Ranking the Studio Albums: Led Zeppelin
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- čas přidán 18. 03. 2023
- I discuss and rank all nine Led Zeppelin studio albums. I don't go into any sort of history of the band, that can all be said and found elsewhere, but I thought it was long overdue to rank these.
1. Physical Graffiti -- Band's crowning achievement. Masterpiece. Favorite by any artist, ever.
2. IV
3. HotH
4. II
5. I
6. Presence
7. III
8. ITTOD
9. Coda
#1 Houses of the Holy
#2+ the rest
See, and I felt bad for not having it higher because I knew folks out there would love the album. I guess it just doesn't hit me the same. But there are some brilliant moments on there for me :)
@@brettsmusicreviews2641 The problem with Physical Graffiti is all those leftover songs they put on there kind of dragged it down ! Some of them weren't great !!
@@brettsmusicreviews2641 The song Remains the Same, Pagie's biggest triumph by far nothing they ever did even comes close.
In Through The Out Door had several front covers. One each by the perspective of the characters on the front cover. Hence, it was sold in a paper wrapping to prevent you from seeing which one you got.
For me they have two masterpieces and my bottom pick was also pretty easy. It’s those 6 in between which are so close.
1. Physical Graffiti
2. Led Zeppelin 4
3. Led Zeppelin 2
4. Led Zeppelin
5. Presence
6. Led Zeppelin 3
7. Houses Of The Holy
8. In Thru The Out Door
9. Coda
I knew there'd be folks out there that like P.G. the most :) Some of my friends do - music is so subjective that I judge it as much on how it makes me feel as I do the level of talent. I see Presence is dead-center on your list as well, it's a good album that could've been great. But I like it a lot just the same. Thank you for sharing!
Swap 7 with 5, and 6 with 4, and this would be my list.
The beauty of a Led Zeppelin ranking list is that no two are alike. II is my favorite but not sure it’s their best.
I saw Robert Plant with Allison Krause in concert last year and he sang When The Levee Breaks and it suddenly became my favorite Zeppelin song.
1 & 2 are similar but the sonic leap was amazing between them! The band never rested on its laurels, for sure. I bet seeing Plant rework that song was a life-changing moment :)
No flak from here. It's subjective, as you say. I have two clear faves - Led Zeppelin 2, and In Through the Out Door! Two very different choices. 2 is just consistently exciting. Whole Lotta Love and Bring It On Home are the tasty slices of bread, but the filling's just as good. In Through the Out Door is the one I bought the day it came out, and the one I had to work at getting into while accepting it's not that hard-rocking. It's such an interesting record that I had no difficulty. I also wish Physical Graffiti were a single album: 1. Custard Pie; In My Time of Dying (way shorter and leaner); Trampled Underfoot; Kashmir / 2. Wanton Song; In the Light (shorter); Black Country Woman; Bron yr Aur; Ten Years Gone; Night Flight. Like that, it'd be 2nd, with Houses of the Holy. Led Zep 1 next. Coda next, especially with the extra tracks. Darlene is so great. I'd put LZ 4 and LZ 3 close; and Presence would be last choice, as it's a bit lacklustre in places. Tea for One, though, is terrific. Royal Orleans has a great groove.
That's the great thing about music, it's all about how we view it differently :) In Through... is one of my best friend's favorites. He absolutely champions that one.
I love Fool In The Rain Bonham was epic!
Zep 2 was always my number 1
Hard to argue that one. I used to be sick of it because so many songs are overplayed. But when I bought the LP and started to spin it front to back, as the band intended, it reminded me of what a killer collection it is.
Mine is
9: Coda
8: Lee Zeppelin 3
7: Presence
6: In Through The Out Door
5: Led Zeppelin 1
4: Physical Graffiti
3: Houses Of The Holy
2: Led Zeppelin 4
1: Led Zeppelin 2
But All of them are great
That's the great thing about a discography as diverse as Zeppelin's, we all hear music differently and each of our No. 1 is the right choice :) Thanks for the ranking, friend!
I don't care how much attention it gets, Zep IV is a monster album. When the Levee breaks is probably my top Zeppelin tune and I do really like Going to California. It reminds me of my hippie days 😂. For me, Physical Graffiti and Zeppelin III are my two favourites. III just has it all. A great blend of acoustic and bangers and as you say, it is very charming. IV, II and I followed by Houses of the Holy, which is a great album in my opinion and one that grew on me a lot. II would be better if not for Moby Dick. I find drum solos boring unless they are short and sweet. I like In Through the Out Door more than most and I'm not really familiar with Presence and Coda. They were an other worldly band. Robert Plant's voice is from another planet. They were the kind of all out band we'll never see again. Good vid!!
Thank you for the kind words!
Plant's voice was, and is, one of my favorites in rock and roll. It's changed over the years but he somehow managed to nurture it and I love how he sounds now.
I bought IV a couple years ago after putting it off because I'd heard too many of the songs played to death on radio. But when taken as a whole, in the order the band wanted it to be heard, it's a masterpiece. III was polarizing at the time but, man, I really dig it, too.
Houses of the Holy if it only had even just The Song Remains the Same, Pagie's best. But then it's followed by The rain song which is as emotional as Ten Years Gone..
2) Physical Graffiti, Ten Years Gone need I say more.
3) Led Zeppelin 3, because it has Tangerine
It's almost impossible to rank their albums as their first 6 were all so good. It's better to put them on a continuum of greatness where they hit a peak at IV and then another with Physical Graffiti. It was just continual greatness, and any list would only be subjective. IV had huge hits with some amazing deep cuts, but it was a relatively short album. PG was so expansive in terms of music genres, and done so well. You can feel this is the place where bands like Van Halen borrowed from . ..in fact allot of those 80s hair rock bands borrowed from songs like the Rover, but Zep's original cuts were so much better and more soulful than these other bands who copied.
I can see that. They took some huge chances on there, and for all hard rock bands who followed, there was something to aim for.
Presence ahead of Houses Of The Holy???
Yep lol For some reason I just can't get into HotH as much as others. I bought my copy at my local record store and the owner said it's actually his favorite Zep album.
@@brettsmusicreviews2641 It's weird you say that because I never did get into Presense ever and only like 2 songs from it. Weird that we have the same opinion but on the opposite two albums we're talking about ! 😅
@@dankelly5150 The way music touches us is so inexplicable, isn't it? There are probably a lot of factors of the Why and How we like what we do. But as I get older, I worry less about those and enjoy music even more :)
@@dankelly5150 you know it would be their best record even if it only had the first few bars of The Song Remains the Same. Genius
Hard to rank their first five or six. In Through the Out Door was one of my first Zeppelin records, it was before Bonham died. Even though I have a soft spot for it I rank it about seven or eight. CODA just feels like a cash grab.