Favorite Led Zeppelin Album?

[Aman]

Poll away!

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Depends on the mood:

My top five not in order:

1. Presence (Achilles' Last Stand only - my vote for the best Zeppelin SONG ever);
2. ITTOD - I was in high school when it came out - sentimental reasons;
3. HotH - Freakin' Awesome start to finish;
4. Physical G - Uneven, but some of the finest tracks imaginable;
5. III - Love the folk-inspired elements - this is where Zep really came of age.

Note that I did not say II or Zoso - Sorry, I burned out on them long, long ago. (And yet, there they are in my collection!!!).

 

[DJ Mauler]

went with How The West Was Won just because i couldnt decide on the others.

 

[tyrion]

I voted for Physical Graffiti since I saw Zeppelin live during that tour. Otherwise, I would have voted II.

 

[PSmith08]

Houses of the Holy. The best representation of everything that LZ was. II is close behind, but that's just for "Thank You." I do always enjoy that track, even though I am not the LZ fan I used to be.

 

[Doc Sarvis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSmith08 Houses of the Holy. The best representation of everything that LZ was. II is close behind, but that's just for "Thank You." I do always enjoy that track, even though I am not the LZ fan I used to be.

Have you ever read the book "Wagner Without Fear"? (It's a good book btw). I bring it up only because the author compares LZ's "Achilles' Last Stand" with "Ride of the Valkyries", specifically around the "galloping" figure that he shows is common to both of them, and meant to suggest a running horse (according to this guy).

 

[SunByrne]

Very close for me between IV and Houses of the Holy. I gave it to IV by a nose, but on a different day I might have gone the other way.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis Have you ever read the book "Wagner Without Fear"? (It's a good book btw). I bring it up only because the author compares LZ's "Achilles' Last Stand" with "Ride of the Valkyries", specifically around the "galloping" figure that he shows is common to both of them, and meant to suggest a running horse (according to this guy).

That's interesting. (Seems like an interesting book as well).

Seriously I'm incapable of playing 'Achilles' Last Stand' without quickly finding 12:00 on the volume knob. During the solo It's at 1:00.

I also seem to be incapable of choosing a favourite (sorry, aman). Although a personal critical fav in the past, Led Zeppelin III is now more of a sentimental fav.
I guess I'll vote for that then.

 

[DrOctagon]

Tough call, but I have to go with III.

 

[pframe]

Stupid radio buttons! Why can't I vote for five or six listed here?

Picked the fourth album. Tough call.

FYI -- From a recent Rolling Stone interview with Robert Plant.

RS: How do you refer to Zeppelin IV, Runes, Zoso...?

RP: Just "the fourth album." That's it.

Apparently, LZ was dead-set against calling it Led Zeppelin IV. Thus, no name anywhere on the album cover.

 

[drarthurwells]

IV for me.

 

[DLeeWebb]

If one takes these polls seriously I find that generally they can be quite tough. However, rating Led Zeppelin's albums is particularly tough for me. Different Zeppelin albums appeal to me to varying degrees at different times. Right now I would rate them as follows...

[1] IV [classic of all time...has it all]
[2] Physical Graffiti [tour de force when they were at their peak...."In My Time Of Dying" was awesome live]
[3] I [bluesy...got to be one of the best debuts in popular music history...]
[4] Presence [heavy, kind of experimental, songs great live..."Achilles Last Stand"/"Nobody's Fault But Mine"]
[5] III [Zeppelin unplugged...I like this one more and more as the years go by]
[6] Houses of the Holy [contains my favorite Led Zeppelin song "No Quarter"]
[7] II [quick follow-up to "I"...great album, "invented" heavy metal]
[8] In Through the Out Door [Jimmy was having problems/shift to J.P. Jones focus, more keyboard oriented]
[9] Coda [released after Bonham's death, seems unfinished, "unpolished" IMHO]

I didn't rate "BBC Sessions," "How The West Was Won," "The Song Remains The Same," or the various box sets because they are essentially compilations of original material from the albums rated above...

 

[DarkAngel]

Pretty easy call actually.......
All one needs to know is that Zep I contains greatest epic song ever by group "dazed and confused"

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Tie: I & II -- felt like I today, so that's what I voted for.

It's just got some great tracks, from the opening barnburner, "Good Times Bad Times", immediately hitting one of the albums many peaks with "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", followed by the bluesy "You Shook Me", dropping down a notch to the slow and creepy "Dazed and Confused", and so on. This album just doesn't have a bad track on it.

 

[PSmith08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis Have you ever read the book "Wagner Without Fear"? (It's a good book btw). I bring it up only because the author compares LZ's "Achilles' Last Stand" with "Ride of the Valkyries", specifically around the "galloping" figure that he shows is common to both of them, and meant to suggest a running horse (according to this guy).

No, I am afraid I haven't. However, I can see why he would make that comparison. However, the Walkure motif appears many times in Die Walkure, most notably in the first minutes of Act II (from the Vorspiel - albeit considerably altered - to "Nun zaume dein Ross..."/"Der alte Sturm..." The 3rd act goes without saying, by the by.

I just don't know how much thought LZ put into their motif structure, but, as complicated as some of their works can be, it wouldn't surprise me.