Led Zeppelin I - A GREAT cover band

DISCLAIMER

If you think I'm wrong, well then we have to have a fight to the death. Since my opinion is 100% the most objective opinion ever. It also is the most humble opinion as well. 

This record is one of my more recent acquisitions. I bought this record at Third Eye Records in Long Beach when I was out with some friends last year. Why did you only get it now you ask? Well funny enough considering the impact Led Zeppelin has had on my life, it's the only record of theirs that I own. This...is.... a long story. 

If you remember from my last post one the first records I got was Truth by Jeff Beck. As I began to listen that record for the first time I did what I always do and read through the liner notes. I was excited to find out that both John Paul Jones(The bassist of Led Zeppelin) and Keith Moon (the drummer for The Who) were featured on this album specifically on a track called "Becks Bolero." When I got to that track on Side 2 I couldn't figure out why the song sounded so familiar. I realized quickly that it sounded just like a song on Led Zeppelin, "How Many More Times," specifically a little bridge part in the middle of the song around the three minute mark. I did what any normal person would do, and googled " Why does Becks Bolero sound like How Many More Times?" Here is where one of the biggest glass shattering moments of my life began. To start, I found out that Jimmy Page (The guitarist of Led Zeppelin) is an uncredited guitarist on "Becks Bolero". Furthermore Truth was released in 1968 whereas Led Zeppelin was released in 1969. The conclusion? John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page partially ripped off Becks Bolero for their closing track on their first album. The unprecedented consequence of looking this up was I found out Led Zeppelin ripped off a LOT of their music. The criminal aspect of it is that on the liner notes the majority of their songs claim to be written by them.

In this google search from Hades I found out that one of my most favorite and influential artists were a fraud. In that moment I renounced Led Zeppelin. They were excommunicated from my life. It would take 6-7 years for me to feel comfortable listening to them again.

How could I go back to them? After they did me so dirty? ME SPECIFICALLY? I realized that despite their lack of originality, all of the musicians in the band are excellent. Jimmy Page is a top 5 guitarist of all time, John Paul Jones is a top 10 bassist of all time, Robert Plant is not technically amazing but he is a great performer and you can feel the music in his voice, and John Bonham may be the greatest drummer of all time. When you go to see an orchestra, it's rare that they are performing something they composed, but we still enjoy their music because the composition and performance are important.  Led Zeppelin are similar. 

In 2021 I got off my high horse and bought their first record, which so happens to be my favorite of theirs.

If I end up doing this a lot something you will notice is that openings and closings of albums are of paramount importance to me. If your album doesn't catch me right as it opens I will probably not like the album as much. Similarly when an album ends I want to feel closure like you wrapped up the record in the best way possible. If nothing else this is why Led Zeppelin is such a stellar record. It has one of the best opening and closings songs in music history. 

The first track "Good Times Bad Times" starts off with a loud 8th note double by Jimmy Page on the guitar and John Bonham keeping time on the hi-hat. The jarring, unexpected nature of the first guitar strum makes you want to know what's coming next and you're hit in the face again by another double. Once John Bonham brings in the opening drum fill you know you're hooked and you are wanting more. 

Robert Plant opens the song with one of my favorite lines in music "In the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man. Now I've reached that age I've tried to do all those things the best I can"  This song is a great picture of what it's like to feel like life is always throwing you down but trying to keep on keepin' on. The drums in this song are immaculate. If you listen pay attention to the bass drum footwork. The triplet rolls on the bass drum are killer.

"Babe I'm Going to Leave You" is one of their stolen songs. Originally written by Joan Baez this version is infinitesimally better. I think the coolest part about it is that it's sort of an homage to Ennio Morricone's western music. This is particularly noticeable with the usage of gunshot sound effects in the choruses and the ending bell. One of my favorite parts of the song is a moment where Robert Plant accentuates all the words in the lyric and the audio engineer panned his vocal left and right for each word. It sounds like he's struggling to get the words out because he's crying that just adds to the somberness of the track.

There are two true blues tracks on the album and I like to think about them as Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 is " You shook me" which is an old blues song written by Willie Dixon. This song feels like a train going down the track and you're just on for the ride. The blues is supposed to do one thing and that is help you when you feel blue and this song does just that. It's slow, it's painful, and I love it. John Paul Jones surprises you with this awesome organ solo right in the middle that leads to a fun harmonica solo by Robert Plant and you finish with a great guitar solo by Jimmy Page. Part 2 comes later.

"Dazed and Confused" is Led Zeppelin's psychedelic song. It features a great walking bass-line that permeates each part of the song. This is controversial, but besides the main theme to me the song is forgettable. One redeeming factor is Robert Plant matching Jimmy Page's guitar melody near the end of the song.

"Your Time is Gonna Come" is the song that for me could have been the best on the record. It starts off with this awesome organ and guitar bit that just feels so cool. The only issue is that it feels that the song loses its way somewhere in the middle and it also doesn't know how to end. I wish that the whole song had the vibe of the very beginning because it would elevate it so much.

Don't listen to "Black Mountain Side" it's a bad version of this song.

I mean it's still fine and it has it's place in the album, I just don't like it. 

Every band has a garage band song. The Who have " My Generation," The Rolling Stones have "Jumping Jack Flash,"  and Led Zeppelin's  has "Communication Breakdown." It's fast, it's messy, and it's glorious. It's about as early as you can get for punk rock(there's earlier I unfortunately don't have it on vinyl but ask me about it) .

Remember how I said there's Blues Part 1 and Blues Part 2? "I Can't Quit You Baby" is part two. If "You Shook Me" is a train coming a long. "I Cant Quit You baby" is a train wreck. It even starts off with Robert Plant shouting like a conductor saying "All aboard!" It's so blue and mellow, and really gets you in that bluesy mood. I think the imagery of a woman being like a drug is also overdone, but they were the first to do it so we like it. 

Finally my favorite track on the record, "How Many More Times." It's got everything, it's bluesy, it's jazzy, it's psychedelic, it's technically challenging, it's fun, I cant think of any more positive features. There are a lot of head-bobbing songs in the world and this may be the king. It just goes hard from beginning to end. The song works more like a jam session for the band members as there is no real structure to it but they always return to the main theme. If you listen strap yourself in and buckle up because it's a bumpy ride but it's fun.

The Rating

The way I think about music is that you start off with a 10/10 but then as I listen I dock off points rather than add them up.

This album is great, one of the greatest. It introduced a generation to blues, rock, metal, punk, jazz, eastern music among many other genres. The main issue with it is plagiarism. If I could say with certainty that it's all original it may well be the greatest album of all time, but because there's a lot of "borrowing" and no credit where credit is due, it's hard to give it that title.

Im going to rate this record a 9.3/10 Solid A

S

ince it's the only record I've reviewed the ranking goes like this

Andrew's Record Ranking

1. Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin = 9.3