My Lists: Led Zeppelin

My Lists: Led Zeppelin

Not sure if this is going to become a regular thing, but I do love creating lists – mostly of my favorite songs by my favorite artists. Let’s kick it off with a list of my favorite songs by one of the premier rock groups of all-time, the legendary Led Zeppelin.

In my youth, I did not have much of an appreciation for their music, but they are played non-stop on FM stations, so over the years I could not help but be exposed to their music.  No, I am not one of those deep tracks types of fans: I am a very casual listener.  Their more accessible, Top-40 oriented stuff is what I go for, much to the chagrin of those who appreciate the band’s blues band root-based material that yield extended jams, or those who prefer their more prog-rock stuff.  Think of this as a list of ‘Led Zeppelin Lite’.

What I never enjoyed, never had any patience or appreciation for?  Their folky-minstrel, renaissance ambitions.   Their misogyny.  The dick jokes/puns. Their excessive booze and drugs mentality. Their silly mysticism.

And while Led Zeppelin is one of the groups that did indeed put the ‘heavy’ into Heavy Metal – a genre that I will admit is not my go to place for fun – I do find their music intoxicating.  Robert Plant is unlike any other singer.  Jimmy Page, a true wizard, while Bonham and Jones created one of the most combustible rhythm sections in the history of popular music.  Also of note, John Paul’s latter-year keyboard-based compositions which lent a kind of maturation to the group’s sound – pointing the way for Robert Plant’s early solo career. The combination of these four men is the stuff rock and roll dreams are made of.

Here’s a, more or less, chronological list of the band’s most iconic moments, my favorite Led Zeppelin moments:

1. Dazed and Confused
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Heartbreaker
4. Whole Lotta Love
5. Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
6. Immigrant Song
7. Celebration Day
8. Black Dog
9. Rock and Roll
10. Stairway to Heaven
11. Over the Hills and Far Away
12. D’yer Mak’er
13. Trampled Underfoot
14. Kashmir
15. Nobody’s Fault But Mine
16. Hots On For Nowhere
17. Achilles Heal
18. All of My Love
19. Fool In the Rain
20. In The Evening
21. We’re Gonna Groove
22. Darlene
23. Ozone Baby