In Through the Out Door is a studio album by Led Zeppelin, released by
Swan Song Records on August 15, 1979. The album was named by the group as such,
because of their recent problems and the rise of punk music, trying to get back
into the public mind is like "trying to get in through the 'Out' door, than
through the 'In' door". In the same way that Presence is largely Jimmy Page's
work, so In Through The Out Door belongs to John Paul Jones, with the
bassist/keyboardist taking lead songwriting credits on 6 out of the 7 songs.
The original gramophone record of this album featured an unusual gimmick (though
1979 marked a high-point, or low-point if you prefer, in the gimmicky-ness of
records). It had an outer sleeve which was made to look like a plain brown paper
bag, and the sleeve proper featured black and white line artwork which, if
washed with a wet brush, would ii (permanently) become fully coloured.
Furthermore there were six different inner sleeves featuring a different pair of
photos (one on each side), and the outer sleeve meant that it was impossible for
record buyers to tell which sleeve they were getting. (Actually, there is a code
on the spine of the album jacket, which indicated which sleeve it was. This
could sometimes be seen while the record was still sealed.) The pictures all
depicted a scene in a bar (in which a man burns a "Dear John" letter), and each
photo was taken from the point of view of someone who appeared in the other
photos.
It was Led Zeppelin's last album while together, drummer John Bonham died the
next year on September 25, 1980.
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