365 – New Music Daily

The first Zep to reach this blog – thank you Liam for sending me one of the songs on this and inspiring me to complete a task that had been on my list of things to listen to. One of my main reasons for doing this album mission was, aside from expanding my taste in genres I already enjoy, conquering some of the more classic and famous artists. I remember saying (in response to this coming up in conversation and getting a “that’s a lot of albums”) things like “well, I’ve never listened to a Bob Dylan album”. Still the case, but you get the idea of why Zeppelin is in line with that ideology.

FYI, I am still taking any and all suggestions of albums. We have a long ways to go. Not keeping track? I’m shocked. This is album #126.

Zeppelin has a sound that has been replicated by many of their successors, and will continue to be influential to the rock scene for as long as the genre is around. However, the raw talent of Plant, Page, Bonham and John Paul Jones (I would’ve forgotten JPJ’s name if not for Dave Grohl. Thank you, once again, Dave Grohl), creates a sound with so many layers that it’s hard to be matched by anyone else. Plant’s vocals and lyricism, Page’s riffs, the basslines and keys from JPJ and of course, percussion from Bonham give you something different to key in on (and be entranced by) in nearly every second of the record. I was also very confused by the reggae influenced D’yer Mak’er, but by the end of the song, it ended up being one of my favorites.

While I do plan to go through the Zeppelin discography – I had originally intended to begin with Led Zeppelin IV but halfway through I became impatient and felt like every song could be a different scene of an 80’s movie (more to come on that later) – this was a great debut for me. It avoided some of their more overplayed stuff while still delivering some well-known songs and classic Zeppelin. Although I do love Ramble On. Some good shit!

Favorite songs: The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Over the Hills and Far Away, The Crunge, D’yer Mak’er, The Ocean