The Complete Discography Thread Led Zeppelin

[Son of JayJamJah]

Led Zeppelin

A complete review of the bands epic discography and the circumstances surrounding their meteoric rise to fame and tragic, all too early demise.

It's long over-due and I feel compelled to take this one, in this thread I hope to cover delve into the basic's of the band pretty thoroughly and touch on some of the finer points and lesser known stories when it seems apropos. I have a new and hopefully easy to read format for the album reviews, a few compilations for the 10 or 15 of you out there who haven't heard them yet, a few surprises thrown in I think you'll enjoy and now more then ever look forward to jumping into one of my favorite catalogs. I hope you'll enjoy too. And one more thing; if you haven't yet, start the video now, it's timed to be just along to finish reading this whole post.

The group in early 1969 before their first album's release

From the Music Banter HOF Nomination Thread
“In the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man”

That’s the first line of “Good Times Bad Times” the opening track on Led Zeppelin’s eponymous 1969 debut. It was in the days of my youth that I was first exposed to Zeppelin. They entered my world just as I hit adolescence and brought my musical taste to maturation. The music was so raw and heavy at the time and the guitar riffs seemed to be and turns out were unforgettable. Turn on any of the first five Zeppelin LP’s and there are at least two songs even the most novice of listeners can identify right away. The notes stick with you.

Led Zeppelin was the biggest band in the world in the 1970’s. They sold out everywhere they went and delivered some of the most intense and electric shows that rock music ever has and ever will see. Their commitment to expanding the influences and range of Rock music was apparent from the start and helped usher in an era of exploration that has helped shape the musical landscape of today. They are members of 24 different recognized musical hall-of-fame's world wide, but not the Music Banter HOF.

In their short time Zeppelin Released six fantastic albums in six years from 1969-1975. And three more following which enjoyed commercial success but are not as well remembered as those from the bands most prolific era. All nine Platinum albums. IV has gone platinum 23 times. They rank among the top ten highest selling artists in Music History.

Ours is the folk music of the technological age.
-- Jimmy Page

Zeppelin is recognized mostly for their hard edge rock riffs and thunderous live performances. However they wrote several very good folk influenced songs including; Bron-Yr-Aur, That’s the Way, Thank You, Tangerine, Going to California and so many more.

My vocal style I haven't tried to copy from anyone. It just developed until it became the girlish whine it is today.
-- Robert Plant

Plants voice was another instrument that complimented the entire sound of the band. He was not a great lyricist or vocalist, but a perfect fit, as perfect as there has ever been.

From the Band's Biography page
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass guitar, keyboards) and John Bonham (drums). With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands. However, the band's individualistic style draws from many sources and transcends any one genre. Their rock-infused interpretation of the blues and folk genres also incorporated rockabilly, reggae, soul, funk, classical, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin and country. The band did not release the popular songs from their albums as singles in the UK, as they preferred to develop the concept of album-oriented rock.

Close to 30 years after disbanding following Bonham's death in 1980, the band continues to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success and broad influence. The band have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide,including 111.5 million sales in the United States and they have had all of their original studio albums reach the U.S. Billboard Top 10, with six reaching the number one spot.



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Showing off the hardware following the first two albums.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section One: In the time before Zeppelin
Pre-Band Timeline\The New Yardbirds-----page 1
Meet the Band---------------------------page 2
The Scandinavian Tour-------------------page 2
The Early Led Zeppelin------------------page 2

Section Two: To Boldly go where no Band has gone before
Led Zeppelin I-(1969)-------------------page 3
Led Zeppelin II-(1969)------------------page
Led Zeppelin III-(1970)-----------------page
Led Zeppelin IV-(1971)------------------page

Section Three: The Biggest Band in the World
The Height of their Fame----------------page
Houses of the Holy-(1973)---------------page
Physical Graffiti -(1975)---------------page
The Swan Song Begins--------------------page

Section Four: Better to Burn out then Fade Away\The Final Years
Presence-(1976)-------------------------page
In Through the Out Door -(1978)---------page
Good Times Bad Times: Beginning the End-page
Coda-(1982)-----------------------------page

Section Five: Special Features
The Song Remains the Same-(1976)--------page
BBC Sessions -(1997)--------------------page
How the West Was Won-(2003)-------------page
Mothership-(2007)-----------------------page



The band in a publicity photo in 1979, shortly before Bonham's death.

[jackhammer]

As we know I am not a huge Zep fan at all but this looks like it will be a great read regardless. Looking forward to it.

[Bulldog]

This looks very interesting.

Like Lee, I'm not a massive Zep fan, but I do love discography threads like this. I shall read with interest!

[JJJ567]

Zeppelin is fantastic. They gave blues and folk music a whole new audience. Nearly every major rock band since has paled in comparison to these guys.

