“I rue it”: The Led Zeppelin song Robert Plant thinks could’ve been a masterpiece
It is difficult to overestimate the rock and roll power inherent in the sound of Led Zeppelin. Back in 1968, when Jimmy Page turned his back on life as a session guitarist and started putting together a brand new group, even he could not have imagined the timeless impact that his band would go on to have. Their discography, particularly during those early years, was chock full of masterpiece albums, all of which went on to inspire the later development of hard rock and metal.
When people discuss the brilliance of Led Zeppelin, that discussion is often limited to their first few records, beginning with the 1969 self-titled debut and lasting until Physical Graffiti in 1975. These first six albums contain some of the most complex, timeless, and influential hard rock songs in musical history. Zeppelin define the classic rock era and paves the way for virtually all future rock bands. To remain at the top of your game for six albums is impressive in itself – most groups last one or two albums, at best – however, that is not to say that all of Led Zeppelin’s material was masterful.
In a tale as old as rock and roll itself, the extensive touring, writing, and recording schedule for Led Zeppelin soon took its toll on the interpersonal relationships within the band. As the end of the 1970s loomed, the band had been together for a decade, and that certainly began to show. While recording their eighth studio album, In Through The Out Door, the group was fairly divided, meaning that the process of recording was much more of a headache than it had been during the early years.
During that time, Jimmy Page and John Bonham were excited about living a rock and roll lifestyle, often showing up to the studio late, drunk, or not at all. For the most part, therefore, it was up to Robert Plant and John Paul Jones to pick up the slack, which can certainly be heard on the final mix of the album, which placed a much larger focus on Jones’ bass than any previous Zeppelin record.
This disjointed recording process also meant that the final product was disjointed and sonically confused, failing to live up to its clear potential. Aside from the obvious fact that Page’s songwriting skill had fatigued somewhat over the course of this whirlwind few years, the production and mixing of In Through The Out Door often worked against the songs themselves.
Of course, this did not matter to the music-buying public, who sent the album straight to the top of the charts in both the UK and the US, but it is the cause of some regret for the bandmembers themselves.
Robert Plant, for instance, has repeatedly spoken of his disappointment with how the album came out, particularly the track ‘Carouselambra’, the ten-minute track which opens side two and is largely dominated by Jones playing the keyboard. “I thought parts of ‘Carouselambra’ were good,” Plant told Mojo, “especially the darker dirges that Pagey developed.” Despite this initial optimism, the final mix of the song remains a sore subject for the lead singer.
“I rue it so much now,” he said of the song, explaining, “because the lyrics on ‘Carouselambra’ were actually about that environment and that situation. The whole story of Led Zeppelin in its latter years is in that song…and I can’t hear the words!” The mix that appeared on the final album saw the vocal track gets lost in favour of Page’s guitar, and Jones’ keyboard work, meaning that very few people ever listened intently enough to make out the words – much less decipher their meaning.
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