Maps of Music

Coda (1982)

Where the lyrics of Coda take you, and where it was really made.

Titled after a musical term for a closing passage, this ninth studio album was partly released to meet Led Zeppelin's contractual obligations to Atlantic Records.

Key places

Live at the Royal Albert Hall, January 1970 (1970)

Live show Royal Albert Hall — 'We're Gonna Groove' was recorded live at a concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1970. The original concert of 9 January 1970 is the source of the unedited version. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Outtake recorded at Olympic Studios (1970)

Recording site Olympic Studios — 'Poor Tom' is an outtake from Led Zeppelin III, recorded at sessions held at Olympic Studios in June 1970 and included on this compilation. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Outtakes recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm (1978)

Recording site Polar Studios — Ozone Baby and Darlene were recorded at the In Through the Out Door sessions at Polar Studios in Stockholm in November 1978. Wearing and Tearing was also recorded at Polar that month. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Bonham's drum showcase recorded in Montreux (1976)

Recording site Mountain Studios — 'Bonzo's Montreux' was recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, in September 1976. It was conceived as a showcase for John Bonham's drumming. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Coda: ninth studio album and first compilation album by Led Zeppelin
• A collection of rejected and live tracks from various sessions across the band's twelve-year career
• Released 26 November 1982, almost two years after the group officially disbanded following John Bonham's death
• Fifth Swan Song Records album for the band
• Atlantic counted the release as a studio album, because Swan Song owed the label one more studio album
• A 2015 remastered version added two discs of extra material

Background

• Released to honour contractual commitments to Atlantic Records
• Also released to cover tax demands on previously earned money
• Cleared away nearly all leftover tracks from the studio sessions of the 1960s and 1970s
• Eight tracks spanning the whole twelve-year history of the band
• Guitarist Jimmy Page said the release was tied to the popularity of bootleg recordings that fans kept circulating
• John Paul Jones recalled that there were not many Zeppelin tracks that had not already been released
• The title 'coda' was chosen because it means a passage that ends a musical piece after the main body

Recording

• 'We're Gonna Groove' was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1970
• For the album, Page removed audience sounds and live guitar, and overdubbed a studio-recorded guitar
• The original album notes wrongly stated that the track was recorded at Morgan Studios in June 1969
• 'I Can't Quit You Baby' comes from the same January 1970 concert but was listed as a taped rehearsal in the original liner notes
• 'Poor Tom' is an outtake from Led Zeppelin III, recorded at Olympic Studios in June 1970
• 'Walter's Walk' is a reject from Houses of the Holy, recorded in April and May 1972
• 'Ozone Baby' and 'Darlene' were recorded at the In Through the Out Door sessions at Polar Studios, Stockholm, in November 1978
• 'Bonzo's Montreux' was recorded at Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland, in September 1976, as a showcase for Bonham's drumming
• 'Wearing and Tearing' was recorded at Polar in November 1978 as a reaction to punk

Cover

• Designed by Hipgnosis, the fifth album cover the design group made for Led Zeppelin
• The last album cover Hipgnosis designed before the group disbanded in 1983
• The letters CODA use the 'Neon Slim' typeface, designed by Bernard Allum in 1978

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1968 from the remnants of the Yardbirds, originally as the New Yardbirds.
• Jimmy Page recruited Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones; the first full performance was in Denmark in September 1968.
• The name was changed to Led Zeppelin after a cease and desist letter from Chris Dreja, with the 'a' dropped from 'lead' at Peter Grant's suggestion.
• Atlantic Records signed them with a large advance and gave the band artistic and publishing autonomy.

Members

• Robert Plant on vocals and harmonica; Jimmy Page on guitar; John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards; John Bonham on drums.
• Page wrote most of the music and Plant most of the lyrics; Jones often originated keyboard-based songs.

Career

• Released eight studio albums in ten years, achieving eight consecutive UK number-one albums and six US Billboard 200 number ones.
• Led Zeppelin IV, with 37 million copies sold, is among the best-selling albums in history.
• Set attendance records on tours in the 1970s, including 56,800 fans at Tampa Stadium in 1973.
• Disbanded in December 1980 after John Bonham's death; surviving members reunited only sporadically, including the 2007 Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; estimated to have sold 200 to 300 million records.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder reviewed it in 1983, calling it a marvel of compression that traced the Zeppelin decade with eight powerful, previously unreleased tracks
• Loder's Rolling Stone review praised the album as a resounding farewell
• The Village Voice's Robert Christgau gave it a Consumer Guide review, saying the eight outtakes were not where to start discovering why the band was great

Reappraisal

• Julian Marszalek of The Quietus wrote that Coda has always been regarded as the band's weakest release
• Marszalek said it refused to flow as an album and felt tossed together to meet contractual obligations
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave a retrospective review, saying it offered a good snapshot of much of what made Led Zeppelin a great band
• Erlewine said the album featured mostly hard-charging rock and roll, including 'Ozone Baby', 'Darlene' and 'Wearing and Tearing'
• Robert Plant later reflected that the album came when he had had enough of the whole thing
• For the 2015 reissue, Rolling Stone's David Fricke called it the unlikely closing triumph in Page's series of deluxe Zeppelin reissues
• Pitchfork's Mark Richardson was less impressed by the bonus disc, finding nothing particularly noteworthy about the 'Bombay Orchestra' tracks
• The 2015 reissue had an average Metacritic score of 78 from 8 reviews

Records

• Atlantic counted the release as a studio album
• The 2015 reissue came in six formats, including a standard CD, deluxe three-CD, LP, deluxe three-LP, super deluxe CD and LP set with a hardback book, and 24-bit/96k digital downloads

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's title comes from a musical term for a closing passage that follows the main body of a piece.
• The album's cover was the last one Hipgnosis designed before the design group disbanded in 1983.
• 'Bonzo's Montreux' was conceived as a showcase for Bonham's drumming, and Page added electronic effects including a harmonizer.
• The song was never performed live by Led Zeppelin, though Bonham played parts of the composition during 'Moby Dick' in 1977.
• The original album notes wrongly stated that 'We're Gonna Groove' was recorded at Morgan Studios in June 1969.
• The 2015 reissue's bonus material included previously unreleased songs such as 'If It Keeps On Raining', 'Sugar Mama', 'Four Hands', 'St. Tristan's Sword' and 'Desire'.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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