Sorting the catalog of the biggest, loudest, heaviest band.
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Its difficult to remember now howpreciousthe blues seemed to rockers in the 1960s.
The blues were aserious matter, meant to be played a certain way.
They were done with brio, but with probity and respect, too.
We blink and many years have passed; five decades, in fact.
This week, the bands 1973 albumHouses of the Holyturns 50.
To celebrate, were re-running our original 2015 ranking of all of the bands original studio work.
But the rock Establishment didnt quite get the band at the time.
Still, something big was going on, and many people at the time didnt get it.
(Rolling Stones critical history with the band was particularly indeed, uniformly clueless.)
A lot of this had to do with not seeing the forest for the trees.
The forest, in this analogy, was Jimmy Page.
There was an experienced multi-instrumentalist hed met doing sessions, John Paul Jones.
To sing, he found a striking howler from the Black Country, Robert Plant.
(See the entry on Stairway to Heaven below for more on this point.)
With only one exception, each album was arguably a surprise and an advance.
It was not released as a single (unheard of at the time).
Led Zeppelin played rock without any socially redeeming value, and they didnt care who knew.
How did they get away with it?
Its easy but reductive to say it was all Page.
He did become a master at producing awe-inspiring sounds, both from his guitar and the studio.
An acclaimed guitarist, he is probably also the most underrated producer in the history of the music.
Simply put, he added adimensionto the sound of hard rock.
Page mastered the soft-loud song construction.
As for Bonham, he was indeed, as the journalist and musician Mick Farren put it, Loathsome.
Ferren went on to describe Bonham as Keith Moon with all of the dynamite and none of the charm.
But thats like saying, Hes got all of Yo-Yo Mas technique but none of his gardening skills.
These facets of the band balanced it out and gave them enormous tensile strength in every conceivable way.
Plant and Bonham were from the rural Midlands, a major difference from London pros like Page and Jones.
And finally, they had the luck to exist at a crucial turning point for rock.
The supergroup Cream had disbanded, leaving a vacuum.
The focus of rock, in the wake ofSgt.
Pepper, was just beginning to move from singles to albums.
All of those factors together created the juggernaut that was Led Zeppelin.
There was also a two-record live set,The Song Remains the Same, and an accompanying movie.
It was quickly forgotten.
What follows is my list of the bands songs, ranked from worst to best.
I hope the reasoning speaks for itself.
Some adjustments are made as we go along, as you will see.
74.Moby Dick,Led Zeppelin II
74.
You want to call Bonham a psychopath, but thats almost too romanticized a word for his psyche.
A stagehand for Bill Graham had stopped manager Peter Grants son from ripping backstage signs down.
Years of legal wrangling followed this deliberate and vicious assault.
73.Royal Orleans,Presence
73.
After the triumph that was the two-LPPhysical Graffiti, the band releasedPresence.
(Theyd doneDark Side of the Moon.Heres some of their other work.)
The real mystery was only where the bands songwriting skills had gone.
There are no significant songs on the album.
Against stiff competition, this might be the albums most forgettable track.
Its a contrived workout marked with illogical rhythm and musical change-ups.
That articles summation: Lets hope we hear no more about them.
72.Hots On for Nowhere,Presence
72.
Another forgettablePresencesong, a halting, stop-and-start boogie with a chorus of forced jollity.
The title describes the song adequately.
One of Plants worst lyrics, too.
71.Hats Off to (Roy) Harper,Led Zeppelin III
71.
A mess of blues lyrics set to a crudgy backing track from the bands third album.
Harper was a well-liked guitarist and singer who made quiet albums of interminably long, acoustic-y songs on them.
Grant is an interesting case.
And, of course, his role in the Oakland incident is beyond the pale.
(The account in the Bill Graham oral history is sickening.)
Towering sweetmeats like Robert Plant aside, the world of hard rock was not known for its handsome participants.
And he spoke like one of the unintelligible supporting characters in a Guy Ritchie movie.
70.The Crunge,Houses of the Holy
70.
Weird guitar sounds, even weirder lyrics.
69.Gallows Pole,Led Zeppelin III
69.
Its based on a traditional tale of a woman being hanged.
68.Candy Store Rock,Presence
68.
Neither Plant nor Page is convincing.
67.For Your Life,Presence
67.
