So why is Led Zeppelin on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I feel compelled to begin with a rather embarrassing story from my far-gone youth days.
My sister is three years older than I am, so we attended the same high school for a year, when she was a senior and I was a freshman. She’s a talented singer and performer (who went on to a career in the arts and musical education) and had already played a leading role in the yearly high school musical several times.
I always enjoyed singing but was basically untrained. Nonetheless, auditioning for the musical as a freshman seemed like the thing to do.
Of course, I had no idea what I was doing and barely prepared. Further, I had a sore throat on the day of the audition.
But there I was, with other kids my age belting out standards from the likes of The Pajama Game or Oklahoma or Les Mis or whatever and doing so in a way that seemed frighteningly impressive to yours truly. The musical accompaniment was provided by one of the music teachers, who would dutifully play one of the requested songs off of the sheet music that each auditioner would produce when it was their turn.
I didn’t have sheet music though. I just had a compact disc.
The compact disc was what I’ve always thought of as Led Zeppelin I.
The music teacher took the CD from me, kind of shrugged, gestured to a stereo nearby, and then asked me to sing over the music on the song I wanted to audition with. Which was a bit of a relief as that was how I had “rehearsed” the few times I had bothered to.
So I pressed play on track one, “Good Times Bad Times,” and belted it out for all it was worth with my hoarse untrained voice. Badly.
Somehow, they let me be in the musical, but I was very much in the chorus, my friends – no lead role for this young musical theater aspirant (I was a “son” in Fiddler on the Roof, and it was a fun experience; my sister played Yente the Matchmaker, a role she was born to play). And eventually, I transitioned to the pit orchestra, where I played the standup bass.
I think you’ll understand why that’s one of my first memories when I revisit Led Zeppelin’s first studio album from 1969. And yet somehow it remains a song I love deeply to this day.
But really the most striking thing when looking at Led Zeppelin the album as a whole is that of the nine tracks, there are two short, punchy, rocked up numbers in “Good Times Bad Times” and “Communication Breakdown,” with the remaining songs all much longer affairs (save one, more on that below) with some, such as “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” “Dazed and Confused,” and “How Many More Times” taking on something of an epic journey quality.
The other thing I’m struck by is how fully formed and confident Led Zeppelin sounds here, in addition to the massive talent that’s so evidently on display. Of course, even though the four members of the band – Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham – were quite young when the band formed (Page was the oldest at 24), all were accomplished musicians, with Jimmy Page already having done a stint in The Yardbirds.
There are so many moments throughout the album that still feel iconic to me after all these years.
For example, there’s a long and slow and slightly eerie section in the middle of the eight and a half minute-long “How Many More Times” that then methodically ramps up, tempo-wise, with John Bonham setting a hard rock groove in his singular way. And as the rest of the band revs up to a full on thunderous level, I’m reminded of the nuanced musical dynamics that Led Zeppelin brought to their craft.
It’s simply stunning.
I’m really drawn these days to the folksy, unusual, and mystic-y way that “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” and “Black Mountain Side” open. The former is nearly seven minutes long and eventually becomes an epic blues rock jam while the latter is a wonderful and short instrumental number.
“Dazed and Confused” starts off slow and languid, with Robert Plant howling his howl, with an almost mournful and slow hook gradually ramping up to an all-time classic heavy metal journey that runs six and a half minutes. It’s glorious to specifically listen to the individual parts being played, especially John Bonham’s masterful drumming and Jimmy Page’s absolutely sizzling guitar work.
Some stats & info about Led Zeppelin
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, British Bands, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Album Rock, Arena Rock, Blues Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #101
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Led Zeppelin released? 1969
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #161 out of 1,000
Led Zeppelin on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Led Zeppelin that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.