[Guybrush]

Really looking forward to this one, Jay Great job on the opener post!

[Comus]

This is going to be so awesome I can't wait. I'm a massive Led Zeppelin fan and I know this is going to be a great read. Great idea and a great start.

[Son of JayJamJah]

In the time before Zeppelin

That Video from 1957 would never have "led" anyone to predict what little Jim Page would be doing 10 years later, not curing cancer as he aspired then but instead changing the face of music forever, or at least laying the groundwork to do so. The following is a time line chronicling the events leading up to the formation of the band. A more detailed background for each member will be included in an upcoming post. Please enjoy the videos included with this section, they are real treats in my opinion.

Pre-Band Timeline

England Spring, 1966 – Jimmy Page joins the Yardbirds replacing Paul Samwell-Smith on bass guitar, eventually becomes co-lead guitar along with Jeff Beck.

After turning down the spot a year prior, it was Page who suggested Beck as the replacement for Eric Clapton. Rhythm guitar player Chris Dreja moved to bass when Page joined Beck on guitar. Beck would leave the band shortly after leaving Page as the lone lead.

Page on bass for the Yardbirds




England 22nd May 1966 – Jimmy Page, hoping to form a new super group, along with John Paul Jones, Keith Moon and Jeff Beck record “Beck’s Bolero” but never any other music.

Page envisioned the band to include John Entwhistle on bass, and Jones on keyboards proposed front men included Terry Reid, Donovan and Steve Winwood. Nothing ever real came of it though, although it foreshadowed Page’s aspirations to be part of a major band heading in a new direction.



England Summer, 1966 – Robert Plant and John Bonham play together in the band Crawling King Snakes for six months and develop a friendship.

Bonham left the band to rejoin a prior project of his “A Way of Life”. The two would collaborate a lot over the next couple years (we'll get to that soon enough) and it's Plant who would suggest Bonham be the drummer for the “New Yardbirds”


England Winter, 1967 – Robert Plant and John Bonham reunite when Plant forms “Band of Joy”. Their run last just over a year leading up to the formation of Led Zeppelin.

Though they never really became a commercial or critical success, Band of Joy is where Plant developed his reputation as a rising star on rock scene.



England Winter, 1967 – Working out the kinks as musical director on Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” album, Jones hires and teams with Bonham and Page among others, none of their work makes the album final cut.

Even if the work of Page and Bonham never made the final cuts, the influence is there plain as day, it’s as Zeppelin sounding a song as any other before their time. It was during this session that Jones decided he would work with Page as much as possible in the future.

England Summer, 1968 – The Yardbirds disband leaving several tour dates left to be played.

This opens the door for the "New Yardbirds", eventually Led Zeppelin, to form. The Yardbirds singer (Keith Relf) and drummer (Jim McCarty) dropped out immediately. After Terry Reid passes, Robert Plant accepts the lead singer position and recommends John Bonham as drummer. After Chris Dreja dropped, John Paul Jones contacts Jimmy Page about playing bass on the tour and Page agrees.

Denmark Fall, 1968 – The "New Yardbirds" debut

Led Zeppelin plays their first tour as The Yardbirds starting in Denmark and ending in Sweden 11 days later. The tour was a dynamite success, drawing standing ovations and rave reviews throughout; there is a rush to cut an album as soon as they return to England.

England Fall, 1968 – The band changes their name to Led Zeppelin.

Many stories exist in the legend of the name, the most popular says that Keith Moon described the prospects of the Page envision super band prior to the New Yardbirds as likely to go over like a Lead Balloon. The “a” in Lead was dropped to avoid mispronunciation and thus “Led Zeppelin” was born.

England, 25 October 1968 – Page, Plant, Bonham and Jones perform together for the first time under the name Led Zeppelin

Magic ensues.

Denver, Co. December 26th 1968 – The Band’s United States debut as an opening act for Vanilla Fudge.

The last time they would not headline a bill. Vanilla Fudge and Zeppelin had become close playing together in England, throwing them on the tour last second was a "favor" to the band.

January 12th 1969 – The debut album is released…

[Comus]

Double post, but other than that incredibly enjoyable so far, I'm fapping in anticipation.

[Brent-on-the-Run]

I'm looking forward to this as well. I've only started listening to Led Zeppelin in the last decade. In college, I was one of those kids who went all vinyl to be cool. But it turns out, there were some great redeeming qualities. I found Zeppelin, that's for sure.

[Kamikazi Kat]

Great read so far. The way you cover their history has the feel of a documentary, mostly because its well written and the videos. I like being able to read about a specific time in the history of Led Zeppelin, while hearing a song or something related to that period of time, it makes the whole experience complete.