''Coda'' is the ninth and final
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, as well as the first
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
by
English rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
. It is a collection of rejected and live tracks from various sessions during the band's twelve-year career. The album was released on 26 November 1982, almost two years after the group had officially disbanded following the death of drummer
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...
. In 2015, a remastered version of the entire album with two discs of additional material was released.
Background
The fifth
Swan Song Records
Swan Song Records was a record label that was launched by the English rock band Led Zeppelin on 10 May 1974; however, its first record releases (in UK and US, respectively) were '' Silk Torpedo'', by another English rock band, the Pretty Thin ...
album for the band, ''Coda'' was released to honour contractual commitments to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
and also to cover tax demands on previous monies earned. It cleared away nearly all of the leftover tracks from the various studio sessions of the 1960s and 1970s. The album was a collection of eight tracks spanning the length of Zeppelin's twelve-year history. Atlantic counted the release as a studio album, as Swan Song had owed the label a final studio album from the band. According to
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...
, "there's conjecture that Jimmy
age
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone has been alive or something has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older
...
called 'We're Gonna Groove' a studio track and 'I Can't Quit You Baby' a rehearsal track because Swan Song owed Atlantic one more studio album specifically."
Guitarist
Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin.
Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
explained that part of the reasoning for the album's release related to the popularity of
unofficial Led Zeppelin recordings, which continued to be circulated by fans: "''Coda'' was released, basically, because there was so much bootleg stuff out. We thought, "Well, if there's that much interest, then we may as well put the rest of our studio stuff out". As
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...
recalled: "Basically there wasn't a lot of Zeppelin tracks that didn't go out. We used everything."
The word ''
coda'', meaning a passage that ends a musical piece following the main body, was therefore chosen as the title.
Songs
Side one
"
We're Gonna Groove" is a Ben E. King cover that opens the album. Most of the track was recorded live at a concert held at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in January 1970 while Page added new guitar parts to the recording.
The unedited version can be heard in the complete recording of the original Royal Albert Hall concert of 9 January 1970. The original album notes incorrectly state that the track was recorded at
Morgan Studios
Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by notable artists and bands such as The Cure, Jethro Tull, the Ki ...
in June 1969. This song was used to open a number of concerts on the band's early 1970 tours and was originally intended to be recorded for inclusion on ''
Led Zeppelin II
''Led Zeppelin II'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 22 October 1969 in the United States and on 31 October 1969 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place ...
''.
"Poor Tom" is an outtake from ''
Led Zeppelin III
''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling Stones Mobil ...
'', having been recorded at sessions held at
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...
in June 1970.
"Walter's Walk", a reject from ''
Houses of the Holy'', was recorded at sessions during April and May 1972.
"
I Can't Quit You Baby
"I Can't Quit You Baby" is blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Chicago blues artist Otis Rush in 1956.
It is a slow twelve-bar blues ensemble piece, with lyrics about the consequences of an adulterous relationship which is ...
" is taken from the same January 1970 concert as "We're Gonna Groove" but was listed as a taped rehearsal in the original liner notes. The recording was edited to remove the crowd noise as well as the beginning and ending of the song. The crowd sounds were muted on the multi-track mixdown, as was done with "We're Gonna Groove".
Side two
Side two contains three outtakes from the band's previous album ''
In Through the Out Door'', plus a Bonham drum solo.
The uptempo "Ozone Baby" and the rock 'n' roll styled "Darlene" were recorded at that album's sessions at
Polar Studios
Polar Studios was a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden, which operated from 1978 through 2004. The studio was formed by ABBA musicians Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and the band's manager Stig Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording l ...
, Stockholm, in November 1978.
"
Bonzo's Montreux
"Bonzo's Montreux" is a drum solo by Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. It was recorded in September 1976 at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, with electronic effects added by Jimmy Page. Page used the then-new Eventide Harmonizer to creat ...
" was recorded at Mountain Studios,
Montreux
Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, in September 1976. The track was conceived as a showcase for Bonham's drumming, to which Page added various electronic effects, including a
harmonizer
Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are known as pitch shifters.
Pitch and t ...
.
"
Wearing and Tearing
"Wearing and Tearing" is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin. It is the eighth and final track on their 1982 compilation album, '' Coda''. It was recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, during the '' In Through the Out Door'' sessio ...
" was recorded at Polar in November 1978. It was written as a reaction to punk, and to show that Led Zeppelin could compete with new bands. The track was scheduled to be issued as a promotional single for the audience at the
1979 Knebworth Festival, headlined by Led Zeppelin, but the record was cancelled at the last minute. The song was first performed live at the 1990
Silver Clef Award
The O2 Silver Clef Awards is an annual UK music awards lunch which has been running since 1976.
History
The Silver Clef fundraising committee was founded in 1976 by musicians and managers from across the British music industry, who wanted to hono ...
s Festival at Knebworth by Plant's band with Page guesting.
Other tracks
The 1993 compact disc edition has four additional tracks from the
box set
A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists ...
s, ''
Led Zeppelin Boxed Set
''Led Zeppelin'' is a boxed set by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was the first compilation of songs by the band (not counting '' Coda'', which some sources list as a studio album) and the selection and remastering of the tracks were super ...
'' (1990) and ''
Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2
''Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2'' is a double album released by Atlantic Records on 20 September 1993. This box set features the rest of the English rock band Led Zeppelin's catalogue not included in the 1990 4-CD box set ''Led Zeppelin'', all digital ...
'' (1993), the previously unreleased "
Travelling Riverside Blues
"Travelling Riverside Blues" is a blues song written by the bluesman Robert Johnson. He recorded it on June 20, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, during his last recording session. The song was unreleased until its inclusion on the 1961 Johnson compilatio ...