A big slide sound, some cooing from Percy, an extended solo, some drums bashing.
For six and a half minutes.
And then it flies right out of ones mind.
66.Your Time Is Gonna Come,Led Zeppelin
66.
On the second side of their debut, misogyny takes over on a track unsubtle lyrically and musically.
Some pretty organ work from Jones, though.
65.The Lemon Song,Led Zeppelin II
65.
A bruising post-blues workout with a live feel, another example of how the band blistered the genre.
Still, theres a lot of notes in this song but not much else.
The bands lack of respect for traditional blues form was paralleled by their lack of respect for blues songwriters.
64.Thank You,Led Zeppelin II
64.
A purty little paean to 60s flower-children.
It would be the fourth album before they made their claim to greatness.
63.Achilles Last Stand,Presence
63.
Docked a half-dozen notches for being interminable.
62.I Cant Quit You Baby,Led Zeppelin
62.
Standardtresheavy blues, appropriately credited to Willie Dixon, the great Chess Records producer and songwriter.
61.Nobodys Fault But Mine,Presence
61.
This rather routine track is one ofPresences more interesting offerings, but thats not saying much.
60.Since Ive Been Loving You,Led Zeppelin III
60.
A long, slow blues, delivered fairly straight aside for some screechy interludes.
In the end, a curates egg parts of it are excellent.
59.The Wanton Song,Physical Graffiti
59.
Plant squeals though a second-tier song from the sets last side.
A dumb song, you think until a disconcertingly pleasurable instrumental break.
Then back to the dumbness.
58.Tea for One,Presence
58.
Long, languid blues.
Still, in the end, its the albums best track.
57.Custard Pie,Physical Graffiti
57.
Why this track led offGraffiti, an important moment for the band, is a mystery.
The production is indifferent, lacking the arresting crispness of the bands better work.
A mess of blues posturings, some of them stolen.
56.Celebration Day,Led Zeppelin III
56.
But too many of the songs are subpar.
The lyrics here are a wan mixture of hippie posturing and vague stabs at social import.
The backing track is boring.
55.Carouselambra,In Through the Out Door
55.
The band somehow lacked authority at this point, really, to keep our interest through such throwback-y stuff.
When your audiences most common reaction to a new work is, Is thisstillthe same song?
youre on the wrong track.
54.Down by the Seaside,Physical Graffiti
54.
Aside from the driven middle section, pretty non-notable and definitely filler, but onGraffitiit passes for a breather.
53.The Rover,Physical Graffiti
53.
Even some ofGraffitis filler is pretty powerful stuff its a killer chorus.
But this is one of the more anonymous songs on the release.
Too much ofGraffitilacks the sparkling production of the band at their best.
52.Out On the Tiles,Led Zeppelin III
52.
A nice shrieking chorus.
51.Four Sticks,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
51.
Probably the least interesting song on Zoso.
It grinds along, and we never find out why the owls are crying in the night.
50.Hey, Hey, What Can I Do, (single B-side)
50.
As such, its a nice, acoustic-based antidote for your ears.
The band at their most charming, until you concentrate on the words.
49.South Bound Suarez,In Through the Out Door
49.
48.Living Loving Maid (Shes Just a Woman),Led Zeppelin II
48.
A lot of it was received nonsense, and of course they were products of their time.
But their inability to see beyond that is a strong part of the case against the band.
47.Sick Again,Physical Graffiti
47.
I find the muddled production and the tedious outro kills it, though.
46.Friends,Led Zeppelin III
46.
There are a lot of weird things going on in the song, to no effect.
45.Heartbreaker,Led Zeppelin II
45.
Thematically, this is basically the same song as Rod Stewarts Maggie May.
One is timeless, musically alluring, and emotionally rueful.
The other is leaden, labored, and comes across as contrived.
Pages ferocious unaccompanied guitar-break was novel for the time, though.
44.The Ocean,Houses of the Holy
44.
43.Thats the Way,Led Zeppelin III
43.
A quiet, not-quite-convincing number fromIII.
Page was trying to show breadth, which was fine.
42.In My Time of Dying,Physical Graffiti
42.
One of the very long jams onPhysical Graffiti, a major statement and a bid for critical respect.
This track, however, is not the albums high point.
First, you consider that time has not been kind to such constructions.
