{"id":11732,"date":"1969-01-12T00:00:03","date_gmt":"1969-01-12T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=11732"},"modified":"2013-07-20T12:19:58","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T12:19:58","slug":"album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-led-zeppelin-led-zeppelin\/","title":{"rendered":"LED ZEPPELIN – Led Zeppelin (1969) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

LED ZEPPELIN
Led Zeppelin<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nAtlantic (1969)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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While I\u2019ve always preferred the occult rumbling of Black Sabbath<\/a>, there\u2019s no denying the mass appeal of Led Zeppelin<\/a>, who, alongside The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, have become part of a legendary all-time British \u201cBig Four\u201d, so to speak.<\/p>\n

Alongside Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin have brought hard rock to the millions, embedding musical culture with their swagger.<\/p>\n

Zeppelin are the epitome of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll to some extent, boasting the seemingly perfect, yet archetypal frontman in Robert Plant with those curly locks, pouting chest and tight jeans, while in guitarist Jimmy Page, a flared riff-monster whose licks have proven to be timeless. We also can\u2019t forget the rumbling bass of John Paul Jones and the primal concrete drumming of John Bonham.<\/p>\n

It has often been argued as to whether Led Zeppelin were a heavy metal band? Sure, the riffs were hard, yet blues-tinged, and the vocals soaring, but beneath it all there were those folky flirtations and soulful meanderings. Even so, whatever musical pigeonhole you tend to place Zeppelin in, there is no doubting their power.<\/p>\n

Led Zeppelin\u2019s first opus, produced by Page, was given a lukewarm reception at the time of its original release in January 1969, and yet many decades later it remains one of heavy rock\u2019s most important albums, signifying the beginning of the glorious career of one of the world\u2019s biggest ever bands.<\/p>\n

As a debut album, Led Zeppelin<\/em>, complete with burning airship on the cover, has a live feel, lacking the textures and overdubs that so many other bands sought. It\u2019s also Zeppelin at their rawest, chugging into motion with the raunchy riff of \u2018Good Times Bad Times\u2019 but also blending rock \u2019n\u2019 roll steaminess with subtlety, as Plant whispers his way through the seemingly mournful blues of \u2018Babe I\u2019m Gonna Leave You\u2019, with its mellow tinkering until Bonham\u2019s stormy skin bashings emerge from the folky mire.<\/p>\n

In a sense, \u2018Babe I\u2019m Gonna Leave You\u2019 sums up that classic Zep sound, combining sultry blues, folk-orientated whispers and those earthquake rhythms provided by Page and Bonham.<\/p>\n

\u2018Dazed And Confused\u2019 follows a similar path as a creeping, tip-toe style of pensive groove before it spirals into Sabbath-esque doom, Page serenading the ears with those staggering chords and the booming downpour of Bonham\u2019s drums.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, Led Zeppelin<\/em> is a patchy affair, an album of overwhelming highs and blues-tinged lows (\u2018You Shook Me\u2019 and \u2018I Can\u2019t Quit You Baby\u2019 \u2013 both cover versions \u2013 are downbeat plodders), but like all great bands, when the sun does peer through the clouds the sounds are rarely equalled.<\/p>\n

\u2018Communication Breakdown\u2019 is one of rock\u2019s greatest ever chuggers, a staggering, swaggering raunch \u2019n\u2019 roll number featuring an unforgettable riff and sleazy Robert Plant vocal croon.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, we\u2019re treated to the organ-drenched wheeze of \u2018Your Time Is Gonna Come\u2019, with its gospel-styled choir, the Beatles-esque instrumental \u2018Black Mountain Side\u2019, with mystical bongo and Eastern-tinged sitar, and album closer \u2018How Many More Times\u2019, which has a jazzy backbeat punctured by Jimmy Page\u2019s wild guitar freak-out.<\/p>\n

Overall, Led Zeppelin\u2019s debut album is, when it gets going, a superb rock record and, with tracks such as \u2018Communication Breakdown\u2019, the seeds of greatness had been sewn.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LED ZEPPELINLed Zeppelin Atlantic (1969)Rating: 8\/10 While I\u2019ve always preferred the occult rumbling of Black Sabbath, there\u2019s no denying the mass appeal of Led Zeppelin, who, alongside The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, have become part of a legendary all-time British \u201cBig Four\u201d, so to speak. Alongside Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin have brought hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[587],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-led-zeppelin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11732"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13163,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11732\/revisions\/13163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}