Band:	Led Zeppelin
Album:	In Through The Out Door
Style:	Progressive hard rock, Heavy metal
Release date:	August 15, 1979
Guest review by:	Dowi

01. In The Evening
02. South Bound Saurez
03. Fool In The Rain
04. Hot Dog
05. Carouselambra
06. All My Love
07. I'm Gonna Crawl

By the late 70's, Led Zeppelin was starting to face the consequences of their own excesses. Guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham were dealing with tough addictions (heroin and alcohol respectively), while singer Robert Plant was questioning himself about his own future in the music business after the death of his son, Karac, in 1976. This was Led Zeppelin's context back in 1979, the year they recorded their last album, In Through the Out Door.

The music's situation was also having changes, pop music and the synthesisers were hitting the scene, Led Zeppelin had to keep pace with the times and added some synthetic sound to their works. It is not a bad decision as long as the band delivers a good product, which is the case here.
We're not going to find killer classics like "Stairway To Heaven" or "Baby, I'm Gonna Leave You", and that's why it is a truly underrated album. It is impossible not to appreciate the different landscapes and the multi textured tracks of this short set (there are only seven songs).

"In The Evening" is the opener track, and is a hard rocking tune with a persistent riff and rude vocals, Plant's vocals had aged, he's not reaching the high notes of the past, his performance is much more rude now (there are some urban legends about the change but it's not the place to discuss them). Following is the funny track "South Bound Saurez", the latin oriented "Fool In The Rain", "Hot Dog" with its awesome country rhythm section, Carouselambra, which would be, sadly, their last epic track, it is a stellar picture with an intense feeling. Plant's vocals are barely noticeable but the keyboards section, courtesy of John Paul Jones are what make this song a masterpiece. It is followed by the charming ballad All My Love and the closer track, the dark "I'm Gonna Crawl" (personally, one of my all time favourite songs).

This record still sounds fresh, unpredictable, fascinating and with no present fillers. We still can feel it's influence in the Heavy Metal bands of the 80's. The band probably wasn't in top form but the work was professional, the rhythm sections are stomping, the guitar work is still great (not superb as it was in previous albums) and the keyboard section is simply brilliant. In Through The Out Door is full of forgotten gems, probably because this set was never performed live and sadly the death of John Bonham the next year would also be the death of Led Zeppelin. We all know the story but in any case, it was a graceful way to finish their career as a band.