Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin 1
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Free Music Notes for Led Zeppelin 1
Free Music Review: Hammer of the Gods
Hit: 5 Stars
That's what Led Zeppelin is, The Hammer of the Gods. I'm a zeppelin freak, I'm not a huge fan of picking favorites but Led Zeppelin is my undisputed favorite band (although you can already probably tell by the reviewer name i use). I have all their studio albums as well as their live stuff. All their work is fantastic probably the greatest music I have ever heard (that's my opinion no one has to agree with me). However out of all the albums by Led Zeppelin, no by artists in general this is one of my favorites.
People have criticized Zeppelin for stealing material especially on this album. I don't understand how you can even criticize Led Zeppelin for that, because this album is just so amazing, why does it matter? If you're new to Zeppelin, don't listen to people who tell you that Led Zeppelin isn't good and that this album is bad and that you shouldn't listen to it, because you will be missing out on some unbelievable music. At the very least you should give it a chance. Sure I'm not gonna go far enough to say that this album is the greatest album ever (Houses of the Holy has that spot in my mind). If you are beginner to Led Zeppelin and want to get into them, I think this is a great album to start with. If you are a veteran Led Zeppelin fan and you don't have this album, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? GET IT NOW!
Free Music Review: The groundwork
Hit: 3 Stars
Led Zeppelin's first album gives the listener a sampling of all the good, bad, and ugly that was this master group. It's starts off promisingly enough with the excellent Good Times, Bad Times, which lets everyone know just how powerful John Bonham was. We are shown more of the unique creature of Led Zeppelin on the third number, a cover of Willie Dixon's You Shook Me. It has been noted often and quite accurately that Jeff Beck's Truth came first and the parallels are there in content and in overall blues/rock theme. It wouldn't be the first time or the last that Jimmy Page took the ground work for others and rode with it, unfortunately at times taking credit where it wasn't completely due. It is on this song, however, that you realize the comparisons end. Whereas Beck's version was a bit more laid back providing an almost club-like rendition; Jimmy Page serves up his interpretation with a definitive Zeppelin exercise. This is a sledge hammer of excess and indulgence, two trademarks of this band. Page's guitar thunders along with Bonham's pounding, plodding twelve bar blues beat, Jones adds his thick keyboards, and Plant provides his unique Englishman's take on the blues wail. This is as far from Jeff Beck's version as you can get without doing a bluegrass take. In this one song, we get what Led Zeppelin is all about, taking blues/rock and beating it to a pulp with the Hammer of the Gods.
Along the way we get samplings of Page's guitar mastery, influences, and knack for beefy and unforgettable rock riffs (highlights are Black Mountain Side and Communication Breakdown) and we get a blueprint for all that was to come.
Zeppelin's albums show a concrete pattern of growth and development and it is easy to see how their masterpiece Physical Graffiti would not exist without its predecessors. This debut, however, is impressive for a first recording and despite the heavy handed bombastic delivery and a few missteps, the rock and roll world was changed with what this band laid down here.
Free Music Review: Start of a great band
Hit: 5 Stars
Most Zep albums are good, but this one and the ZOSO album are Zep's best offerings. While this album is completely original (it covers blues tunes) there are some real gems here. Robert Plant's voice isn't for everybody. It took time to grow on me because it's high and screechy, but it seems to work well with the music.
What more can I say? I have all of Zep's albums on vinyl and haven't hesitated to grab the CD versions.
