Is Led Zeppelin's second album their best

A.� Probably. This album -�more than the raw and rapidly recorded first album, and the more sophisticated collections of material that followed it - defined the sound of the band. It also virtually created the entire genre which came to be known as heavy metal.

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Q.� That's a large claim. Is it really true

A.� Well,�bands such as Black Sabbath had their own large�part to play -�but Led Zep really hit their stride with the second album, which did achieve a higly influential fusion of blues riffs�with�heavyweight guitar and drums.

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Q.� The production sounds a little odd at times.

A.� The band had found themselves playing a never-ending series of American tours after the runaway success of their first album. In spite of prophecies of doom, aimed at the band from critics in England, the response from America was phenomenal. This meant that their follow-up album had to be written and recorded during short breaks in their hectic touring schedule.

Doubtless a perfectionist like Jimmy Page would have�liked to take his�time�writing material, then and rehearsing and refining it properly. But the relentless pressure to play to eager American fans meant this was couldn't�be. The band recorded when they could, and the speed with which they worked can be heard, both in the occasional muddy production sound, and in the choice of material for the record.

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Q.� What choice of material

A.� The band's most famous song�- Whole Lotta Love�- is actually lifted from a Willie Dixon blues tune; the band were to raid the blues veteran's back catalogue at various times. The dubious sexism of The Lemon Song was borrowed from fellow veteran bluesman Robert Johnson, and Bring It On Home came from a similar musical area.

It's fair to say that Zeppelin stamped their inimitable identity on the material they borrowed, but borrowed it still is - testifying to their�need to record the material�they were playing nightly before rapturous American stadium audiences.

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Q.� So is the album simply a collection of re-hashed blues standards

A.� By no means. The skill with which Page and Plant crafted the blues blueprints onto their own visionary musical landscape of howling vocals and guitar, matched by thunderous bass and drums, altered the face of British rock music for ever.

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Q.� How did they manage that

A.� Under the guidance of their manager Peter Grant, Zeppelin re-defined the approach to rock, as opposed to pop music. They toured constantly, playing their hybrid blues/metal material, refusing to release singles, and offering almost no press access.

The defining aspects of the band's sound and approach are definitely captured in their second album: a collection of blistering riffs, gentle blues meanderings, and even a simple love song to finish. It's a collage of sounds and styles that rock bands have been trying, and failing, to imitate ever since.

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Q.� So that was a formula for success

A.� No, that was Led Zeppelin doing what needed to be done�- making an album to cash in on their massive success as a live act, while simultaneously maintaining a draining schedule of shows to enable them to continue to be the live draw they had become. It was not the way they saw themselves creating its follow-up record.

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Q.� What happened then

A.� The band escaped from the road, and from America, retreating to a Welsh cottage to rest, write and record their third album, a complete�departure from the second in both style and production. This is the album that Jimmy Page wanted to record, but that success and scheduling had previously prevented �from happening.

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Q.� So in fact the third album is the classic Zeppelin record

A.� The first four albums are all classics, for different reasons.

The second stands out for being the blueprint of the band's sound, and for creating the blues-rock hybrid that became heavy metal. The sheer creative power of all four musicians gels together on this record in a way they never quite managed on the previous, or subsequent releases. From the opening sound of Robert Plant's gasp -�or is it a sardonic laugh -�they launch into one of the greatest guitar riffs ever played, the five-note heavy rock national anthem that is Whole Lotta Love, and take the listener through a rollercoaster of blues rock that stands up with anything that has followed.

Led Zeppelin�II is an album that genuinely deserves the term 'classic'.

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by� Andy Hughes