Led Zeppelin – Coda (1982)

Coda is Led Zeppelin's last album, which was released a couple of years after the death of their drummer John Bonham. Coda is a collection of outtakes from their previous albums. As a result, the album is more of a compilation than an actual album, which makes it a bit less interesting than any other Led Zeppelin album. The sounds are also very different since it includes tracks from the very early sessions played for the very first albums as well as songs from their last album In Through the Out Door's sessions. Apparently the band didn't really ever think of releasing this album, but since so many bootleg albums were being sold, they thought that there would be enough interest in this kind of a back-catalogue album. There are some great sounding songs on the album, and therefore I think it was a right decision to publish it.



Saying that, Coda is probably the Led Zeppelin album I've listened to the least. There aren't any individual songs here that I would consider a masterpiece against all of their other albums and it's not as concise as an album. However, I was a massive Led Zeppelin fan as a teenager, so I just had to own their every album. Now, in hindsight, it seems a bit strange to own all of their albums on CD, because vinyl would definitely be the right way to enjoy these sounds.

One of the main reasons why I really like Led Zeppelin so much is that their songs sound very much like they were played live for the album. The band sounds like it's improvising even when they are playing in studio and that gives their talents more room. I've said it before, but I think Led Zeppelin is a unique band in the sense that every single member of the band is one of the best musicians in their respective instrument in the world. That makes Zeppelin's music so uniquely interesting.

The album starts with a wild groove rock song We're Gonna Groove, which sounds quite a lot like the songs on the first two albums. Then again, the song is maybe slightly too all over the place and it doesn't portray similar kind of storyline as some of the early album tracks. Poor Tom was originally recorded at the sessions for the third album. The sound is definitely similar and I can easily imagine this song having been on that album. There's a more acoustic tone in the song, which was quite normal at that time. I Can't Quit You Baby was actually on the first album as well, but this is a different version of the Willie Dixon classic. Walter's Walk has a clear similarity to Zeppelin's last actual album In Through the Out Door. The sounds are curiously echoey. Ozone Baby is another rock song with more contemporary sounds for late 70's and early 80's. This is quite a catchy song and I think it could've been something of a hit had it been released on the earlier albums. Darlene has some heavy guitars and bluesy piano sounds. This song sounds a lot like The White Stripes twenty years later. I'm sure they got lots of influences from Zeppelin. Bonzo's Montreux is another amazing drum solo song by John Bonham. He really is one of the greatest drummers that ever lived. His drumming sound is very recognisable with very heavy tones and lots of tom use. The album ends in the song Wearing and Tearing, which almost sounds like a New York Dolls song with Zeppelin sounds. The fast guitar riffs make this song more appropriate for the punk era that conquered the musical world after the time of huge stadium bands such as Zeppelin was fading, so it's really quite appropriate song to end the album with.

I obviously haven't been able to see Led Zeppelin live, since Bonham died and the band split up already before I was born, but they're one of the bands that I would've most liked to have seen live. Fortunately, there are a few really good live DVDs from them around. I used to watch those quite a lot while growing up and I kind of feel like I have a pretty good understanding of just how great their live performances could've been.

Coda may be the least interesting Zeppelin album, but it's still a Zeppelin album and therefore worth owning.

Listen to the album on Spotify.