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Coda (Led Zeppelin album)

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Coda
The title of the album and the artist written in a stylised font
Studio album / compilation album by
Led Zeppelin
Released26 November 1982 (1982-11-26)
Length32:59
LabelSwan Song
ProducerJimmy Page
Led Zeppelin chronology
In Through the Out Door
(1979) 		Coda
(1982) 		Led Zeppelin Boxed Set
(1990)

Coda is the ninth and final studio album, as well as the first compilation album by English rock band Led Zeppelin. 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,[1] almost two years after the group had officially disbanded following the death of drummer John Bonham. In 2015, a remastered version of the entire album with two discs of additional material was released.[2]

Background

[edit]

The fifth Swan Song Records album for the band, Coda was released to honour contractual commitments to Atlantic Records 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.[3] The album was a collection of eight tracks spanning the length of Zeppelin's twelve-year history.[4] 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, "there's conjecture that Jimmy [Page] 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."[5]

Guitarist Jimmy Page 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".[6] As John Paul Jones recalled: "Basically there wasn't a lot of Zeppelin tracks that didn't go out. We used everything."[7]

The word coda, meaning a passage that ends a musical piece following the main body, was therefore chosen as the title.

Songs

[edit]

Side one

"We're Gonna Groove" is a BB King cover that opens the album. Most of the track was recorded live at a concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in January, 1970 while Page added new guitar parts to the recording.[2] The unedited version can be heard in the complete recording of the original Royal Albert Hall concert of 9 January 1970.[8] The original album notes incorrectly state that the track was recorded at Morgan Studios in June, 1969.[4] 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.

"Poor Tom" is an outtake from Led Zeppelin III, having been recorded at sessions held at Olympic Studios in June, 1970.

"Walter's Walk", a reject from Houses of the Holy, was recorded at sessions during April and May, 1972.[9]

"I Can't Quit You Baby" 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.[9] 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".[2]

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, Stockholm in November, 1978.[9]

"Bonzo's Montreux" was recorded at Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland in September, 1976. The track was conceived as a showcase for Bonham's drumming, which Page added various electronic effects, including a harmonizer.[9]

"Wearing and Tearing" 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 Awards Festival at Knebworth by Plant's band with Page guesting.[9]

Other tracks

The 1993 compact disc edition has four additional tracks from the box sets, Led Zeppelin Boxed Set (1990) and Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2 (1993), the previously unreleased "Travelling Riverside Blues", "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" and the "Immigrant Song" b-side "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.[2]

Cover

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The album cover was designed by Hipgnosis, 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.[10]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Classic Rock7/10[12]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[13]
The Daily Telegraph[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
MusicHound Rock[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[18]
The Village VoiceB+[19]

Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1983, Kurt Loder 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".[17] Robert Christgau wrote in his "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice:

They really were pretty great, and these eight outtakes—three from their elephantine blues phase, three from their unintentional swan song—aren't where to start discovering why. But despite the calculated clumsiness of the beginnings and the incomplete orchestrations of the end, everything here but the John Bonham Drum Orchestra would convince a disinterested party—a Martian, say. Jimmy Page provides a protean solo on "I Can't Quit You Baby" and jumbo riffs throughout.[19]

According to Julian Marszalek of The Quietus, 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."[20] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine 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".[11]

2015 reissue

[edit]
2015 reissue ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[21]
Review scores
SourceRating
Mojo[22]
Pitchfork7.3/10[23]
Q[24]
Rolling Stone[25]
Uncut8/10[26]

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.[27] 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", "St. Tristan's Sword", and "Desire". The reissue was released with an altered colour version of the original album's artwork as its bonus disc's cover.[28]

The reissue was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 8 reviews.[21] In Rolling Stone, David Fricke 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".[25] Pitchfork journalist Mark Richardson was less impressed by the bonus disc, believing "there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the 'Bombay Orchestra' tracks".[23]

Track listing

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Original release

[edit]

All tracks written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, 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.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)SourceLength
1."We're Gonna Groove" (live)
Recorded 9 January 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England) (Edit; remix with guitar overdubs and live audience eliminated2:37
2."Poor Tom" (outtake)
  • Page
  • Plant
Led Zeppelin III sessions, 19703:02
3."I Can't Quit You Baby" (live)Willie DixonRecorded 9 January 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England: sound rehearsal, edited version4:18
4."Walter's Walk" (outtake)
  • Page
  • Plant
Houses of the Holy sessions, 1972, vocals and guitar solo overdubbed in 19814:31
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)SourceLength
1."Ozone Baby" (outtake) In Through the Out Door sessions, 19783:36
2."Darlene" (outtake)
  • Page
  • Plant
  • Jones
  • Bonham
In Through the Out Door sessions, 19785:06
3."Bonzo's Montreux"BonhamRecorded in 19764:22
4."Wearing and Tearing" (outtake) In Through the Out Door sessions, 19785:27
Total length:32:59
1993/2008 CD bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)SourceLength
9."Baby Come On Home" (outtake)
Led Zeppelin sessions, 1968; also appeared on Boxed Set 2, 19934:30
10."Travelling Riverside Blues" (live)
Recorded 24 June 1969 in London, England, also appeared on Led Zeppelin Boxed Set, 19905:08
11."White Summer"/"Black Mountain Side" (live)PageRecorded 27 June 1969 in London, England, also appeared on Led Zeppelin Boxed Set8:01
12."Hey, Hey, What Can I Do"
  • Page
  • Plant
  • Jones
  • Bonham
B-side of the "Immigrant Song" single, 1970; also appeared on Led Zeppelin Boxed Set, 19903:52
Total length:54:35

