Coda (album)

Coda is the ninth studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1982. This collection of unreleased songs from various sessions during Led Zeppelin's twelve-year career was issued two years after the group had officially disbanded following the death of drummer John Bonham. The word coda, meaning a "tail" that ends a musical piece following the main body, was therefore chosen as an apt title. It is said that John Paul Jones suggested this as the album title.

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".

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 fulfillment.

"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.

"Poor Tom" is from sessions for Led Zeppelin III.

"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".

"Walter's Walk" is from the 1972 Houses of the Holy sessions.

"Ozone Baby", "Darlene", and "Wearing and Tearing" are outtakes from the In Through the Out Door sessions in 1978, though the drum sound is mixed with more reverb than the recordings present on In Through the Out Door.

"Bonzo's Montreux" is a 1976 John Bonham drum instrumental with electronic effects added by Jimmy Page. This song would later be included on both boxed sets, first in a combined form with the studio version of Bonham's seminal Moby Dick drum solo on the 1990 Led Zeppelin boxed set, and as an individual track on the 1993 Led Zeppelin boxed set 2.

The inner liner features a collage of photographs. The main photo on the right side — showing the band members apparently clapping — was taken the day before their Knebworth concerts in 1979 and in that village. However, the band were dissatisfied with the image, and their images — and the ground where they stand — are all that remain from that photo. Superimposed behind the band is a photo of a green field in Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire, England, near Bonham's home.

Singles
No commercial or promotional singles were officially issued, although three tracks received independent radio airplay. The songs were Led Zeppelin's debut on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, as the chart did not exist prior to 21 March 1981.