A real mixed bag here, as 'Zeppelin' take a side step away from the bludgeoning 'Blues' sound of their first two albums. A lot more experimental as well as they delve into the true early Metal sound of 'Immigrant Song', 'Traditional Folk', faithful 'Southern Blues' and finally a dash of 'Psychedelic' and 'Country' just to make you wonder what direction they are taking. While a thoughtfully penned album, those who enjoyed the more straight up 'Bluesy Hard Rock' of 'Zep I/II', might not immediately take to the approach of 'Zep III'.

The album opens up with one of my favourite 'Zep' songs 'Immigrant Song', a Viking inspired number that features a great driving plod, superb soaring vocals and in my opinion makes for one of the first true Metal songs. The rest of the album follows with a less vigorous approach, but does include some fine tracks and none more so than the haunting 'Friends', its hard to pinpoint what genre this derives from, it does have a certain folky feel, but holds a mysterious brooding approach throughout, it's a winner though and one of my favourite cuts. I'm less keen on the Country rocker 'Celebration Day', while the guitar work is sharp, its sounds too under produced and flows unmelodiously. It's back to the bluesy feel of Zep I and Zep II with 'Since I've been Loving you', and they boys really put plenty of emotion behind it, with great vocal work from 'Robert Plant', passionate playing from 'Jimmy Page' and 'John Paul Jones's' organ contribution should not be overlooked. The pace is picked up for the quirky rocker 'Out on the Tiles' but like 'Celebration Day' the experimental elements make this track sound awkward, but it does have some strong points, notably the steady rhythm work. Side two kicks off with the cracking 'Gallows Pole' a traditional song, that is given a 'Zeppelin' injection, and turns into a great folky rocker, the plodding beat is a pure delight and the superb lyrics are given the respect they deserve as 'Robert Plant' rips though them with spontaneity. The tempo drops again for 'Tangerine' and 'That's the Way' both are decent acoustic ballads, which are passionately performed, but ultimately a little directionless and don't standout. Next up is 'Bron-Y-Aur Stomp' and this oddity holds a heavy Southern blues feel throughout, definitely an acquired taste though. The strangely titled 'Hats of to (Roy) Harper' closes the album and as with the previous track has a heavy bluesy feel, but this times it's mixed with undertones of the Psychedelic, very odd and frankly pretty poor.

A little too experimental to compete with 'Zeppelin I/II' but when you are dealing with musicians of 'Zeps' skill, you know there's still going to be plenty of quality, its just not as apparent as with the previous two releases. It all comes good though on the next album the monumental 'Zeppelin IV'.