In Through The Out Door
	Produced by Jimmy Page
	Released on August 1979
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #1
	Find it at GEMM
SS 16002 cover

I bought this tape shortly after it came out, and quickly parted with it at cost (about six bucks). I wasn’t really into Zeppelin at the time, and the guy who bought it off me seemed amazed that I’d even want to sell it. Today, there isn’t a Zep album I’d part with, even one where the original energy seems a little deflated. It’s tempting to speculate that the band’s heart wasn’t in it anymore, but if this is a by-the-numbers record it only underscores the fact that the quartet could always be counted on for great rock & roll. “Fool In The Rain” and “All My Love” are obvious standouts, the latter referencing the loss of Robert Plant’s son. The remaining tracks are a fair match for Presence, from the elegiac “I’m Gonna Crawl” to the contagious “South Bound Saurez.” Synthesizers play a bigger role this time, as John Paul Jones wrote more of the material. That plus the relatively subdued performance from Plant makes In Through The Out Door something of a launching point for Plant’s subsequent solo career, which would follow in much the same vein. John Bonham’s drumming is terrific throughout, again immovable in the tidal wave of tight riffs delivered by Jimmy Page (e.g., “In The Evening”). If the effort is tinged with a palpable sadness, maybe it’s the mind playing tricks. Few can listen to this without hearing in it the band’s swan song (and Bonham’s along with it). Honestly, I like this a little more than Presence and a lot more than Coda. I wouldn’t put it on the pedestal of Who Are You, but if rock and roll was indeed in the evening of its lifetime, it was worth staying up late to hear In Through The Out Door.

SS 16002 back cover	SS 16002 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. IN THE EVENING    (John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)    6:48
2. SOUTH BOUND SAUREZ    (John Paul Jones/Robert Plant)    4:11
3. FOOL IN THE RAIN    (John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)    6:08
4. HOT DOG    (Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)    3:15
5. CAROUSELAMBRA    (John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)    10:28
6. ALL MY LOVE    (John Paul Jones/Robert Plant)    5:51
7. I'M GONNA CRAWL    (John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)    5:28

CREDITS

JOHN BONHAM --
JOHN PAUL JONES --
JIMMY PAGE --
ROBERT PLANT --
Peter Grant -- executive producer
Leif Mases -- engineer
Hipgnosis -- sleeve

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