The long, linear arcs seem torpid.
On the other hand, you get both slow and fast here.
But then you reflect again that time has not been kind to such constructions.
41.Black Mountain Side,Led Zeppelin
41.
A moody acoustic number with a distinctive model tuning.
40.Ten Years Gone,Physical Graffiti
40.
Repeat for six to eight minutes.
But in the end, its brought down by muddy production.
39.What Is and What Should Never Be,Led Zeppelin II
39.
Doesnt hurt that the words arent hateful.
And yet another great fanfare outro.
38.Boogie With Stu,Physical Graffiti
38.
Docked ten notches for song theft.
37.Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,Led Zeppelin III
37.
Bron-Yr-Aur is a remote cabin the band would go to to write.
It was said not to have electricity or running water; Page paid for a caretaker.
The name was misspelled on the original Zep album; should be Bron-Yr-Aur.
36.Im Gonna Crawl,In Through the Out Door
36.
A nice-sounding, somewhat humble love plaint.
Page contributes a restrained guitar attack.
Turned out that if you put spit or water on them, they turned color!
35.Going to California,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
35.
To me, this is the track that shows how a truly heavy band could soften things up convincingly.
Plants varied singing here stands out.
34.How Many More Times,Led Zeppelin
34.
Another statement of guitar and studio dominance by Page.
33.No Quarter,Houses of the Holy
33.
Houses of the Holyis the band at their height.
The abstract songs here are even more abstract.
and Pages lancing rumble of a guitar riff coming through the chorus.
Theres a lot going on here, but too much of it is monochromatic.
32.Houses of the Holy,Physical Graffiti
32.
Its a slow grinder.
Plants vocals are, winningly, mixed up high.
Not too much else going on, though.
31.Bring It On Home,Led Zeppelin II
31.
The closer to the second album starts out all folksy and bluesy, and then erupts.
The riffs are fine, but second-tier.
Knocked up ten notches for one of Bonham and Joness most rockin rhythm tracks.
30.Communication Breakdown,Led Zeppelin
30.
A quick and dirty rave-up on the lagging second side of the debut.
Page contributes some very crisp, very hard riffs.
29.Misty Mountain Hop,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
29.
Percy finds some nice people in a park.
Even the cops dont harsh his mellow.
But you wouldnt know it from the grinding instrumentation.
28.Hot Dog,In Through the Out Door
28.
A little novelty rave-up from the multivaried last album.
27.The Rain Song,Houses of the Holy
27.
For all of Pages production skills, some of the songs in the middle period sound occluded.
It it too long?
Yes its a Led Zeppelin song.
26.Night Flight,Physical Graffiti
26.
Theres a melody here, too: Jeff Buckley covered it to dramatic effect on the extendedLive at Sin-ealbum.
25.You Shook Me,Led Zeppelin
25.
Zeppelins early blues workouts dont mean much to us today.
Almost 50 years ago, they were audacious reinterpretations of a catalogue still considered sacred.
Upped five notches for documentary value.
24.Ramble OnLed Zeppelin II
24.
(Did Plant think the line went, Onebabeto rule them all?)
23.Fool in the Rain,In Through the Out Door
23.
Another odd song fromIn Through the Out Door.
Anchored by a simple synth line and a very spare back-up, it feels at first like a misfire.
22.Black Country Woman,Physical Graffiti
22.
Yes, its a dirty-dealing-woman song, but it doesnt come across as hateful.
21.Bron-Yr-Aur,Physical Graffiti
21.
Another tribute to Bron-Yr-Aur, in a rare instrumental track.
Another track that shows how supple and protean Pages guitar talents are.
20.Black Dog,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
20.
Back in the LP day, side-openers counted for something.
19.Trampled Under Foot,Physical Graffiti
19.
This stomping, brittle rocker should have been the leadoff track ofGraffitiinstead of the inferior Custard Pie.
(Compare this song to Heartbreaker, for example.)
Here, hes utterly frenetic.
18.Dancing Days,Houses of the Holy
18.
Houses of the Holyis not often noted for its extraordinary sonics.
This very trebly, highly mechanical track is case in point.
17.In the Light,Physical Graffiti
17.
One of the subtler and most pleasurable of the bands various epics.
In the end, the band achieves something close to grandeur.
Docked a notch or two for being the same song, repeated twice.
