I love the
ZEP - always have.
It's very hard to pick out a favorite album because they have all meant so much to me over the years for different reasons.
Led Zeppelin is a killer blues fest and one of the most solid debut albums by any band, ever.
Fave Cuts: "Good Times, Bad Times", "Dazed and Confused", "You're Time is Gonna Come", "You Shook Me", "How Many More Times"
Led Zeppelin II was probably my first favorite. I couldn't get enough of "Whole Lotta Love" when I first heard it back in Jr. High.
Fave Cuts: "What is and What Should Never Be", "Ramble On", "Thank You", "Bring it on Home"
Led Zeppelin III is very special to me as it was given to me by my uncle (R.I.P.). I immediately liked "Immigrant Song" (natch) - the rest of the album had to grow on me, but when it did it really stuck. The album is full of finely crafted acoustic songs intertwined amongst the harder rock.
Fave Cuts: "Immigrant Song", "Friends", Celebration Day", "Out on the Tiles", "Gallow's Pole", "That's the Way", "Tangerine", "Hey Hey What Can I Do" (b-side of "Immigrant Song" single)
Led Zeppelin IV is their signature album with their most immediately recognizable hits, but I like it anyway because the deeper cuts offset the overplayed cuts very well.
Fave Cuts: "The Battle of Evermore", "Going to California", "Four Sticks", "Misty Mountain Hop"
Houses of the Holy is a great album with some of my favorite tracks on it, namely: "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter", although my favorite versions of those two songs are on the next one.
Fave Cuts: "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song", "No Quarter"
The Song Remains the Same live soundtrack. This is a definite favorite as it was the soundtrack for not only
Zep's movie, but for much of my teenage years as well. I have
many good memories from my initial viewing of the movie, and I pratically have every note of every track committed to memory. Plus, this album/movie showcased some of the band's legendary improvisational work for the first time for those of us who were not able to experience them live. This album gets slagged a lot, but I absolutely love it and it is one of the few precious albums that just transports me back to something good everytime I listen to it. I prefer the first issue of it because that's how it exists in my memory, but the remastered/extended one is a great listen as well.
Fave Cuts: "Dazed and Confused", "No Quarter", "The Rain Song", "Stairway to Heaven"
Physical Graffiti is probably their most dense album and definitely a fave as it's CHOCK FULL of great songs that haven't all been overplayed to death yet by classic rock radio. It's still a fresh listen after all these years and usually the one I pull out first when I need a fix.
Fave Cuts: "In My Time of Dying", "In the Light", "Bron-Yr-Aur", "Trampled Underfoot", "Ten Years Gone", "Down By the Seaside", "Night Flight", "Black Country Woman", Boogie With Stu", "The Wanton Song", "Sick Again"
Presence is probably the album I am least familiar with, but at the same time it contains my all time favorite
ZEP track,
Achilles' Last Stand. I once saw a tribute band called
PHYSICAL GRAFFITI in a bar back in 1989 (when it was still a novelty before the glut of those types of bands) and they were taking requests, so I figured I'd stump them by requesting Achilles' Last Stand thinking they'd never know that one. But they shocked me by playing it note for note! Very impressive.
Fave Cuts: "Achilles' Last Stand", "Nobody's Fault But Mine"
In Through the Out Door is a solid album with some great songs that I think gets forgotten about. But I actually woke up this morning with "South Bound Suarez" in my head so I pulled this one out and gave it a spin. Great stuff.
Fave Cuts: "In the Evening", "South Bound Suarez", "Fool in the Rain", "Carouselambra"
Coda is also a very solid collection of songs, even though they were leftovers from earlier sessions. It is also a great listen, just like the rest of their catalogue.
Fave Cuts: "Wearing and Tearing", "Poor Tom", "Ozone Baby", "Walter's Walk", "Bonzo's Montreux"