Back to school season causes this blogger to remember college nights studying for engineering exams and being rescued each weeknight at 10:00 PM, by the local radio station in Boulder, Colorado. From 10:00-11:00 PM there was block of music simply called “Get the Led Out,” that focused on the entire Led Zeppelin music catalog. For someone who had been duped by the Hair Bands era of the 1980s and seeing the slow moving but expanding Grunge era (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam) that would hit in full force in 1991. My ears and brain were opened to a whole new rock and roll music path that lasts to this day and will continue into the future.
Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass) and John Bonham (drums) wasn’t a random foursome that met on the first tee at a local golf course. This quartet changed the rock and roll music genre from the time they formed in 1968 to their last days as a band in 1980. Almost every hard rock band formed after 1980 has claimed that Led Zeppelin influenced them in some form or fashion. From bad examples (Kingdom Come) to good examples (Foo Fighters), the four lads from London left an indelible mark on the music industry and are still hailed as rock gods.
Grading System and Points
Keeping with the college curriculum theme, all nine Led Zeppelin studio albums and each individual song track will be graded per the following scale:
Each album will be totaled up and given a letter grade. The entire Led Zeppelin catalog will also be calculated numerically (overall GPA), and given a final letter grade. This will determine if these rockers would have received a bachelor’s degree or had to complete any missing credits during summer school. Let the grading sessions begin with a Marshall amp turned up to eleven on all channels!
Led Zeppelin I released on 1/12/1969
Good Times Bad Times says hello, here we are, and we are staying for a long time! Dazed and Confused is a great studio track but is remembered more for 20+ minute live performances. Your Time is Gonna Come shows the softer acoustic side that Led Zeppelin would pull out at the perfect time. Communcation Breakdown is a reminder that a simple rock-n-roll song will stand the test of time. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You is a complex and melodic song that borders on blues and southern folk rock. This blogger has a love/hate relationship with all of the Led Zeppelin blues songs. I Can’t Quit You Baby in on the hate side. You Shook Me is almost a throw away song.
Led Zeppelin II released on 10/22/1969
Sophomore season efforts can be hit and miss in collegiate and professional athletics. This album clearly shows Led Zeppelin becoming leaner, meaner and ready for business. Whole Lotta Love explodes on the first track and smoothly transitions into the very underrated song What Is and What Should Never Be. Thank You peels back the acoustic layer even more with the perfectly timed introduction of a pipe organ. Heartbreaker picks up where Communication Breakdown left off. Ramble On is an absolute musical gem. Jimmy Page’s guitar chords work in the movie “It Might Get Loud” shows how feel is so important when composing a song. Moby Dick and Bring It On Home are duds, but the first seven songs are solid gold.
Led Zeppelin III released on 10/5/1970
An album that has grown on this blogger significantly over the past two years. Immigrant Song has been immortalized in several movies, with School of Rock and Thor Ragnarok being memorable scenes. Friends is a below the radar song, that shows how much the band members cared for each other as buddies. Gallows Pole fuses rock and folk together and its roots are prevalent on Robert Plant’s solo albums. Tangerine has literally blossomed and ripened over time. Was featured in the movie “Almost Famous,” and a setlist staple for Big Head Todd and the Monsters concerts.
Celebration Day and That’s the Way are decent summertime songs. Just not a fan of Since I’ve Been Loving You. Too long, too slow and simply too boring. Out On The Tiles and Hat’s Off to (Roy) Harper are album fillers. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp is a nod to Gallow’s Pole and can be replicated in an unplugged and seated venue. The iconic drummer of Rush, Neil Peart, probably listened to Bron-Y-Aur Stomp and envisioned future concerts with long drum solos.
Led Zeppelin IV released on 11/8/1971
Simply one of the best albums ever recorded. Black Dog will get any party started and the intro guitar riff is instantly recognizable. Rock and Roll has been covered by almost every band in the world. Was Dave Grohl’s personal highlight during the Foo Fighters performance at Wembly Stadium in London in 2008. The onstage visual cues from Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Page, and Jones are priceless. The Battle of Evermore and Misty Mountain Hop are two tracks that get a little lost due to the shear size of the Led Zeppelin catalog.
