly. Unfortunate, this, as the songs themselves might actually be better than those on the sparkly debut. I mean, it's mostly just riff rock, but it's darned catchy riff rock.

If needlessly bass-heavy mixing doesn't put a pebble in your shoe, give this one another point. But me, sir, I just can't take it.

rolling stone
Hey, man, I take it all back! This is one fucking heavyweight of the album! OK-I'll concede that until you've listened to the album eight hundred times, as I have, it seems as if it's just one especially heavy song extended over the space of two whole sides. But, hey! you've got to admit that the Zeppelin has their distinctive and enchanting formula down stone-cold, man. Like you get the impression they could do it in their sleep.

And who can deny that Jimmy Page is the absolute number-one heaviest white blues guitarist between 5'4" and 5'8" in the world?? Shit, man, on this album he further demonstrates that he could absolutely fucking shut down any whitebluesman alive, and with one fucking hand tied behind his back too.

"Whole Lotta Love," which opens the album, has to be the heaviest thing I've run across (or, more accurately, that's run across me) since "Parchmant Farm" on Vincebus Eruptum. Like I listened to the break (Jimmy wrenching some simply indescribable sounds out of his axe while your stereo goes ape-shit) on some heavy Vietnamese weed and very nearly had my mind blown.

Hey, I know what you're thinking. "That's not very objective." But dig: I also listened to it on mescaline, some old Romilar, novocain, and ground up Fusion, and it was just as mind-boggling as before. I must admit I haven't listened to it straight yet-I don't think a group this heavy is best enjoyed that way.

Anyhow . . . Robert Plant, who is rumored to sing some notes on this record that only dogs can hear, demonstrates his heaviness on "The Lemon Song." When he yells "Shake me 'til the juice runs down my leg," you can't help but flash on the fact that the lemon is a cleverly-disguised phallic metaphor. Cunning Rob, sticking all this eroticism in between the lines just like his blues-beltin' ancestors! And then (then) there's "Moby Dick," which will be for John Bonham what "Toad" has been for Baker. John demonstrates on this track that had he half a mind he could shut down Baker even without sticks, as most of his intriguing solo is done with bare hands.

The album ends with a far-out blues number called "Bring It On Home," during which Rob contributes some very convincing moaning and harp-playing, and sings "Wadge da train roll down da track." Who said that white men couldn't sing blues? I mean, like, who? (RS 48) 5/5