We've been doing our podcast for almost 6 years and with that time & experience, one does find patterns or tricks of the trade that pop up regularly. As The Wolf & Action Jackson have reviewed about 200 albums on the show and listened to thousands more, the boys observed something when it comes to tracking albums. Bands rarely leave the worst song on the album for the last track; however, they often slot the worst song as the 2nd to Last track on the record. Which makes sense - you don't want the last song you hear to be the worst and sometimes bands will save the best for last.
So we decided to apply our observation to a band that has a very strong catalog without too many duds. A band with enough albums to make up a record of their 2nd to Last songs but not so many that it would take us multiple episodes. Led Zeppelin fit the bill perfectly as the boys know the catalog back to front, there are only 8 albums (we don't include Coda but we give a track to each disc/LP of Physical Graffiti) to review and we can not only rank them against each other but rank the track's position on the album.
I Can't Quit You Baby off LZ I isn't a bad track at all but the competition is stiff and it's the same for Going to California on LZ IV. Trampled Under Foot on disc 1 of Physical Graffiti is a great rocker and Moby Dick on LZ II is an instrumental but it would become a live staple to show off the talents of John Bonham. In at least one instance, we find that the 2nd to Last song may actually be the best whereas others could certainly qualify as near the bottom.
While Zeppelin didn't feel pressure from the record company to track the albums a certain way, many other bands are at the will of the A&R rep on how their records are tracked. While Led Zeppelin didn't have many bad songs on their records, something has to be ranked last vs. all the other classics. So we rank all of Led Zeppelin's 2nd to Last tracks vs. the other tracks on the album and then vs. each other to determine the best and worst.
Which would make your list?
Led Zeppelin - I Can't Quit You Baby
Led Zeppelin II - Moby Dick
Led Zeppelin III - Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin IV - Going to California
Houses of the Holy - No Quarter
Physical Graffiti 1 - Trampled Under Foot
Physical Graffiti 2 - Black Country Woman
Presence - Hots On For Nowhere
In Through the Out Door - All My Love
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