The Top Ten List: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin in a field, Knebworth, England, 1979
(from left) John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham

I've been a huge Led Zeppelin fan since I was a kid and used to buy the albums (on cassette!) from the Sears at the Rockaway Mall. The release of Them Crooked Vultures (see previous post!) which features Zep bassist John Paul Jones gives me an excuse to write about them. Here's ten songs by the mighty Zeppelin that I really like. One from each album, except Coda.

1. "Your Time Is Gonna Come" (from Led Zeppelin)
   When I was in high school, my friend Jeff Korn's brother had a cover band called the "Blind Venetians." I saw them play this on a school excursion "Day Line" cruise up the Hudson River. I remember Jeff's brother on drums, hitting the snare just as the boat went slowly, majestically under the George Washington Bridge. I still see that bridge every time I hear this song. ("Have you seen the bridge?")
   
   
2. "Bring It On Home" (from Led Zeppelin II)
   The last song on the "Brown Bomber" has one of Jimmy Page's best blues-based riffs. The Cult liked it so much that they copped it for the album version of their minor hit "Sweet Soul Sister." And then remixed the song (burying the famous riff) when they put it on the radio, which is why it was only a minor hit.
   
   
3. "Tangerine" (from Led Zeppelin III)
   One of the prettiest ballads in the Zeppelin catalogue. Just a beautiful song with a great Robert Plant vocal. The highlight of the "acoustic" side of III which showed the stairway to heaven being built….
   
   
4. "When The Levee Breaks" (from Led Zeppelin IV or whatever you want to call it)
   The real "stairway to heaven." John Bonham's drums were placed in the stairwell of Headley Grange, the country house where the Zoso album was recorded with the drums at the bottom, the microphones hung at the top. The resulting column of air gives this song its memorable, booming drum sound that sounds like Godzilla himself is coming out of your stereo. But it's only Bonzo.
   
   
5. "The Ocean" (from Houses of the Holy)
   A great, slamming beast of a riff and then Zeppelin turns into a…swing band? A song about the experience of watching the crowd surge and roar from the stage--hence "The Ocean." Has an early example of lyric sheet censorship: Plant's line "Got a date I can't be late for the hell I'm living for" was changed to "hey hai halla ball" on the lyric sheet. Which is why Zeppelin didn't include any lyrics until their fourth album.
   
   
6. "The Rover" (from Physical Graffiti)
   I know a guy who used to live in the apartment building on the cover of this famous album. His tiny place was behind one of the F's on the cover. We used to call his apartment "Eff." But I digress. In a double album of leftovers and new songs, "The Rover" is one of Jimmy Page's best riffs. And it has a great John Paul Jones bass part.
   
   
7. "Achilles' Last Stand" (from Presence)
   From my favorite Led Zeppelin album, an unloved bastard from their catalogue that was recorded in a frenzied session in Berlin while Plant had a broken leg. Presence inspired the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and this song laid the blueprint for every Iron Maiden "gallop" song ever written...
   
   
8. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (from Presence)
   Jimmy Page's ghostly slide riff leads into Bonzo's breakneck drumming. Up there with "Levee" for the title of best Zeppelin blues rewrite--in this case Robert Johnson's "Hellhound On My Trail." A haunting song about addiction and pain. Zeppelin's most tragic song and an amazing performance.
   
   
9. "In The Evening" (from In Through The Out Door)
   The band's swan song features a mysterious Eastern introduction and then that relentless, sledgehammer riff as the Page Guitar Army fills your living room. Plant's cries of "I've got pain" reflect the loss of the lead singer's son (at the age of six) in 1977.
   
   
10. "Hey, Hey What Can I Do" from (Led Zeppelin Box Set)
    This is a b-side from the III era. For some weird reason it was left off of Coda, the band's final release that featured outtakes, b-sides and alternates. It's a neat little song with a ballad feel, a nice acoustic riff and a great chorus at the end.
    

"No Stairway? Denied!"
"Wayne's World" image © NBC/Paramount Pictures