Guitarist Jimmy Page uses a Gizmotron to create the droning effects and sliding solo at the beginning of the song.
During the 1979 performances, it was played directly after Page's guitar distortion and violin bow solo, which incorporated a laser strobe to add to the visual effects.
In a contemporary review for In Through the Out Door, Charles M. Young of Rolling Stone called "In the Evening" the album's best track, describing the song as "a classic Zeppelin orchestral guitar rumble halfway between 'When the Levee Breaks' and 'In the Light' ... [it] has the only great guitar riff on the entire album.
[4] In a retrospective review of In Through the Out Door (Deluxe Edition), Andrew Doscas of PopMatters believed "In the Evening" to be "a phoned-in effort, actually sounding more like Led Zeppelin phoning in a phoned-in attempt at a pop song.
"[5] Doscas also found Plant's vocals on the song barely understandable.