![]() A lot of that had to do with Pagey and the fact he had a very clear idea of what he wanted. There was a unity of spirit and a unity of direction of sound. A much brighter sound than on earlier Zeppelin albums. “You can hear that straight away from this opening track. “The whole album had a very upbeat quality to it,” producer Eddie Kramer told Classic Rock. It was only when Plant started scribbling verses for it that it ceased to be an instrumental and became his paean to the music of the world, whatever form it takes. When they worked on it in the studio, that title was changed to first The Overture and then The Campaign. Prior to album sessions, this song was rehearsed with the working title Worcester And Plumpton Races – a reference to Page and Plant’s respective homes. Upon release in 1973, this track was just the latest in a string of classic Zeppelin album openers. Plant finally explained the song is dedicated to his then three-year-old daughter, Carmen. Robert’s lyrics are matched by rare backing-vocals from the rhythm section. The first part is uptight and funky, then The Ocean unexpectedly moves to a swinging sequence, with Bonham switching to a big-band style that fills behind Page’s superb jazz solo. Although the edits aren’t obvious, there’s a distinction between the two sections. It was partly recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York and the rest was done at Olympic in London. ![]() ![]() The song kicks off with John Bonham audibly counting in the beat and uttering the immortal line ' We’ve done four already, but now we’re steady, and then they went 1, 2, 3, 4…' The drum attack is particularly savage on this track, and the guitars cut through it all with a vibrancy that was years ahead of its time. This tune is a heavy blues rock anthem, which features Jimmy Page’s typical, no-nonsense minor pentatonic riffing that has inspired several generations (it was even sampled to great effect on the Beastie Boys’ first album, Licensed To Ill). Although this record is viewed by some critics as the band’s least satisfactory mid-term work, it yielded The Song Remains The Same, as well as The Ocean. ![]()
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