Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin III
The acoustic pivot the critic called two-dimensional
Released in the US and UK on 5 October 1970. A contemporary hostile review, alongside chart results with their dates.
The verdict at the time
Bangs attacked the album as 'standard Zep graded down decibelwise' and the heavy tracks as potential Zeppelin II outtakes, calling the overall effect 'utterly two-dimensional and unreal'. He dismissed the acoustic numbers as anonymous and the band as 'the ultimate Seventies Calf of Gold', though he admitted 'That's the Way' moved him.
Chart peaks
European positions are listed by country. Later chart entries are labelled separately.
Sources & context
One critic's opinion, summarised from the original Rolling Stone review of 26 November 1970. The album is now acknowledged as a turning point in Led Zeppelin's history, broadening their sound from heavy blues-rock into acoustic folk and psychedelic folk, and cited by Rolling Stone, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant as a crucial artistic statement.
