The five albums by Led Zeppelin everyone should have on vinyl
As The Beatles’ blinding light waned towards the end of the 1960s, several bands endured at the foot of the rock ‘n’ roll throne. Depending on your tastes, you might place The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd in the apical position. If you have a soft spot for complex hard rock with either sexually explicit or mythological lyrics, then Led Zeppelin is probably your choice. I
t is certainly difficult to deny that, in terms of instrumental and compositional virtuosity, Led Zeppelin was the most powerful group of its time, with the craftsmanship of Jimmy Page and the thunderous percussion of John Bonham.
Besides housing one of the greatest guitarists and drummers of all time, Led Zeppelin benefitted hugely from the creative rhythms of John Paul Jones and Robert Plant’s arresting vocals. Whether screaming, “Got a flamin’ heart, can’t get my fill,” or meandering in the foothills of ‘Stairway to Heaven’, Plant never fails to maintain perfect pitch and emotional gravity. These four colossal pillars combined throughout Led Zeppelin’s classic era as an unstoppable force somehow even greater than the sum of its parts.
Now, ideally, Led Zeppelin fans would have all nine studio albums. However, as we all know, vinyl is rather expensive and surprisingly heavy on the shelf. Zeppelin fans no doubt also have a fine collection of classic rock in their collections, from Black Sabbath to The Beatles. Frankly, only the mega-rich with ample storage and disposable incomes can afford to collect every album by each of their favourite bands. Thus, we have picked out the five Led Zeppelin albums we deem vinyl essentials.
As you can see from the choices below, we believe Led Zeppelin’s first two albums are a must for collectors. Not only do these two volumes contain some of the band’s most recognised hits, from ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to ‘Dazed and Confused’, but they also come complete with the band’s most iconic album covers, emblazoned with depictions of the Hindenburg disaster. Thereafter, the band got increasingly creative with their marketing, experimenting with minimalism and moveable cutouts.
Five essential Led Zeppelin albums:
Led Zeppelin (1969)
Some bands have to grapple with teething issues when creating their first studio record. Fortunately for Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, a well-established session musician, had carefully selected the band as his rebirth of The Yardbirds using only the very best musicians in their fields. Bassist John Paul Jones was also a renowned session musician, and Robert Plant and John Bonham had arrived from a spell performing with the West Bromwich group Band of Joy.
Though Led Zeppelin were allegedly never hugely close in their personal lives, their musical chemistry was immense and immediate. Their classic 1969 debut album is by no means their best, but it is a fantastic start to a towering discography. A personal highlight from this album is the extraordinary adaptation of Anne Bredon’s folk classic ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’. Elsewhere, Led Zeppelin made a lasting impression with ‘Good Times Bad Times’, ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Communication Breakdown’.
Led Zeppelin II (1969)
After the success of the trailblazing hard rock of their eponymous 1969 debut album, Led Zeppelin was ready to follow it up with a second volume. With leftover material and a constant conveyor belt of new ideas, the band managed to churn out this early masterpiece by the end of the year. While later albums would tiptoe towards prog-rock territory, Led Zeppelin II was an iconic dose of clean-cut blues rock.
Led Zeppelin II seemed to consolidate the heavy blues innovation trialled on the debut album as Jimmy Page began to show his true guitar virtuosity, and Robert Plant’s thundercrack projection made ripples across the Atlantic. This record collection essential is home to some of the band’s most famous hits, including ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Heartbreaker’, ‘Ramble On’ and ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’.
Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
While there’s nothing at all wrong with Led Zeppelin III, some albums have to take the hit in this whistlestop tour through the Led Zeppelin catalogue. In 1970, Led Zeppelin maintained solid form and struck what is possibly their overall peak the following year with their most mysterious album. Who is the bloke on the front? Why is there no writing at all on the record or sleeve? There are several answers to these questions, but it all boils down to shrewd marketing.
Indeed, the untitled album, often known as Led Zeppelin IV, was a visual feast and a vital moment for all fans with a taste for tattoos as the first time the four members rolled out their pseudonymous symbols. However, much more interesting was the music within. This audacious project brought us the enduring epic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Four Sticks’, supposedly the hardest Led Zep song to perform live. In between, it is varied and consistent with the riff-heavy ‘Black Dog’ and the sweet acoustics of ‘Going to California’.
Houses of the Holy (1973)
Following the monumental success of Led Zeppelin IV, the band began work on Houses of the Holy. Over the first four albums, Led Zeppelin had developed their sound incrementally, but the fifth would take a slightly larger leap forward. This leap was not necessarily one of increased quality, but the four-piece must be commended for trying new things at the rock ‘n’ roll vanguard and turning out another masterful product.
In Houses of the Holy, the band inched closer to prog-rock territory with an abundance of compositional convolution and diverse texturing. The band’s newfound affluence made this nuanced, meticulous approach possible. By this stage, the band could afford state-of-the-art home studios where they could spend more time perfecting grand, elaborate compositions, such as the slow-growing ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ and the orchestral ‘The Rain Song’.
Physical Graffiti (1975)
Greatness permeates all of Led Zeppelin’s albums. However, Physical Graffiti is, by many fans’ standards, the last of the group’s classic era. The subsequent studio releases, Presence and In Through the Out Door, began to reflect a lack of cohesion and enthusiasm within the band despite bringing us such classics as ‘Achilles Last Stand’ and ‘Carouselambra’.
Physical Graffiti deserves a spot in every fan’s record collection as a vast yet stunningly consistent product. At 83 minutes in length, the album meanders through a range of moods and styles, from the morbidly propulsive ‘In My Time of Dying’ through the intense, militant climes of ‘Kashmir’ to the trudging, radiant ‘Ten Years Gone’. Picking a favourite from it is nigh on impossible, but picking it as a favourite is more than conceivable.
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