# Okay, first time listener. Tell me what's good RE: Led Zeppelin albums. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095 "2017-04-09T01:20:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/81 "2017-04-11T21:51:20Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Well, to give an example: I like pretty much EVERY Billy Joel song in existence. I don’t believe Billy Joel has a bad song. He was kinda/sorta a 70s singer, right? 70s and 80s? I also love almost every song by The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles. The Fleetwood Mac album Rumors should be next on your list in that case. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/82 "2017-04-11T22:06:08Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Well, to give an example: I like pretty much EVERY Billy Joel song in existence. I don’t believe Billy Joel has a bad song. He was kinda/sorta a 70s singer, right? 70s and 80s? I also love almost every song by The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles. Yeah, Zep’s probably not gonna be your cuppa, then. But who knows. I second checking out Fleetwood Mac’s _Rumours_ in this case. Maybe even early Chicago, like _Chicago II_. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/83 "2017-04-11T22:45:57Z")
Get **Boz Scaggs** , Silk Degrees. One of Steve Miller’s best buds. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/84 "2017-04-11T23:21:25Z")
steely dan - _the royal scam_ or _asia_ cat stevens - _tea for the tillerman_ mc ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/85 "2017-04-11T23:29:08Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > steely dan - _the royal scam_ or _asia_ Nitpick: _Aja_ (in case search engines can’t interpolate). And I’d agree that it’s in the top 10 on the list if you want to listen to intelligent lyrics with the type of – I don’t want to say soft – 70s not-hard rock that IT says he is a fan of (with some jazz-rock thrown in for good measure). ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/86 "2017-04-11T23:33:59Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Nitpick: _Aja_ (in case search engines can’t interpolate). And I’d agree that it’s in the top 10 on the list if you want to listen to intelligent lyrics with the type of – I don’t want to say soft – 70s not-hard rock that IT says he is a fan of (with some jazz-rock thrown in for good measure). i knew that! :smack: mc ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/87 "2017-04-12T00:23:20Z")
and with today’s news i would add the j geils band = _bloodshot_ mc ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/88 "2017-04-12T00:50:56Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Well, to give an example: I like pretty much EVERY Billy Joel song in existence. I don’t believe Billy Joel has a bad song. He was kinda/sorta a 70s singer, right? 70s and 80s? I also love almost every song by The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles. Well i love my steve miller. I love you; sugar babe, Baby’s callin me home. They had a lot of eras that were good. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/89 "2017-04-12T00:55:10Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Well, to give an example: I like pretty much EVERY Billy Joel song in existence. I don’t believe Billy Joel has a bad song. He was kinda/sorta a 70s singer, right? 70s and 80s? I also love almost every song by The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles. As for billy I’m not so convinced. I like the craft of the italian restauarant song etc but I’m not sold on the whole package. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/90 "2017-04-12T02:31:47Z")
Okay, time to play some poker and listen to Led Zeppelin IV. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/91 "2017-04-12T02:53:57Z")
Oh boy. Song 2, Rock and Roll. Best LZ song ever! ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/92 "2017-04-12T03:05:16Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > i think you may be on to something. that, and raised expectations - the first time i saw citizen kane after hearing about it for so many years, i had much the same reaction youre having now. An excellent point. Citizen Kane radically changed the way films were made, to such a great extent that EVERY film uses those techniques nowadays. Similarly, in their heyday, no band on earth sounded like the heavy blues rock of Led Zeppelin…and now, [every band sounds like them.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiZ5uQXPA9w) > [@Arrendajo](#): > > Oh boy. Song 2, Rock and Roll. Best LZ song ever! Betcha he’s heard it, even if he doesn’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/93 "2017-04-12T03:10:32Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Oh boy. Song 2, Rock and Roll. Best LZ song ever! The whole album has no weak point. “Four Sticks” is as close as it comes, and I actually quite like that song. “When the Levee Breaks” might be my favorite there, but it’s so hard to choose. On any given day, pretty much any song on that album can be my favorite, minus Four Sticks (which, like I said, I do quite like–it’s just never going to be my favorite) and Stairway (I know–I’m really not trying to be contrarian, it’s just that there’s so many songs I prefer on that album. This does not speak to any weakness of Stairway, just to the strength of the album.) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/94 "2017-04-12T03:31:54Z")
I agree that IV generally ties up what they did to that point with a nice bow. But yeah, it still might not be your thing. The first two songs on side A are perfect, in my book, but I love heavy rock. The next two are well done, if a bit overwrought. Stairway shows how well Page can build a solo when he wants to, even though it’s completely overplayed. Side B is a mixed bag. The first two songs are proto-metal stompers. The third is a pretty perfect bit of something between being a hippie and a Tolkien enthusiast. The last one is a great re-make of a blues song into a giant plodding psychedelic trance or proto-metal song that’s still unquestionably a blues song. For a production whore like me, it’s worth it for the drum sound alone. Gotta go listen to it now. Yep, and every once in awhile I think I’m over Led Zeppelin. I wonder if someday I won’t be fooling myself. * * * As far as what you might like more than Zep? Well, even I like some of the songs on _Rumors_. C’mon, guys. You’re suggesting one of the best selling albums, ever. Take a chance. 