", "
White Summer
"White Summer" is a guitar instrumental by English rock guitarist Jimmy Page. It is an adaptation of the Irish air “She Moves Through The Fair." Page initially recorded and performed it with the Yardbirds and later included it in many Led Zepp ...
/
Black Mountain Side
"Black Mountain Side" is an instrumental by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, adapted, without credit, from Bert Jansch's original arrangement of the traditional Irish folk song "Down by Blackwaterside". It was recorded in October 1968 at Olym ...
" and the "
Immigrant Song
"Immigrant Song" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is built upon a repeating riff and features lyrical references to Norse mythology, with singer Robert Plant's howling vocals mentioning war-making and Valhalla. The song was i ...
"
b-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
"
Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" from the former and the previously unreleased "
Baby Come On Home" from the latter.
In 2015, a remastered version of the entire album with two discs of additional material appeared.
Cover
The album cover was designed by
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...
, the fifth album cover the design group designed for Led Zeppelin. It was also the last album cover Hipgnosis designed before disbanding in 1983. The main four letters CODA are from an alphabet typeface design called "Neon Slim" designed by Bernard Allum in 1978.
Critical reception
Reviewing for ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' in 1983,
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contributed ...
hailed ''Coda'' as "a resounding farewell" and a "marvel of compression, deftly tracing the Zeppelin decade with eight powerful, previously unreleased tracks, and no unnecessary elaboration".
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
wrote in his "Consumer Guide" column for ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'':
According to Julian Marszalek of ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quietu ...
'', however, "''Coda'' has always been regarded as the band's weakest release. Made up of eight tracks that spanned Led Zeppelin's lifetime, it refused to flow as an album. Devoid of a coherent narrative, it felt tossed together to make up for contractual obligations." In a retrospective review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
said while it did not include all of the band's notable non-album recordings, it offered "a good snapshot of much of what made Led Zeppelin a great band" and featured mostly "hard-charging rock & roll", including "Ozone Baby", "Darlene", and "Wearing and Tearing": "rockers that alternately cut loose, groove, and menace".
[
Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant reflected on the album as follows: "When Coda was discussed, I really had—I don't know, I'd just kind of had enough of the whole thing. If you start playing for something other than just kudos and money, then that should be part of the motive all the way through. And when Bonzo died, it's the only reason to start staying actively involved with Led Zeppelin."
]
2015 reissue
A remastered version of ''Coda'', along with '' Presence'' and '' In Through the Out Door,'' was reissued on 31 July 2015. The reissue comes in six formats: a standard CD edition, a deluxe three-CD edition, a standard LP version, a deluxe three-LP version, a super deluxe three-CD plus three-LP version with a hardback book, and as high resolution 24-bit/96k digital downloads. The deluxe and super deluxe editions feature bonus material containing alternative takes and previously unreleased songs, " If It Keeps On Raining", " Sugar Mama", "Four Hands
Piano four hands (, , ) is a type of piano duet involving two players playing the same piano simultaneously. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is generally referred to as a '' piano duo''.Bellingham, Jane"piano duet" ''The O ...
", " St. Tristan's Sword", and "Desire
Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...
". The reissue was released with an altered colour version of the original album's artwork as its bonus disc's cover.
The reissue was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average
In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 78, based on 8 reviews. In ''Rolling Stone'', David Fricke
David Fricke (born ) is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 ye ...
said it is "the unlikely closing triumph in Page's series of deluxe Zeppelin reissues: a dynamic pocket history in rarities, across three discs with 15 bonus tracks, of his band's epic-blues achievement". ''Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' journalist Mark Richardson was less impressed by the bonus disc, believing "there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the 'Bombay Orchestra' tracks".
Track listing
Original release
All tracks written by Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin.
Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
and Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...
, except where noted.
All tracks produced by Jimmy Page, except for "Travelling Riverside Blues", produced by John Walters, and "White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" produced by Jeff Griffin.
* The CD edition with bonus tracks was also included in the career-spanning boxed set '' Complete Studio Recordings'' (disc ten), and the subsequent '' Led Zeppelin Definitive Collection'' (disc twelve).
Deluxe edition bonus discs
The CD edition mistakenly lists the running time of "Bring It On Home" (rough mix) as 4:19, which matches the duration of the finished version on ''Led Zeppelin II
''Led Zeppelin II'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 22 October 1969 in the United States and on 31 October 1969 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place ...
'', not the intended time for the rough mix.
Personnel
Led Zeppelin
*John Bonham
John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...
– drums, percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
*John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...
– bass guitar, piano, keyboards
*Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin.
Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
– acoustic and electric guitars, electronic treatments, production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
*Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...
– vocals, harmonica
Production
*Assorted Images – design
*Barry Diament – mastering (original 1988 CD release)
* Stuart Epps – engineering
* Peter Grant – executive production
*Jeff Griffin – producer on "White Summer/Black Mountain Side"
*Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...
– design
*Andy Johns
Jeremy Andrew Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's '' Marquee Moon'' (1977), ...
– engineering
*Eddie Kramer
Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, L ...
– engineering
* Vic Maile – engineering
*George Marino – remaster
A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...
ing (1994 edition)
*Leif Mases – engineering
*John Timperley – engineering
* John Walters – producer on "Travelling Riverside Blues"
Charts
Certifications
References
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1982 compilation albums
Albums produced by Jimmy Page
Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis
Compilation albums published posthumously
Led Zeppelin compilation albums
Swan Song Records albums
Albums recorded at Polar Studios
Albums produced by John Walters (broadcaster)