Led Zeppelin stormed onto the music scene in 1969 and soon became classic rock legends. There are some aesthetically similar bands Zep fans should listen to, but nothing comes close to the real thing. Yet the band wasn’t infallible. It’s one of their finest works, but the 1975 double album Physical Graffiti contains some duds. Let’s look at the four worst songs Led Zeppelin put on Physical Graffiti.
Led Zeppelin did some of their finest work on ‘Physical Graffiti’
Before we cover the worst Physical Graffiti songs, we need to mention that the record has some of Led Zeppelin’s best songs.
Side 2 closer “Kashmir” is the band’s definitive song, according to both Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. It might be one of the most diverse Led Zeppelin albums, too. It has the band’s longest studio track (“In My Time of Dying”) and the shortest (“Bron-Yr-Aur”). Physical Graffiti also has two of Led Zeppelin’s most underrated songs.
It has several highlights, but there are some lowlights. These are the four worst Physical Graffiti songs (in order of track listing).
1. ‘The Rover’
Led Zeppelin successfully pushed the boundaries of their sound on their first five records. Compared to many of the songs that came before it, “The Rover” sounds pedestrian.
Page’s guitar riffs come across as basic, and John Bonham’s drumming suits the song, but by 1975, fans expected more from Bonzo. It’s extremely basic for a Led Zeppelin, and all its five minutes and 39 seconds do is keep us from getting to stronger songs that come after.
“The Rover” doesn’t quite stack up against the monolith of standout tracks elsewhere on the album, which makes it one of the worst Physical Graffiti songs.
2. ‘The Wanton Song’
Plant was the perfect vocalist for Led Zeppelin. He blew away Page during a tiny concert at a strange venue to earn a spot in the band, and his vocal range and slightly gravelly voice meshed perfectly with the band’s music.
But we’re also blaming him for “The Wanton Song” being on our list. Plant’s grating vocals sound strained, and they overshadow a tight Page-Bonham guitar-drums groove. The stylistic shift to something approaching jazz-rock after the hard-charging rock are jarring, but Plant’s vocals are why this song makes it on the list.
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3. ‘Black Country Woman’
“Black Country Woman” wasn’t good enough for Led Zeppelin III, but the band brought it back to get Physical Graffiti to double-LP length. We know why they did it, but that doesn’t mean they should have.
The band didn’t unplug too frequently, but Led Zeppelin’s best acoustic songs became standouts in their catalog. Tunes such as “That’s the Way,” “Going to California,” and “Gallows Pole” became signature songs.
Despite the stylistic charm of the casual, back-porch-jam vibe, “Black Country Woman” is a bland entry and firmly one of the worst Physical Graffiti songs, especially since the delicate and beautiful “Bron-Yr-Aur” appears earlier on the album.
4. ‘Sick Again’
Page’s chugging guitar and Bonham’s cymbal-heavy fill leading into the guitar solo make “Sick Again” a musically memorable tune. Unfortunately, Plant’s cringe lyrics sink the song. They do not hold up well 50 years after the fact.
Social norms were slightly different in the 1970s. That doesn’t make hearing lines like “Said you dug me since you were thirteen,” and “Baby I gotta tell you, I’m the one you want / And everybody know I’m the one you need, yeah / Oh, give it to me / Come on now” any less creepy.
Plant once said he wrote the lyrics because he felt sorry for Led Zeppelin’s underage groupies. Whether or not he bedded any teenage fans, the lyrics to “Sick Again” make it an uncomfortable listen.
“Sick Again” is the last song on Physical Graffiti. Listeners had to make through nearly four sides of vinyl to hear it. It’s almost as if Led Zeppelin knew it was one of the worst Physical Graffiti songs.
The worst Physical Graffiti songs don’t come close to matching the standout songs elsewhere on the track listing. Thankfully for fans, they don’t sabotage one of Led Zeppelin’s best albums.
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