Deluxe edition bonus discs

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Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."We're Gonna Groove" (alternate mix, live at Royal Albert Hall)
  • Bethea
  • King
9 January 19702:40
2."If It Keeps On Raining" ("When the Levee Breaks", rough mix)
11 November 19704:11
3."Bonzo's Montreux" (mix construction in progress)Bonham12 September 19764:57
4."Baby Come On Home"
  • Page
  • Plant
  • Berns
10 October 19684:30
5."Sugar Mama" (mix, Led Zeppelin outtake) 3 October 19682:50
6."Poor Tom" (instrumental mix) 5 June 19702:16
7."Travelling Riverside Blues" (BBC Session)
  • Page
  • Plant
  • Johnson
23 June 19695:08
8."Hey, Hey, What Can I Do"
  • Page
  • Plant
  • Jones
  • Bonham
29 May 19703:52
Disc three
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."Four Hands" ("Four Sticks", Bombay Orchestra) 19 October 19724:43
2."Friends" (Bombay Orchestra) 19 October 19724:25
3."St. Tristan's Sword" (rough mix, Led Zeppelin III outtake)Page5 July 19705:40
4."Desire" ("The Wanton Song", rough mix) 15 February 19744:08
5."Bring It On Home" (rough mix)Dixon24 July 19692:32
6."Walter's Walk" (rough mix) 16 May 19723:18
7."Everybody Makes It Through" ("In the Light", rough mix)
  • Page
  • Plant
  • Jones
28 February 19748:31
Total length:1:04:02

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, not the intended time for the rough mix.

Personnel

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Led Zeppelin

Production

Charts

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1982–1983 weekly chart performance for Coda
Chart (1982–1983) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[29] 9
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[30] 3
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[31] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 5
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[33] 16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 7
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[35] 18
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 4
US Billboard 200[37] 6
2015 weekly chart performance for Coda
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[38] 23
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[39] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[40] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[41] 7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[42] 9
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[43] 9
French Albums (SNEP)[44] 34
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[45] 5
Italian Albums (FIMI)[46] 28
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[47] 21
Scottish Albums (OCC)[48] 8
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[49] 17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 7
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 12
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[52] 2

Certifications

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Certifications for Coda
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[54] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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References

  1. ^ "BPI".
  2. ^ a b c d Golsen, Tyler (19 November 2022). "40 years of 'Coda', the Led Zeppelin finale". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ Lewis, Dave (2012). Led Zeppelin: From a Whisper to a Scream; The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin. Omnibus Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-78038-547-1.
  4. ^ a b Lewis 1990, p. 61.
  5. ^ Popoff, Martin (2018). "Coda". Led Zeppelin: All the Albums, All the Songs, Expanded Edition. Voyageur Press. pp. 224–25. ISBN 978-0-7603-6377-5. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. ^ Priddey 2015, pp. 263–64.
  7. ^ Priddey 2015, p. 264.
  8. ^ Reiff, Corbin (9 January 2015). "Revisiting Led Zeppelin's Royal Albert Hall Show". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e Lewis 1990, p. 62.
  10. ^ Designs in use | Bernard Allum Art
  11. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Coda – Led Zeppelin". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  12. ^ Batcup, Tim (August 2015). "Led Zeppelin Presence / In Through The Out Door / Coda". Classic Rock. pp. 102–03.
  13. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  14. ^ McCormick, Neil (23 April 2014). "Led Zeppelin's albums ranked from worst to best". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  15. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  16. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 662. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  17. ^ a b Loder, Kurt (20 January 1983). "Coda". Album Reviews. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Led Zeppelin". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011.
  19. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1 March 1983). "Christgau's Consume Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  20. ^ Marszalek, Julian (28 July 2015). "Led Zeppelin". The Quietus. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  21. ^ a b "Coda [Remastered] – Led Zeppelin". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  22. ^ Anon. (September 2015). "Review". Mojo. p. 98.
  23. ^ a b Richardson, Mark (28 July 2015). "Led Zeppelin: Presence / In Through the Out Door / Coda". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  24. ^ Aizlewood, John (September 2015). "Led Zeppelin Reissues". Q. p. 121.
  25. ^ a b Fricke, David (31 July 2015). "Coda (Reissue)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  26. ^ Robinson, John (September 2015). "Led Zeppelin: Presence/In Through The Out Door/Coda (Deluxe Editions)". Uncut. p. 93.
  27. ^ Golsen, Tyler (19 November 2022). "40 years of 'Coda', the Led Zeppelin finale". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  28. ^ Grow, Kory (3 June 2015). "Led Zeppelin Announce Final Three Deluxe Reissues". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  29. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  30. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6189a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  31. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  32. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Led Zeppelin – Coda" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  33. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  34. ^ "Charts.nz – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  35. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  36. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  37. ^ "Led Zeppelin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  38. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  39. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Led Zeppelin – Coda" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  40. ^ "Ultratop.be – Led Zeppelin – Coda" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  41. ^ "Ultratop.be – Led Zeppelin – Coda" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  42. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Led Zeppelin – Coda" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  43. ^ "Led Zeppelin: Coda" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  44. ^ "Lescharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  45. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 31. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  46. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  47. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  48. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  49. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  50. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  51. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  52. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  53. ^ "British album certifications – Led Zeppelin – Coda". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  54. ^ "American album certifications – Led Zeppelin – Coda". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 12 July 2019.

Sources

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