Going To California causes the listener to yearn heading west to California and see what that coast holds professionally and personally. When The Levee Breaks is a deep lyrical song. Was elevated to a whole new level with the timing used in the best picture of 2010, Argo. Despite Ben Affleck’s inability to stay married, this track is timed perfectly to ease the tension in the hiding house.
Houses of the Holy released on 3/28/1973
The Song Remains the Same shows the lullaby alchemy of Led Zeppelin clicking on all four cylinders. The Rain Song continues that hypnotic trance of the rainy grey skies over England for 10.5 months a year. The mood of this album changes when Over the Hills and Far Away starts the third track. Transitions to cascading guitar chords that cause the listener to fall down the stairs and then pick themselves back up.
Dancing Days keeps the party going, and then D’yer Mak’er is a Carribean reggae shock to the ears. Hard to avoid ordering a dozen chicken wings after listening to that song. No Quarter was a concert staple and is an incredibly complex song to play. Any wannabe air drummer should try to hit every beat on The Ocean, which is an impossible task. Bonham proves at least a dozen times during this track that he was a human metronome with no rhythm rules. Bonham pulls his fellow bandmates through every section not knowing what is next. The Ocean is a master track of playing the drums with a who cares attitude.
Physical Graffiti released on 2/24/1975
Music industry has been frustrating, trendy, and downright maddening over the years. Led Zeppelin decided to copy other bands in 1975 by releasing a double album. Only bands with serious musical chops can produce a memorable double album. Led Zeppelin does that with the first seven tracks. The Rover is an underrated song that clearly shows the band could hold blues and rock together in a unique way. In My Time of Dying is an introspective song that was much better live than on the record. It resembles a slow-moving steel cage wrestling match. This blogger is partial to Houses of the Holy simply due to the name.
Trampled Under Foot doesn’t get recognized as one of Led Zeppelin’s top twenty tracks but is solid and never gets old listening to it. Kashmir is a sheer beauty and is 100 times better than Stairway To Heaven. This track showed the band had already found the island of Ahch-To before Rey found Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episodes VII and VIII. Four band members must have been on some awesome weed to be tapping into the metaphysical world in the mid 1970s. Had a completely different perspective about mind altering substances compared to the Beatles. Second half of the album is guarded and has some nuggets, Ten Years Gone, but the first half has all the highlights.
Presence released on 3/31/1976
For whatever reason, trilogies are extremely hard to pull off in movies. The last three albums that Led Zeppelin released aren’t memorable and feel rushed. Presence has its moments, and the listener keeps waiting for more, but its disjointed and shows that the band is starting to fray at the seams. Achilles Last Stand and Nobody’s Fault But Mine are the stars of this album. The other five tracks are forgettable and almost album fillers. Presence isn’t as bad as Shark Sandwich by Spinal Tap, but its treading water on every track.
In Through the Out Door released on 8/15/1979
In Through the Out Door has aged well over the last forty-five years. That is deceiving due to only two tracks getting heavy radio play, Fool In the Rain and All My Love. Fool In the Rain could be considered D’yer Mak’er II, if James Hetfield from Metallica wanted to pass his song naming logic onto Plant. It’s a song that can be played at any bachelor party to set the mood.
All My Love had a second life in 1989-1990 due to almost being included in the movie Sea of Love. Sea of Love used a similar song by The Honeydrippers with Plant on vocals, to show the importance of using music during a significant plot twist. The rest of this album falls apart quicker than a wet paper napkin. As the 1980s were fast approaching, Led Zeppelin fans had to be wondering why the musical magic and band chemistry had taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, and if that trend would improve or regress after two straight sub-par albums.
Coda released on 11/19/1982
Unfortunately, bad karma and life intervened before CODA was released, with the untimely passing of John Bonham. Bonham passed away on 9/25/1980 and Led Zeppelin was hesitant and reluctant to release a new album. The band members weren’t ready to move forward without Bonham and neither were their fans ready to listen to it. Poor Tom has its moments of clarity and Bonzo’s Montreux is a nice ode to Bonham. The rest of the album is described as B-side signals that nobody wanted.
