Of the “numbered” Led Zeppelin albums, this one is the one that seems to be regarded as the best, probably because it features the epic Stairway To Heaven. Hot take – I'm not that fond of Stairway To Heaven, possibly because it’s been so overplayed on the radio (Neither, though, am I that fond of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, a track that follows a similar trajectory of a quiet contemplative start with a hard rocking finish). Musically it’s fine, even though the lyrics are dross if you pay attention to them. Better, for me, are the two heavier songs at the start of the album, Black Dog (theme tune for George Dawes off Shooting Stars…) and the riff-driven Rock And Roll. The album them shifts to a mix of Jimmy Page's favourite things – mandolin and fantasy (with the obligatory Tolkien reference to “ringwriaiths dressed in black” ) with The Battle of Evermore featuring Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny on vocals.
More riff-based stuff that feels quite
psychedelic, Misty Mountain Hop (Tolkien reference again) and Four Sticks, and
at times Plant’s vocals sound like Janis Joplin, adding to the psychedelia-era feel. These are followed
by Going To California, another acoustic number that plays a little like a
round, about travelling to California to find the “a girl with flowers in her
hair”, an unattainable goal in the end, but feeds into the “California
psychedelia” sense of this section of the album. The final track is the
seemingly relentless When The Levee Breaks, a great chugging juggernaut of a track.
Does this album deserve its reputation? For me the first album is more consistently good – there are some tracks on here that even after hearing them multiple times over the years still don’t grab me, but counter to that, it really has some solid bangers on it as well. I'd go 1,4,2,3 in terms of my preferences - 1 and 4 pretty close, but I'm with the guitar shop owner in Wayne's World - No Stairway!
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