😉 Hmm, Steve Miller and Billy Joel…maybe Supertramp’s _Crime of the Century_. Good harmonies, great songwriting. Probably up your alley more than most of your list. If you like _Rumors_, and I expect you will, give _Tusk_ a try. It’s the adventurous record by the same set of folks. It’s not for everyone, but it’s totally worth a couple hours of your life. How well do you know Pink Floyd? If you don’t at all, I suggest both _Meddle_ and _Dark Side of the Moon_. _Meddle_ is as varied as any LZ record, but is more even in tone and quality. “One of These Days” is a monster built out of a staccato bass line and an echo unit. It has a truly crazy and beautiful 23 minute space rock song on it, and “Fearless” is one of my favorite songs, ever. The last song’s simple ascending major scale motif is perfect. _Dark Side of the Moon_ is just one of those musical works that everyone should hear once in its entirety. I’m not saying you should smoke weed every day and memorize it, but you should know how bad or good you think it is. And for the Floyd records, you should listen to them on headphones. Not really a “have to”, but a “should”. I am going to say that you might be rewarded to go one more album in to Zep, if you can give them one more chance. _Houses of the Holy_ is as uneven a record as III, but has John Paul Jones getting more of a free hand, and is less of a heavy rock record than. Yeah, I’ve got what I refer to as the “Phish fan” problem: “You don’t like Phish? Well, you need to listen to more Phish until you do!” I still don’t like Phish, and you might not like but one Led Zeppelin record, if that. But we’ll know what we don’t like. Each taste only took about 45 minutes, and we will know what we do and don’t like. Rush? Hmm, I am a bass player, and have the instrument’s unholy love of the band. They’re…umm…odd. They’re like a slightly more technically proficient than LZ, with a much cleaner technique. There be space rock. Smart-ish space rock, but space rock…with warring trees and screeching vocals, so kind of metal. Hell, give _Moving Pictures_ a try, then move later in their catalog for more synth and earlier for more straight heavy rock/metal. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/95 "2017-04-12T03:54:42Z")
Okay, listened to LZ IV. I had already heard the songs Black Dog, Stairway To Heaven (both of which I already knew I had heard before), Rock and Roll, and Going To California (both of which I heard before but didn’t know the names of or that they were songs LZ sang). Of those I had never heard before (which was an astounding four), I wasn’t crazy about The Battle of Evermore (sorry) or When the Levee Breaks. Both songs were just slower than usual (I’m not a fan of slow melody/tempo/tune/beat songs, in general) and in the case of Battle of Evermore, it just sounded…weird. Like…new age, space-y type music. Some of the guitar riffs and plays did, anyway. And I actually listened to this one and When the Levee Breaks THREE times, in a row. Just couldn’t get into them. I was, however, a fan of Misty Mountain Hop…probably my favorite on this album among the songs I didn’t already know…but if we’re counting all of the songs on this album (including ones I already heard before, many times), then Black Dog takes it every time, followed closely by Going To California. As for Four Sticks. It was fine. Average. Not bad or boring, but not overly amazing. It was good. I’d rank this one here in a list of ranked LZ albums I’ve heard (so far) going from best to worst, mostly just for the inclusion of the four songs I already knew that were on it (all of which I like): LZ II **LZ IV** LZ I LZ III ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/96 "2017-04-12T03:57:44Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Of those I had never heard before (which was an astounding four), I wasn’t crazy about **The Battle of Evermore** (sorry) or When the Levee Breaks. Not sorry enough. You are dead to me. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/97 "2017-04-12T04:00:49Z")
Since I’m going through these albums much faster than I anticipated, I guess I WILL give a listen to Houses of the Holy and maybe one or two others in the next few days. Let’s say, Physical Graffiti, and…uhh…what should the third one be? CODA? I’ve heard that one mentioned a few times. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/98 "2017-04-12T04:04:38Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I was, however, a fan of Misty Mountain Hop…probably my favorite on this album among the songs I didn’t already know… Good call on that one, too! But, like I said, hard to wrong on this album. That’s probably the song that vies most closely with When The Levee Breaks for my favorite song off IV. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/99 "2017-04-12T08:11:08Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > If I could only listen to one Led Zep album for the rest of my life, it’d be LZ II. Not a clinker on the disc IMO. I even like Moby Dick. But the Lemon Song, Whole Lotta Love, Bring it On Home-- dangit those are my three favorite Zep songs, all on one album. Me too. I thought I was the only one but it’s II for me as well. If I could only have one LZ album to last me the rest of my days… > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Since I’m going through these albums much faster than I anticipated, I guess I WILL give a listen to Houses of the Holy and maybe one or two others in the next few days. Let’s say, Physical Graffiti, and…uhh…what should the third one be? CODA? I’ve heard that one mentioned a few times. If you do listen to Coda, be on the look out for “ **Hey, Hey, What Can I Do**.” Depending on the edition of Coda it may or may not be included as a bonus track. HHWCID is just an amazing little song that I think you’d like but until 1993 it was only available as the B side to Immigrant Song. _Want to tell you about the girl I love My she looks so fine She’s the only one that I been dreamin’ of Maybe someday she will be all mine I want to tell her that I love her so I thrill with her every touch I need to tell her she’s the only one I really love_ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095/100 "2017-04-12T08:11:43Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Since I’m going through these albums much faster than I anticipated, I guess I WILL give a listen to Houses of the Holy and maybe one or two others in the next few days. Let’s say, Physical Graffiti, and…uhh…what should the third one be? CODA? I’ve heard that one mentioned a few times. CODA is terrible. Houses is great; if you have to listen to one other, I’d suggest In Thru The Out Door; it’s less epic but lots of fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-first-time-listener-tell-me-whats-good-re-led-zeppelin-albums/784095.md?page=6)