I don't listen to Led Zeppelin... introduce me!

Migaluch

Senior Member
In my time as a drummer over the last two years (it hasn't been long, has it?) and on these forums, i have heard unlimited praise for the legendary band known as Led Zeppelin, but never took the time to download and appreciate their music. Everyone on this forum loves John Bonham, and i finally want to see why. Thing is, i don't know where to start, what the best songs are (other than Stairway to Heaven), and what i should be expecting. I have heard some Zep songs before, but i have not yet truly experienced them, sadly.

Can you guys help me? I need somewhere to start. I feel kind of ashamed to not be listening to such a renowned music group. :D
 
Buy or D/L Zeppelin 4 (AKA "Zoso"). It's the magnum opus. contains most of those tunes you hear on the radio all the time. Physical Grafitti is pretty good too. I have to reservations against the older stuff, just never got into it.
 
Listen to any of it! Bonham's most famous:

Good Times, Bad Times (Led Zeppelin, 1969)
Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin, 1969)
How Many More Times (Led Zeppelin, 1969)
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin II, 1969)
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin IV, 1971)
When The Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin, 1971)
Trampled Under Foot (Physical Grafitti, 1975)
Kashmir (Physical Grafitti, 1975)
In My Time of Dying (Physical Grafitti, 1975)
Achilles' Last Stand (Presence, 1976)
Hots on For Nowhere (Presence, 1976)
In The Evening (In Through the Out Door, 1979)
Fool in the Rain (In Through the Out door, 1979)
We're Gonna Grove (Coda, 1982)

And of course, the most awesome drum solo EVER .... MOBY DICK!
But as I said, listen to it all ... Zeppelin was a fine group of musicians.
 
heartbreaker

good times bad times

whole lotta love

moby dick ----an absolute must!

travelin riverside blues

over the hills and far away

kashmir

black dog

dazed and confused

hey hey what can i do

babe i'm gonna leave you

since i've been lovin you

rock 'n roll

communication breakdown

the immigrant song

ramble on

these are all the ones i could think of without looking up led zeppelin songs or pulling out some albums.........moby dick features a drum solo, that's why it's an absolute must.....
 
heartbreaker

good times bad times

whole lotta love

moby dick ----an absolute must!

travelin riverside blues

over the hills and far away

kashmir

black dog

dazed and confused

hey hey what can i do

babe i'm gonna leave you

since i've been lovin you

rock 'n roll

communication breakdown

the immigrant song

ramble on

these are all the ones i could think of without looking up led zeppelin songs or pulling out some albums.........moby dick features a drum solo, that's why it's an absolute must.....

A couple of others that I like from IV are

Four Sticks
Misty Mountain Hop

GJS
 
A bit of a deep cut that you should look into: The Ocean.

Also make sure you hear "Hey hey What can I do" it's not on any albums but it's one of my favorites.

Zeppelin is great, enjoy the ride.
 
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Listen to all the ones AnOasis mentioned, but start off with Achilles Last Stand. One of my favourite songs, mostly due to Bonhams driving force behind the kit.
 
Actually, they don't have alot of albums (not like KISS with 38 albums in their catalog) - just budget and get all of them. I'm a big fan of the Live at the BBC collection.

Hell, wasn't it a big deal that they're available on iTunes now? You could go there and hear 20-second snippets of tunes too.
 
In the studio a band can take their time to get the material just right. They also have the ability to go back and edit the material until it is perfect. They have the ability to edit it live as well, but it is limited. A live performance shows what they are made of. This band was made of the best material out there.

I have been listening to "How the West Was Won." It came out in May 2003, from concert material from 1972 tour in California. This is really a good introduction to the band. Jimmy Page considers Led Zeppelin to be at their musical peak at this point. This is the best live recordings of Led Zeppelin, in my opinion.

The other live album is from 1973 tour, The Song Remains the Same. From NYC, Madison Square Garden, where they got robbed at the box office. They made a movie of this tour, but it is not as good as the previous year's tour. By the way, I was at the concert that night they got robbed at the Garden.

There is another set of live shows, the BBC Sessions. It was material from four different 1969 BBC sessions, and 1971 Paris Theater in London.

From these live recordings, you can see how the band progressed, and how good they were live.
 
There's an excellent box set that encompasses almost every song mentioned here. My ex-wife got it for me one year for Christmas... best thing she ever did for me.
 
A long, long time ago in a hosue pretty far from where I am now, I downloaded all their albums and put them on in order and didn't skip a song. To this day they remain my favorite band of all time.
 
Along with the above mentioned tunes I would also suggest "Sick Again", "Achilles Last Stand", "The Lemon Song", "The Crunge" & if you really want too hear Bonham Power not "Moby Dick" but "Bonzo's Montreux" The one song IMO that goes unnoticed by Bonham fans.

Have fun,
Bonzolead
 
In my time as a drummer over the last two years (it hasn't been long, has it?) and on these forums, i have heard unlimited praise for the legendary band known as Led Zeppelin, but never took the time to download and appreciate their music. Everyone on this forum loves John Bonham, and i finally want to see why. Thing is, i don't know where to start, what the best songs are (other than Stairway to Heaven), and what i should be expecting. I have heard some Zep songs before, but i have not yet truly experienced them, sadly.

Can you guys help me? I need somewhere to start. I feel kind of ashamed to not be listening to such a renowned music group. :D

Walk into any hip espresso shop and within minutes, Led Zeppelin music will appear, as if by magic. For variety, they play the Beatles, too. It's like Christmas music during Christmas, except all year long.

It's embarrassing how overplayed Led Zeppelin and The Beatles are.
 
It's embarrassing how overplayed Led Zeppelin and The Beatles are.

I agree. I love Zep, but it's too much some times. At least they could play Gallows Pole for once instead of Black Dog 45 times a day!
 
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Albums:
Led Zeppelin II, III, IV, Houses of the Holy, The Songs Remains The Same (live).
 
i have the "The Song Remains the Same" 2-disc dvd thing................trust me when i say it is magical.....it is them playing at madison square garden........
 
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