16.Rock and Roll,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
16.
Zosos first side continues with these unbridled three and a half minutes of cataclysmic rock n roll.
The result: an utterly anachronistic nostalgic hymn to the 1950s.
15.In the Evening,In Through the Out Door
15.
Jimmy Pages last great guitar moment on record.
Late-career message from M. Robert Plant: I need Zoo Love.
14.Dyer Maker,Houses of the Holy
14.
Two ways to look at it: It is a crudefauxreggae, to be sure, and kinda goofy.
But somewhere on the road to novelty the band came up with something different.
The bridge is a stunner.
The sound of it made for a classic 70s radio single, one that jumped out of the dial.
(The mix is significantly different from many otherHousestracks.)
Pages guitar solo, slow and literal for once, is a gem, and Plants vocals are unassailable.
13.When the Levee Breaks,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
13.
Turn it up loud and give it your attention; its an underappreciated stunner.
12.The Battle of Evermore,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
12.
11.Tangerine,Led Zeppelin III
11.
Soft Zeppelin at their loveliest.
This plangent lyrical throwaway has been unjustly overlooked.
10.All My Love,In Through the Out Door
10.
It was a fitting end for this not-quite-human.
To their credit, the other band members never considered moving forward.
But it also meant that the band never had the chance to grow old and start to suck.
This song, written by Jones and Plant, is case in point.
I hear the sound of musicians having passed the point of needing to overwhelm their listeners.
I hear a musician having passed the point of needing to overwhelm his listeners.
9.The Song Remains the Same,Houses of the Holy
9.
A blistering assault roughed up with sudden changes in dynamic and tone.
Plant here is at his most squeally and porcine, but there is something riveting about Pages guitar work.
The high-speed solos are articulate and true, and throughout he keeps layering on new guitar sounds.
8.Immigrant Song,Led Zeppelin III
8.
The leadoff track toIIIdoesnt rest or flag for 2:26. delivered by Plant with a hilarious Dr. Evilesque lilt.
7.Babe Im Gonna Leave You,Led Zeppelin
7.
If youre going to have Brobdingnagian rock, for heavens sake, let it sound like this.
This track is to my mind the most underappreciated in the Zeppelin catalogue.
Its all so simple soft-loud, soft-loud.
So what makes it work?
Two, its not a normal Zeppelin work.
Theres no real guitar solo here.
And finally, there are the words.
There is something direct, plaintive, and unmisogynistic about Plants delivery.
But right now, hes got to go away.
Plant turns this simple situation into an emotional maelstrom of the first order.
His singing, if anything remains of the blues idiom in it, is that idioms apotheosis.
Its also a match for Pages chording, which is saying something.
Upped several notches for creating the sound of a mountain being dropped on your head.
6.Over the Hills and Far Away,Houses of the Holy
6.
Sounds best on 12-string, of course, but you’re able to make an approximation with six.
Theres something charming in the acoustic openings slightly offbeat rhythms and friendly fills.
Its all there for another purpose, though the blast of high-volume electric guitar that comes in at 1:27.
Everything works, right up to the burst of abstract sound that sees the song out.
5.Dazed and Confused,Led Zeppelin
5.
Dazed and Confused beats the shit out of just about any hard-rock 70s classic you might name.
Docked three additional notches for songwriting theft.
Of all of these, this is the clearest and most egregious.
Page didnt just steal a riff from 60s folk singer Jake Holmes; he stole Holmesswhole song.
Dazed and Confused isnt a Led Zeppelin song; its acoverof another artists work.
Its well established that Page got the song from hearing Holmes.
It was even credited to Holmes on a live Yardbirds album Page played on!
Page has lied about it in interviews, too but eventually settled out of court with Holmes.
Doesnt take away from Zeps concussive production and playing on one of rocks all-time most-powerful tracks.
4.Stairway to Heaven,Untitled,a.k.a.IV
4.
That speed, logic, lyricism, and intensity make all other guitar solos seem puny.
2.Whole Lotta Love,Led Zeppelin II
2.
1.Kashmir,Physical Graffiti
1.
When the bands fourth album came out,Rolling Stonementioned Stairway to Heaven only in passing.
For Kashmir he decided to experiment with stasis.
The song starts out at a high pitch and stays there, producing a hypnotic M.C.
