" Carouselambra" is the fifth song on Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door. The title refers to the first section of the song that has similarities to carousel music. At more than 10 minutes in length, the song is the second-longest the band recorded in the studio.[For comparison, the original Swan Song album LP record list "In My Time of Dying" at 11:08, "Carouselambra" at 10:28, and "Tea for One" at 9:27.] John Paul Jones' dominate the song, with Jimmy Page's guitar playing a supporting role.
Composition and recording
With its early working title of "The Epic", "Carouselambra" was conceived during the band's rehearsals at
Clearwell Castle in May 1978.
[Dave Lewis (1994), The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, Omnibus Press, .] The song itself is split in three sections. The first section is a fast-paced showcase of Jones on synthesizer (he overdubbed bass guitar or already recorded it as part of the backing track), with
Robert Plant vocals mixed down slightly underneath Jones, the
Drum kit of
John Bonham and Page's guitar chord progression. The second section is much slower in pace, highlighting Page's use of the Gibson EDS-1275 double-necked guitar, the only time he used that instrument on a Led Zeppelin studio song,
while Plant sings some reflective lyrics. The final section returns to an up-tempo beat, with all four band members performing in unison. Page's deep, droning guitar sound was produced with a
The Gizmo, a device that creates infinite sustain, unusual harmonics, and allows the guitar to sound like a string section.
A Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer was also used on this track.
[Jimmy Page (2020), Jimmy Page: The Anthology (pp. 284), Genesis Publications, ]
Reception
In a contemporary review for
In Through the Out Door, Charles M. Young of
Rolling Stone described "Carouselambra" as having "an extremely lame keyboard riff" and said the song was too long, clocking in at "an absurd 10:28".
Young also called the song extremely repetitive, and while "repetition to weave a hypnotic effect has always been part of the Zeppelin sound, what they are repeating here is not worth the effort."
In a retrospective review of In Through the Out Door (Deluxe Edition), Andrew Doscas of PopMatters gave "Carouselambra" a negative review, calling the song something you would hear from either Styx or Genesis and not Zeppelin.
Live renditions
"Carouselambra" was never played live by the band at List of Led Zeppelin concert tours. The song was reputedly discussed for inclusion in the setlist for the planned autumn 1980 tour of North America, which was ultimately canceled after Bonham's sudden death during rehearsals.
During the 1995–1996 Page and Plant tour, Plant would often sing the middle verse of the song when he and Page performed "In the Evening".
[ Los Angeles 6/26/77 - It'll Be Me; Official website]
The Epic
A rough mix of the song with fewer overdubs was re-released in 2015 on
In Through the Out Door (Deluxe Edition), with the title "The Epic".
Personnel
According to Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin:
See also
-
List of cover versions of Led Zeppelin songs"Carouselambra" entries
Bibliography