Free Music Review: Zeppelin has a case o' th' blues...B first effort
Hit: 4 Stars
The first Zeppelin album is not unlike a lot of artist's first albums from this era, heavily borrowing from the artist's roots and influences and producing an amalgam of originals and covers that really aren't necessarily a great reflection of the sound the artist would eventually establish. Rush also immediately comes to mind, except I have to say that I find the first Zep album a much more enjoyable experience by direct comparison. However that "do as the masters have done" formula for both bands is in place here. A few thoughts about each track on Zeppelin's debut:
1. Good Times, Bad Times: I really love this tune. Wonderful way to kick off an album (or a show even, for those who mortgaged their homes to see the band at the O2 show recently). Page really struts his stuff in the solo and reminds folks that starting a new band wasn't about to disrupt his blossoming reputation as a killer rock guitarist. (A)
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You: We're into a cover almost immediately, but I have to be reminded that the band doesn't own this song in much the same way Van Halen claimed You Really Got Me and Hendrix purchased the deed to All Along The Watch Tower. A magnificent song and to this day one of my favorite performances from this band. It's a haunting acoustical blues piece with a sorrowful Plant delivery that some may consider monotonous but that I think just writhes with angst. Hell, even Great White does a great copy of Zeppelin doing their copy....that's how moving the song is. Cover or not, it's a Zeppelin signature. (A+)
3. You Shook Me: Hey, another cover and a bit more uptempo bar-room type blues standard. Has a sexy groove but gets a bit long in the tooth. It's the context of too many songs like this that subtract from the specialty of a song like You Shook Me. If it was the only one of its type on the record, it'd stand out in a better way. Do love the Plant bellow at the end, which always brings to mind Kiss' Paul Stanley crooning the Rock And Roll Over classic I Want You live. No honor amongst thieves. (B-)
4. Dazed & Confused: Probably the band's most popular (and overplayed) song from their debut. It's a good number with a deliberate plod in the beginning that ascends into something pretty cool with the uptempo chords ("here I go agaaaaaaaiiiinnn....."). The mid-section of the song is very trippy and a tad over-indulgent with the vocal swells and the musical meandering. JP Jones keeps our head above water, though....and ultimately the plod segues into an almost maniacal bridge back to the verse. Good song. Not as great as I think Robert thinks it is...and can be a bit tedious live...but overall still a solid song. (B)
5. Your Time Is Gonna Come: Probably the most overlooked song on the record. Starts with incredible church organ chords by Jonesy that transitions into a more lightly toned, bubbly keyboard riff and a great verse melody by Plant. The chorus is a bit noisy and layered, but it's a small price for an-otherwise original tune and a break from the din of bar-room blues afoot. (A)
6. Black Mountain Side: I love this instrumental. Viram Jasani adds a nice congo touch to accompany Page's acoustic attack. Simple-but-underappreciated musical break. (A-)
7. Communication Breakdown: Rock riffage! A sister song of sorts to Good Times, Bad Times in terms of feel and tempo, albeit a bit more sped up here. Blistering Page solo here with a solid bottom end maintained by Bonham and Jones throughout...(and as always). Robert's admittedly a bit screechy here, but I think it fits the song quite well, especially the elongated "insane." (A-)
8. I Can't Quit You Baby: The last of the covers and probably my least favorite cover on the album. Another great showcase for Page (perhaps the best on this record), but I'm not moved as much here as I am by the superior (and diverse) Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. It feels like one-too many trips to this well long about now. Like with You Shook Me, it's not a bad song, it's just a little too much of the same thing going on. (B-)
9. How Many More Times: This contends with I Can't Quit You Baby for least favorite and probably edges it out, but mostly because the riff is monotonous and at over eight minutes it's also obscenely long and over-indulgent. I don't mind long songs but the album has more than a few trips to the same type well. I love the blues so that's not an inherently bad thing, but the album could've used a few more uptempo breaks like in Dazed & Confused instead of relying on the slow-down approach. (C)
Overall I'd give Led Zeppelin I a solid B-to-B+. The really good stuff here is quite compelling and none of the less attractive moments veer into anything approaching bad or unlistenable. Zep's biggest problem here is an over-reliance on their roots and getting lost in the more heady, elongated musical breaks. From a mere blues guitar standpoint, that's not a knock. I can listen to Page riff on and on and as a fan of blues guitar, not get bored. In so far as tempo goes and as a continual progression through a body of work, the album's a bit dull in spots. But that's hardly a deal-killer here. They honor their roots as well as anyone. Like with Rush, Zeppelin's debut was just a morsel of what was to come.
Free Music Review: Greatest debut in rock history
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the greatest debut ever made. 'Dazed and confused' is still sonically thrilling and plumbs new depths for the blues. 'Babe, I'm gonna leave you' takes folk rock to the stratosphere. 'How many more times' makes you want to headbang. 'Black mountain side' introduces the brilliant acoustic side of Zeppelin. 'Good times bad times' and 'Communication breakdown' are basically great filler that would be the highlights of most bands' repertoires and 'Your time is gonna come' somehow combines church organ with folksy guitar in a blues song. Only 'You shook me' and 'I can't quit you baby' seem obviously dated and lacklustre by comparison. Most of this album may be derivative from other sources but overall it was brilliantly original and eclipsed all the other British blues-rock bands of the era. There's an urgency and obvious desire to impress in this album that was never quite repeated.