All right, Led Zeppelin II listened to now…and first of all, it was MUCH BETTER, IMO, than the first one was. It also had songs on it that I did know, it turns out. I had heard of “Whole Lotta Love”, "Living, Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman), and “Ramble On”, it seems…I just: 1. Never knew that was the name of those songs and 2. That they were sung by Led Zeppelin.
So with the fact that it had three songs I already knew on it, it was a little more enjoyable. Of those songs I didn’t already know, I liked “Bring it on Home” the most. I did NOT like “Moby Dick” at all (I’m not a fan of instrumentals only, in general, and this one was more annoying than average with some of the drum solo just sounding like endless, annoying, ruckus). I also didn’t like “The Lemon Song”. The rest of the songs (that I didn’t already know) were fine.
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.
IV has some classics, but it’s not my favorite. Maybe I’m just sick of those songs.
I’m surprised Physical Graffiti isn’t getting more mentions. I’d say it’s my favorite given the variety and high points. Kashmir, Trampled Under Foot, Custard Pie, etc.
Idle Thoughts, enjoy your review of Zep. There’s a lot of good stuff.
Horses for courses, but I’ve always felt the earlier albums were more consistent in quality. Led Zeppelin has kinda fallen off my playlist, but back in the day I could more or less listen to the first four straight through. But there were always tracks on Physical Graffiti and other albums of that era that I skipped.
As far as which albums to listen to, I think if you like what you’ve heard so far, you’ll just naturally want to listen to the remaining albums. Each Zep LP is a classic in it’s own special way.
That’s true. It does mix slow swampy blues with some straight-ahead rock (the solo part in particular.) It’s not a tune I think of as upbeat or fast overall, though.
That’s okay. I love Bonham, and while Moby Dick is one of his signatures songs, I think that’s the weakest song on the album. Nice blues riff, but not my cup of tea.
Maybe if you’re undergoing the Ludovico treatment, but otherwise, no.
In Through the Out Door is one of their most solidly good albums, even if Fool In The Rain has been overplayed so much I can’t listen to it. It used to be a good song, though.
Does no one but me love The Song Remains the Same? Aside from a tendency to stretch songs to the breaking point (10-minute drum solo, 29 minutes of Dazed and Confused) I think it is a really good live album. And what’s funny is, How The West Was Won was recorded on the same tour, (IIRC) but it’s so BAD. Instead of tight playing, Page just noodles his way around the songs, sometimes forgetting where he is or where he’s going. Maybe they had too many drugs, or not enough, or something, that day, but it’s as bad as anything they’ve ever done, including Coda.
