Sunday, September 1, 2013

It's Zeptember!

Led Zeppelin was my favorite band in college. Hell, I had the nickname "Zep" among my friends. Not terribly original, I know, but it shows the depth of my obsession. I actually made a conscious effort to play every song in the band's discography at least once during my four years as a campus radio DJ. And one of my proudest programs was an extensively researched show about the musical roots of Led Zeppelin's recorded works. And though I'll cite Pink Floyd as the soundtrack to my high school years, when it came time to get ready for prom, it was Led Zeppelin's first, second, and fourth albums that I put on rotation.

I may not listen to Led Zeppelin as frequently now as I did then, but my love and respect for them hasn't faded. So I thought it would be exciting to celebrate this Zeptember by going back through their catalog, and giving each of their original studio albums (and maybe a live album or two) a re-listen, with comments about my reaction to their music, in the years it's been since I first discovered them. Which songs stand the test of time, and how have my opinions of the band's music changed over the years, if at all? Let's find out!

Led Zeppelin (1969)
Led Zeppelin II (1969)
Led Zeppelin III (1970)
Untitled (1971)
Houses of the Holy (1973)
Physical Graffiti (1975)
Presence (1977)
In Through The Out Door (1979)
Coda (1982)

And now, as a bonus feature, I'm going to rate Led Zeppelin's original studio albums in order from best to worst (in my opinion, of course):

IV, I, II, Physical Graffiti, Houses of the Holy, Presence, III, Coda, In Through The Out Door

2 comments:

  1. Interesting, I look forward to the results.

    Zep was my first big music crush. Hard to relate to some of their stuff anymore (to be honest ITTOD never grew on me, even in all these years), but most of it still rocks. I have a lengthy playlist on my ipod of the tracks that still stand up the best, but I guess I won't bias your results by planting ideas.

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  2. Yeah, I never warmed up much to ITTOD either, but I'll save any comments for after I give it another listen.

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