"Hey, it's lonely at the bottom, Man, it's dizzy at the top / But if you're casting in the middle, oh, ain't no way you're gonna pod . . . "

The year was 1979. Disco and punk were the rage, and bands like Led Zeppelin were considered "dinosaurs" by the rock music intelligentsia. Wounded from personal loss (the death of Robert Plant's son), addiction (Jimmy Page and heroin, John Bonham and alcohol), and the lukewarm reception of Presence in 1976, the band came together to record their (unintended) final studio album.

In Through the Out Door is an anomaly in Zep's catalog, a keyboard-heavy album with a distinct lack of guitar riffs. Yet, its eccentric nature makes for an interesting listen, from the samba-infused earworm "Fool in the Rain" to the ambitious prog-rock epic "Carouselambra". John Bonham's death be ...