For people of my generation and slightly older, it was an established rite of passage to discover and obsess over Led Zeppelin in one's early teens. For me, it happened on a week-long trip in a van with a bunch of other kids. My best friend had invited me along on his church group's trip from Miami up through the southeast, finally landing at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. The only three things I remember about the trip were: a) we were required to bring a Bible with us, even though we never used it; b) "Abracadabra", "Hold Me", and "Jack and Diane" played on the car radio constantly, and c) an older kid in the van introduced me to Led Zeppelin.
He had his own cassette player, and this provided a little variety from the John Cougar/Steve Miller/Fleetwood Mac radio content all day long. The cassette he had was Led Zeppelin II, and at that point in my life I had not yet delved into hard and heavy rock. It was exciting and just a little dangerous sounding, and it got my teenage adrenalin level up in the same way hearing the Sex Pistols for the first time did a few years later.
In retrospect, Led Zeppelin remains Led Zeppelin's most exciting achievement. The band turned blues-based rock into a whole new ballgame in one broad stroke -- bands everywhere emulated the heaviness and volume of this album and eventually morphed it into what became known as Heavy Metal. But the enduring quality of this album lies not merely in its monolithic approach to rock, but in the subtle skill in which they deliver the goods. Guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones were both versatile and experienced veterans of the recording studio, and drummer John Bonham's incredible power sometimes obscured the fact that the notes he played were always the right ones for the song and were delivered with a precision that grooved like crazy. Robert Plant, for his part, contributed some of his finest vocals ever -- the folk remake "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is absolutely breathtaking in its hair-raising intensity.
Dan:
Steve's description of the impact of Led Zeppelin's first album matches my own. In 1969, FM radio was the main source of hearing new music and I always remember the shock of hearing "Dazed and Confused" for the first time. The ominous descending chords of the introduction command immediate attention, and the long interlude in the middle seals the deal. It was unprecedented and warmly received into my modest LP collection of the day.
It took more time to enjoy the whole album, mostly because "Dazed and Confused" established such a high standard of excellence. But in time I came to appreciate the artistry and importance of what they were doing. The sleeper track is "Black Mountain Side," a folksy acoustic number with tablas that lasts a mere 2:12 minutes. This song is covered by Steve Tibbetts on his Big Map Idea LP (ECM, 1988), probably the only Jimmy Page composition ever appearing on a jazz label See my review here: MORE FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1980s: Search results for tibbetts (jazzinthe80s.blogspot.com). [Steve's comment: it has since been observed by some reviewers that "Black Mountain Side" was adapted from Bert Jansch's arrangement of a traditional folk tune called "Down by Blackwaterside" and probably should not have been credited to Page].
To add just a pinch of pseudo-cosmic detail, Led Zeppelin was released in 1969, the year Steve was born. Jimmy Page, the oldest member of Led Zeppelin, was born in in 1944, the same year as me. Here we are 54 years after the album's release writing about it together. woooooooooooooooooo
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