Coda (album) - Overview

Overview

Led Zeppelin guitarist and producer Jimmy Page explained that part of the reasoning for the album's release related to the popularity of unofficial Led Zeppelin recordings which continued to be circulated by fans:

"Coda was released, basically, because there was so much bootleg stuff out. We thought, "Well, if there's that much interest, then we may as well put the rest of our studio stuff out".

Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones recalled:

"They were good tracks. A lot of it was recorded around the time punk was really happening... basically there wasn't a lot of Zeppelin tracks that didn't go out. We used everything.

According to the Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, the band also owed Atlantic Records one more album from the five album deal that created Swan Song Records in 1974. As such, Coda can be seen as a contractual fulfilment.

"We're Gonna Groove" opens the album and, according to the album notes, was recorded at Morgan Studios in June, 1969. It was later acknowledged to have come from a January, 1970 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with the guitar parts overdubbed and the original guitar part removed—this can be heard in the original Royal Albert Hall show on 9 January 1970.

"Poor Tom" is from sessions for Led Zeppelin III, having been recorded at Olympic Studios in June 1970.

"I Can't Quit You Baby" is taken from the same concert as "We're Gonna Groove" but was listed as a rehearsal in the original liner notes. The recording was edited to remove overall "live" feel: the crowd noise as well as the beginning and ending of the song were deleted. Crowd tracks were muted on the multitrack mixdown on this recording as with "We're Gonna Groove".

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	B+
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide