Favorite Led Zeppelin Studio Album?

[888888]

Hopefully there are enough Zeppelin fans here. What is your favorite Led Zeppelin studio album ever? I did not include CODA, Song Remains the Same, live stuff, box sets, or greatest hits packages, only "studio" albums. Please give a reason why you like the particular album and maybe give a song or something.

My favorite is PRESENCE. Has the great epic Achilles Last Stand, and a collection of other great songs like Royal Orleans, Nobody's Fault But Mine, and Tea For One. Really a rock solid album and also in my opinion their heaviest. I don't get why most people consider it their worst.

A special mention goes to the Led Zeppelin double DVD set which is the best thing ever made.

[hech54]

Achilles Last Stand.....my favorite Zep song of all time as well. I'm also a Genesis fan as well(but with Phil doing the old songs) and a Kansas fan(America's Genesis?) so that may explain my affection for Achilles Last Stand....who knows....

[Sifaga]

best reggae song by a non reggae band

D'yer maker

[enstg8er]

i pick the first one. it's the most bluesy of 'em. anyone know how many songs on it plant co-wrote?

[rhegedus]

IV

Soooo many great songs.

'When the levee breaks' is just charged with atmosphere.

[Capmaster]

The first album. Classic. Led Zeppelin 2 is a close second place, IMO.

[888888]

i pick the first one. it's the most bluesy of 'em. anyone know how many songs on it plant co-wrote?

from led-zeppelin.org:

1. Good Times Bad Times 2:46 (Page/Jones/Bonham)
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You 6:41 (Anne Bredon/Page/Plant)
3. You Shook Me 6:28 (Willie Dixon & J.B. Lenoir)
4. Dazed And Confused 6:26 (Jimmy Page)
5. Your Time Is Gonna Come 4:14 (Page/Jones)
6. Black Mountain Side 2:05 (Page)
7. Communication Breakdown 2:27 (Page/Jones/Bonham)
8. I Can't Quit You Baby 4:42 (Willie Dixon)
9. How Many More Times 8:28 (Page/Jones/Bonham)

Apparently not very many. Just Babe I'm Gonna Leave You which is sort of a cover anyway. I personally am a fan of Zeppelin's later work more and I attribute its quality somewhat to Plant's increased participation.

[housepig]

hard one... I have to go with 4, just on preponderance of songs I like... although lately I've been really into selected tracks from other albums, most specifically "Out On The Tiles" on III.

[888888]

hard one... I have to go with 4, just on preponderance of songs I like... although lately I've been really into selected tracks from other albums, most specifically "Out On The Tiles" on III.

After this one, there will be a best of Black Sabbath poll too so get ready housepig. My vote is for Technical Ecstasy of course.

[gshelley61]

I and II are Zep in the purest form... their rootsy, bluesy best. I give II the edge for better sound quality and arrangements. I also must agree that Presence is Zep at their technical best and hardest. The peak of their abilities, really.

[housepig]

After this one, there will be a best of Black Sabbath poll too so get ready housepig. My vote is for Technical Ecstasy of course.

come with it, son.

[hech54]

hard one... I have to go with 4, just on preponderance of songs I like... although lately I've been really into selected tracks from other albums, most specifically "Out On The Tiles" on III.

After this one, there will be a best of Black Sabbath poll too so get ready housepig. My vote is for Technical Ecstasy of course.

Heaven and Hell with DIO !!!!!

[jdw]

Album IV - Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Four Sticks, When the Levee Breaks. Jimmy Page's best work.

Led Zep II - IMO, the start of a whole new era in Rock 'n Roll. The bridge from the 60's to the 70's rock bands.

[Capmaster]

Album IV - Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Four Sticks, When the Levee Breaks. Jimmy Page's best work.

Led Zep II - IMO, the start of a whole new era in Rock 'n Roll. The bridge from the 60's to the 70's rock bands.

Weren't they credited for inventing metal?

[housepig]

Weren't they credited for inventing metal?

they actively disclaimed that they were a metal band, and I think Page & Plant still do.

I would look to Deep Purple or Black Sabbath before I looked to Zeppelin as "inventing metal".

[gshelley61]

Zeppelin was basically among the first blues-based hard rock bands. There were some early glimpses of this type of sound with the Yardbirds and others. Not really pre-metal, though.

I agree that Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, who also did some blues-based hard rock material (many late 60's bands did), ventured into what we would recognize today as early metal.

[888888]

Album IV - Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Four Sticks, When the Levee Breaks. Jimmy Page's best work.

Led Zep II - IMO, the start of a whole new era in Rock 'n Roll. The bridge from the 60's to the 70's rock bands.

Weren't they credited for inventing metal?

Some people say that (Ozzy) Black Sabbath invented metal. While I love Sabbath, I would have to disagree. Black Sabbath before Dio was basically a more distorted version of a blues rock band. Judas Priest invented real metal because they were the first band to embrace two lead guitars.

[gshelley61]

Black Sabbath before Dio was basically a more distorted version of a blues rock band. Judas Priest invented real metal because they were the first band to embrace two lead guitars.

The fast-paced, driving "Paranoid" is early metal. Think about the riff... I've been a bass player for more than 20 years, and that ain't the blues.

[fritzi93]

I would look to Deep Purple or Black Sabbath before I looked to Zeppelin as "inventing metal".

Ah, yes. Deep Purple. Saw them in concert once upon a time and my ears were ringing for days afterward.

Also saw Led Zeppelin right after Led Zep II came out. Too much. That's the one I voted for.

[housepig]

Black Sabbath before Dio was basically a more distorted version of a blues rock band. Judas Priest invented real metal because they were the first band to embrace two lead guitars.

listen to "Rocka Rolla" and tell me they weren't a hippy blues band.

Sabbath may not have had two guitarists, but they did rock the flatted-5th quite a bit, a metal staple and long-banned in church music as evidence of the Devil.

fritzi - same thing happened to me when I saw the Melvins on the Stag tour - they sounded like a friggin' airplane engine. that show convinced me to never go to a concert without earplugs.

[888888]

Black Sabbath before Dio was basically a more distorted version of a blues rock band. Judas Priest invented real metal because they were the first band to embrace two lead guitars.

The fast-paced, driving "Paranoid" is early metal. Think about the riff... I've been a bass player for more than 20 years, and that ain't the blues.

I too am a bass player and the Paranoid bass line is one of the first ones I learned.

The line is actually very similar to Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown.

EEEE EEEE EEEE ABDE DDDD DDDD GDEBD-that's paranoid

EEEE EEEE EDAD EEEE EEEE EDAD-that communication breakdown

All those notes not coincidentally are in the E minor pentatonic which is sorta a blues scale. Is the progression itself blues? No. It is too simple. Is the character of the sound bluesy, I would say yes. If driving bass makes metal, then Zeppelin is metal too. And so is Budgie! I don't think any of those are although I love those bands more than most "metal" anyway.

Metal is all about loud, virtuostic lead guitars. Think Iron Maiden or UFO. Just my opinion. Defining genres is to each his own.

Also saw Led Zeppelin right after Led Zep II came out.

You are a lucky bastard. I am too young to have seen them.

listen to "Rocka Rolla" and tell me they weren't a hippy blues band.

Sabbath may not have had two guitarists, but they did rock the flatted-5th quite a bit, a metal staple and long-banned in church music as evidence of the Devil.

Rocka Rolla was 1974. Pretty early for Priest but I guess compared with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath which was 1973, you are right.

And ahhh, yes the aumented fourth. That evil sound in the song Black Sabbath itself. I actually consider that cool interval more DOOMY than METAL since it does not harmonize well when using many guitars.

[gshelley61]

888888, I agree with you that defining genres is certainly subjective. One man's blues is another man's hard rock or metal. That's cool.

Interesting that we are both bass players. I've noticed over the years that bass players tend to be especially interested in gear, technology, etc. It doesn't surprise me that we have a common interest in digital video.

[Guest]

I was watching The Song Remains the Same recently. It was the only thing of interest on HDTV. I thought it was a pretty boring show. Saw a reunion tour several years back and thought they did a much better job as senior citizens.

[enstg8er]

early sabbath is the basic recognized definition of metal: loud, methodical, powerful, driving, dark. iron man, n.i.b. oh yeah. jp came closest with their cover of fleetwood mac's "green manalishi". two laed guitars is a poor requirement- allman brothers? lynyrd skynyrd? where does this place blue oyster cult? led zep was not among the first to bridge blues and rock the early stones were heavily influenced by the blues. later bands became harder- ten years after and such. zep to be sure took it to another level. metal kind of spread out. "speed" metal- metallica. "pop" metal- def leppard, and others. if deep purple is metal is nazareth? hendrix? hard yes, but where is the line?

[housepig]

hard yes, but where is the line?

whereever you draw it. obviously, me and 888888 draw it in different places

I would consider Budgie a metal band, btw...

as for the dual-lead requirement, I disagree - let's compare Venom (very metal!) or Coroner or VoiVod with single guitars, to AC/DC, or Night Ranger, or The Cars (dual guitarists all).

@DrGee - Song Remains the Same is not good - it was actually scrapped and then dragged back out during a problem period in Zep's history, to keep some product out in front of the fans. Check the double-dvd of live stuff that came out a few months ago, it's much, much better.

[enstg8er]

i agree the double live dvd is amazing, though it tends to get my adcom amp a little warm.

[888888]

I was watching The Song Remains the Same recently. It was the only thing of interest on HDTV. I thought it was a pretty boring show. Saw a reunion tour several years back and thought they did a much better job as senior citizens.

Song Remains The Same is probably the last thing somebody should get in their Zeppelin collection. The concert they did there in Madison Square Garden was definetly not their best. Sometimes I wonder if that whole "storyline" of them being in England or wherever the day before was added to explained their rusty, poor playing at the concert. And the 20 minute version of Dazed and Confused is boring, you are right. I am not sure if the dream sequences were supposed to be funny but they sure come out that way.

On the reverse side of the coin, the Zeppelin double DVD is my favorite piece of recorded media in the world, that includes any CD, DVD, or other. I sometimes wonder if the whole thing comes off as a little too polished, like they take visual parts from other songs and put them in because they look good. Also, if the sound was overproduced later because it sounds so good. But you know what, I don't care. They are playing live and the end result is amazing.

[housepig]

Sometimes I wonder if that whole "storyline" of them being in England or wherever the day before was added to explained their rusty, poor playing at the concert.

well, since that movie is comped together from 3 different shows, I would think that excuse is pretty thin...

btw, nice avatar - where's it from?

[888888]

btw, nice avatar - where's it from?

Thanks. It is from a video starring a Japanese girl. If you look closely there is some subtitled text at the bottom of the picture. I wish I had some webspace so I could post the original frame capture that I have before I shrunk the picture for my avatar. The text is IMO pretty funny, both for its bad translation and its content.

[Capmaster]

btw, nice avatar - where's it from?

Thanks. It is from a video starring a Japanese girl. If you look closely there is some subtitled text at the bottom of the picture. I wish I had some webspace so I could post the original frame capture that I have before I shrunk the picture for my avatar. The text is IMO pretty funny, both for its bad translation and its content.

When I first saw that I did a double-take. At first it looked like she was giving an oriental man a knob-job. Then I realized it was her finger