Essential Led Zeppelin Songs

I should preface this by stating that I'm not a Led Zeppelin "fan." I enjoy their albums and respect their contributions to the music world, but I've never actually bought any other than a greatest hits CD- Mothership. I guess I consider that qualification for "fandom"- if you've bought multiple items and are actively listening/watching/whatever. I do have the Celebration Day DVD, which I received as a surprise Christmas gift, so maybe I'll chalk that up as an opportunity to take another look at the band. It did work- I gained an even greater appreciation for what they did- especially reuniting decades later and still having that magical chemistry. Now I do sound like a "fan"- well, I guess I wanted to clear the air before the nay-sayers will ask, "Where's 'Stairway to Heaven'?"

 10. "Heartbreaker" (Led Zeppelin II)
Radio stations always play "Living Loving Maid" right after, so I wasn't sure if I should include it or not. I guess since this song segues into "Living Loving Maid", I assumed it was backed with that as a single- nope. Maybe radio stations are just lazy and forgot to hit "stop" when manually recording the song. I like it, not just for the awesome guitar riff, but also because the guys seem to realize the song is just so good that they stop playing and let Jimmy kick into his guitar solo.


9. "Ramble On" (Led Zeppelin II)
An interesting fact about this song that I didn't know until today is that this song was never peformed live by the band until their reunion in 2007, with Jason Bonham, which was released on DVD/CD as Celebration Day. I'm not a Lord of the Rings fan, but this song also takes inspiration from those books, even mentioning "Gollum" which is kind of cool though. Iron Maiden took inspiration from books too, which I guess breaks the monotony of writing love songs all the time. 

8. "Houses Of The Holy" (Physical Graffiti)
 MORE COWBELL! The rhythm section of the band is just on fire here and John Paul Jones has the be the most underrated guy in almost the entire music world. I know I've overlooked his contributions. Robert Plant is Robert Plant- he had that flowing mane and great vocal range, and he also stood out for his solo career with songs like "In The Mood." Jimmy Page is credited as one of the greatest rock and roll guitarists, a "god" in fact. Then there's John Bonham- "Bonzo", who beat the skins into submission. But I never heard much about John Paul Jones. Then I discovered he helped to arrange Heart's songs for their unplugged performances, and also played with the band. It seems like JPJ was more of a studio wizard for the band- like the Wizard Of Oz, actually. The guy behind the curtain, in the studio playing several instruments on any given song, not just a bass player like incorrectly assumed. I honestly think John Paul Jones would be my favorite, if I was ever asked to name my favorite band member.


7. "Over The Hills And Far Away" (Houses of the Holy)
After listening to plenty of Heart prior to this, I was able spot a few similarities between the two bands. Heart would also have songs like this that featured an acoustic introduction that segued in to the rest of the band.


6. "Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin II)
I just have to say it's all about the riff. "WHOLE LOTTA LOVE", VRRRRRROOOOOOOM! Repeat.

5. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Led Zeppelin)
This song seems to be driven purely by John Bonham's bombastic drumming. But it also has this rhythm that seems to chug along. I'm not very good at describing rhythms and melodies, and such, but it seems to start and stop. Then the transition back into acoustic guitars is always appreciated by this music lover.


4. "Achilles Last Stand" (Presence)
Honestly, I was never really of fan of this at first, it just seemed too long. Now, I can't get enough of it. Bands like Dream Theater turned me on to longer compositions and time signature changes, which led to Alter Bridge, and then that song led me back to this one and I was able to finally appreciate it. No wonder Bonham earned the nickname of "Bonzo" because this song is a marathon in drumming. While listening to plenty of Led Zeppelin for days on end while at my day job at Turks, my supervisor walked nearby my station, stopped, and briefly played an air guitar solo to this song. If that didn't make it crack the top ten, I don't know what will.

3. "Trampled Under Foot" (Physical Graffiti)
I CAN'T STOP TALKIN' BOUT LOVE! John Paul Jones is clearly the star and driving force of this song with his keyboard playing as this song is oozing with funk! "Trampled Under Foot" makes me want to get up and cut a rug every time I hear it... but I don't. I just imagine people cutting loose, Soul Train-style.

2. "No Quarter" (Houses of the Holy)
I was first turned on to this song through a cover version by the band TOOL. It was released on this box set that came with a video tape and a few live songs on a CD. I loved the TOOL version but didn't really think much of the original. Once I worked for the radio stations and began embracing classic rock, I was able to revisit this Zeppelin version. It's haunting.... while the TOOL version seems much too slow and dirgy; like they tried too hard and went beyond spooky and atmospheric, into death- since I just want to die rather than listen to it.

1. "Kashmir" (Physical Graffiti)
The earliest recollection I have of this song is the Puff Daddy remix version, "Come With Me", from the 1998 Godzilla movie. 1998 was the first year I was spending money on music; I was 14, so I wasn't acquiring too much of my own cash at the time. I spent it on a lot of singles and stuff, like Metallica and Rage Against the Machine. Another I bought was the Puff Daddy single. I loved it. I didn't care much for whatever P-Diddy had to say but this song grabbed me- it was a rock song with thunderous drums but also had orchestration to it. It made it feel epic- which is probably why I turned into a fan of prog rock. So thanks P-Diddy for "covering" Led Zeppelin, which led to listening to the real band, and opening up a whole new world of music. I never went back to P-Diddy, though.