MoeFOH's Album of the Week... Week #9

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Album of the Week 🎶

Same as the movie thread, each week we're going to spotlight an album... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite tracks, clips, lyrics, experiences if you saw live, etc... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's an album you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #9: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin is the self-titled debut studio album, released on 12 January 1969. For me, this album sort of personifies Zeppelin. Raw and less complex than most of the future albums, a good mix. I believe Zeppelin II was a much bigger commercial success, and I remember this album once being described as a sort of secret passed around between friends when it was first released. I love that sentiment. And it very much fits the persona of the album, especially viewed against the entire catalogue. Outside that, just some killer rock tracks: Good Times Bad Times, Communication Breakdown, Dazed And Confused, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You... 

Over to you...

Who's a fan? How highly do you rate this album?

Thoughts, memories, experiences, favourite tracks...? 

Post em up!

Score it out of 10!

[MoeFOH]

 

[bassistheplace]

8/10

only reason i scored 8 is II, Houses and Graffiti are such master works compared to 1

but this is the album that let the world know the weight that Zep was getting ready to drop

[Ford2112]

Solid. Give it a 9. I love Bonzo on this album,and the band is unbridled energy. Jimmy Page doesn't get enough credit for his production work. He was a master in the studio. All the Zep albums stand up to the test of time, Physical Graffiti is the pinnacle,but for a debut ,this album kicks you in the face. How Many More Times is bad ass!

[BlueRidgeFly]

There are Zeppelin albums I like more, but damn... another debut album I can't score less than 9/10. When I say that, I try to put myself in that moment when people first heard this, when I would have been 2 1/2 years old. It must have been a kick in the 'nads. Audacious and ass-kicking. The pinnacle of electric blues.

[Hemclas]

Love Zeppelin!, them and Pink Floyd were the core of my music selection in high school.

[Arctic Dude]

9/10…blew me away when I first heard it, and continues to do the same. Never get tired of this band. 

[Tdm_86]

I’m more partial to later albums (especially IV). But as said above, in the timeframe, this is something that must’ve stunned those who heard it for the first time.

I’ll score it 8/10

[JohnS]

9 out of 10 because, like the Beatles, I like the earlier Led Zeppelin stuff but invariably I listen to their classic albums from Led Zeppelin IV onwards. "Good Times, Bad Times" floored me the first time I heard it, I mean that drumming is incredible!

[Vetteman]

Great first album 8/10. Added to my collection at the time by winning the cassette tape at one of those games at the Asbury Park boardwalk.

[Chibearsv]

Raise hands if you've ever been at a high school party in a friends garage and come out of a stupor wondering how it's possible that Dazed and Confused was still playing. 😁 

Led Zep is strange band for me.  Today, a Led Zep song might pop up on the Bose and I'll love it and seek out more and then tomorrow I'd hate it and skip it.  I think their music is ultimate mood music, if the mood's right they've got songs that are right...but I've never found them to have an entire album that is right for a full listen.  

[joeypots]

I'll give it a 9 out of 10. Just because there are bands and albums I like better. But, OMG, can you think of another first album that is such a tour de force?  Talk about saying, "We're here!" And I play drums, badly, just enough to understand how great John Bonham was. Not that the other 3 are any less astounding. 

[Lfhard]

I like Led Zeppelin they were part of the CD rotation. 8/10 not my favorite Led Zeppelin album but a good one none the less. 

[Puros Y Vino]

One of the top debut albums of all time.  No real weak tracks.  Over the years as I learned about the amount of ..ahem "borrowing" they did from American blues artists, I lost some respect for them.  But that was more now than then for me.  As a band, they were solid.  Robert Plant IMO is the best rock vocalist ever.  He can go from sweet and bluesy , to raunchy and wild.  I've got tons of their live bootlegs where they go off and do 30/40 minute versions of Daze and Confused.  Everything they've put out, minus that stinker CODA, is listenable to this day. 

9/10 for me.

[zappaFREAK]

Growing up this was my favorite band. The first album was a definite 10 in my book. Talk about getting your ears ripped off. Stellar band great progression in the catalog of their albums.  One of my life highlights was seeeing them at Madison Square Garden in 1977. Still get a jolt out of listening to them today.

[Doctorossi]

It's a 9/10 for me. I prefer the more complex Zeppelin, but you can't deny the raw energy and spank on display here.

[jakebarnes]

9/10 for me. Communication Breakdown is one of the most pure "drive rock" songs of all time. You can flip that on in the car on a country road and just drive. Amazing album of tracks that took a complete life of their own when they played them life (D&C and How Many Times in particular). Too young to have seen them live, but the live recordings are pretty amazing.

[JC67]

Don't forget the instrumental in alternate tuning, Black Mountain side... love that track.