Best album comparison to CODA is the Vaughn Brothers 1990 release Family Style. Family Style was rushed into final production and release after Stevie Ray Vaughn (SRV) was killed in a post-concert helicopter crash on 8/27/1990. That album may have been therapeutic for band members and devoted SRV fans. It travels into below-average territory with disjointed songs and unfinished musical transitions. It is impossible for an elite athlete or musician to know when to retire and walk away from their lifelong craft. Led Zeppelin was forced into disbanding due to life events that were simply too much to bear and overcome.
Overall Score and Grade of the Led Zeppelin Song Catalog
After nine albums, Led Zeppelin broke up as a band. Overall GPA of 3.19 for an eighty-song catalog, shows that maybe it’s more important on how a band starts instead of how they finish. That’s the exact opposite perspective of writing a good book, article, or blog posting. An overall B grade for one of the most important and influential rock and roll bands of all time may seem low, but the numbers show that Led Zeppelin was greater than the sum of their parts and their musical legacy will last forever. That’s not a bad way to change the course of a musical genre fifty-five years ago and is still felt today.
What Is and What Should Never Be
Led Zeppelin has impacted numerous bands over the last five decades, with Queen, Rush, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and Van Halen leading the pack. Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham were awarded gold medals at the Kennedy Center Awards show in 2012 in Washington, DC. Highlight of that ceremony was a mind-boggling performance of Stairway to Heaven by Heart (Ann Wilson on vocals, Nancy Wilson on guitar), and Jason Bonham on drums. To put it mildly, that performance blew the doors off the building and still reverberates today. Plant was moved to tears. Page had the look of a young schoolboy on Christmas morning as that timeless song unfolded in front of their eyes.
Historical Steps
Instead of being greedy with a reunion tour, all three surviving band members have kept to individual projects. Plant has had a diverse solo career and seems perfectly content with the tapestry of his musical path. Had unexpected success with Alison Kraus from 2007-2009 and in 2021, winning several Grammy Awards in 2008 and 2009. Page continues to study the art of guitar playing and is very comfortable as an older statesman. Page historically plays very clean on electric guitar and sloppy on acoustic guitar. The exact opposite playing style of Neil Young. Page’s love of historical guitar playing was on full display at the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony with this performance:
Jones has been a fill-in musician for small bands since 1982, and absolutely crushed his bass playing spot with Them Crooked Vultures from 2009-2010. David Coverdale, the lead singer of White Snake and Page released an album in early 1993 to mixed reviews. A short tour was played in Japan during December 1993. Page and Plant tried a small tour in 1994-1995 that didn’t take the United States by storm due to the emergence of the Grunge movement.
A Respected and Short Goodbye
Plant, Page and Jones played one concert at the O2 Arena in London on 12/10/2007, with Jason Bonham on drums. That concert was a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the late co-founder and president of Atlantic Records.
After the show ended, there were rampant rumors that Led Zeppelin would finally embark on a reunion tour. This was due to the obscene amount of money that could be made. When watching and listening to the DVD that was recorded of that concert, the music is top notch, band chemistry is very evident, but the viewing style used for the concert is choppy, disjointed and not thought out. Maybe that view was recorded artistically on purpose, or that was exactly what was transpiring backstage.
Due to Led Zeppelin deciding to keep their song catalog closed with no reunion tour, all three band members leaned on their musical influence and legend to continue to grow over time. Hats off to Plant, Page, and Jones for taking the high road and leaving rock and roll and fans with a sense of “why not” instead of “they should have stopped touring years ago.” Led Zeppelin finally went out on top instead of finishing too early or too late. Nicely done chaps and the next round of Guinness is on me.
As an older cashier used to ask me at a hot dog restaurant in Colorado Springs in the late 1990s, “do you want that Coca Cola leaded or unleaded?” The answer was and still is “leaded 24/7/365 and keep the radio at 11!”
