There's something absurd about reviewing an album like [Led Zeppelin III]. It's like reviewing Love Story. No one is the least interested in what you say. Don't expect mass audiences to turn away from Love Story to go see an Italian western just because Bruce Harris said that the combined talent that went into making the movie wouldn't be enough to come up with an effective circular for the A&P.

Likewise, there isn't a reason in the world why Led Zeppelin should even bother to be good, having the charts sewn up the way they do, but the fact is, music lovers, that on this LP, if not on their previous two, the Zep have demonstrated that they are first-rate supermusicians, and that, with the current drought in Rock artistry, they aren't only good, they're one of the best….

Immigrant Song, for instance, is one of the best things Led Zeppelin has ever done, and it's a pleasure to hear it on Top 40 Radio, not only because it drowns out the squeals of James Taylor and Elton John, but because Immigrant Song is not only louder, it's better: "How soft your fields so green/Can whisper tales of gore/Of how we calmed the tides of war,/We are your overlords./On we sweep with threshing oar,/Our only goal will be, the western shore." That's poetry. No, it isn't great. Yes, it is sophomoric. But it is on Top 40 radio, and yes, yes, yes, it is a far cry from "Sugar, Sugar, Honey, Honey, You are my Candy Girl, and you got me wanting you."…

So ultimately, Led Zeppelin III is not only high-energy. It is also high-quality. There's an awful lot of good music included, the strongest cuts being the bizarre Friends which has a curious middle-period Yardbirds feeling, the lovely Tangerine, and the moving That's The Way, an unusual song about an unusual topic. However, besides the brilliant, booming Immigrant Song, the most wholly realized cut is the magnificent rendition of the traditional Gallows Pole. Here Plant's stirring vocal powers are given the perfect vehicle for their expression.

For a supergroup, Led Zeppelin has tried pretty hard here to gain critical validity. Don't mistake them for Grand Funk Railroad. And then again, don't mistake them for a trend. Perhaps Led Zeppelin, the last of the super-hard-rock bands, are not where music is going. But we can only hope, as rock music mellows and quiets down, that it does not mistake softness for profundity. If Led Zeppelin come on loud, maybe it's because they have something to say. (p. 50)