Dazed and confused (Led Zeppelin) (LP 2978 - 2991)

Led Zeppelin  Led Zeppelin (CD and vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1968) *****  

Led Zeppelin  Led Zeppelin II (CD and vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1969) ****  

Led Zeppelin  Led Zeppelin III (CD and vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1970) *****  

Led Zeppelin  Led Zeppelin IV (four symbols) (CD and vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1971) *****  

Led Zeppelin  BBC Sessions (CD, Atlantic Records, 1997) ***** 

Led Zeppelin  House of the Holy (vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1973) ** 

Led Zeppelin  Physical Graffiti (CD and vinyl, Swan Song Records, 1975) ****  

Various  Physical Graffiti Redrawn (CD, Mojo Magazine, 2015) *** 

Led Zeppelin  Presence (CD and vinyl, Swan Song Records, 1976) **** 

Led Zeppelin  In Through the Out Door (vinyl, Swan Song Records, 1979) *** 

Led Zeppelin  Coda (vinyl, Swan Song Records, 1982) ****   

Jimmy Page Robert Plant  No Quarter (CD, Fontana Records, 1994) ***

Various  Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin (CD, WEA Records, 1995) ***  

Led Zeppelin  Celebration Day (CD and DVD, Swan Song Records, 2012) ****  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: CD's from The Warehouse; vinyl - LZ, II, IV DJ Records in Otahuhu, III - music shop in Onehunga Mall, House of The Holy - David Jones Dept Store Sydney, Physical Graffiti - St Lukes' music store, PG Redrawn - Mojo Magazine, Presence/ In through The Out Door/ Coda - Marbecks Records; No Quarter/ Encomium - Hope's Collection; Celebration Day - JB Hi-Fi.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: How Many Times (LZ); Black Dog (IV)

Gear costume: Out On The Tiles (III), Archilles Last Stand (Presence)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Hunker down! I have a lot of albums by this band as they were a teenage obsession for me - one of the first bands that felt like mine and mine alone. 

Led Zeppelin III was my first taste, then the four symbols album, then I needed to back track to the debut and LZ II. By then I was gone-burger.

Led Zeppelin's debut album came out in 1968! I still find that a remarkable fact. It sounds so fresh and so damned heavy! And it's 1968!! I have touched on this album before in the blog, but it needs repeating - this is a remarkably assured debut album by Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and two relative newbies - John Bonham and Robert Plant.

Every song on it is a classic and it holds up. I still get a visceral thrill out of songs like Good Times Bad Times and How Many Times.

I played Led Zeppelin II a lot in the early seventies. It has some classic songs on it - Whole Lotta Love, The Lemon Song, and Ramble On all still retain their magic. For me, it is an uneven album though, with some songs not of the same standard as those three. And it has Bonzo's solo vehicle - Moby Dick, on it.

Led Zeppelin III was, as I said, my introduction to the band back in 1971. There was a copy for sale in a music store in Onehunga that I used to visit when my mum was shopping there. I was fascinated by the cover and I must have read about the band already in Sounds. So I bought it (remember this is back in the day when I saved and scrutinised music magazines, so a purchase was a special event).

I was gob smacked! The Immigrant Song still thrills me (the opening tracks on the first four albums are all killers). The rest of the album fires along either on beds of acoustic guitars or an almost punk attitude (Bonzo's drumming is exceptional on Out on the Tiles) or else exotic sounds. It is like no other record ever. The production on this 5-star classic album is unparalleled.

I can still feel the thrill of getting home from school and seeing their fourth album, a.k.a. four symbols or four runes, on my bed where dad had left it for me (having bought it for me from DJ Records, close to where he worked in Otahuhu). 

Black Dog remains a favourite all these years later. Putting the needle down on it still charges me up and transports me back to my 13-year-old self. I turn this one up really loud! 

The album is yet another 5-star classic - every track is a masterclass in heavy blues rock. Plus, it has Stairway To Heaven on it - one of their most popular songs.

The BBC Sessions double CD shows the band off as a brilliant live act. They adapt songs for the live setting with great effect and given they are, like The Who, a power trio with an awesome singer, they make one heck of a racket.

Special mention to Robert Plant - he really is good isn't he! He has his lemon squeezed well and truly throughout these 1969 live sessions for Top Gear and other BBC sources on CD1 and the live in London 1971 set on CD2. Remarkable music and a must listen!

In 1973 our family made a trip to Sydney and, naturally, I had a shopping list with me (Moody Blues and Deep Purple were on it too). I was super excited to buy Houses of the Holy but when I got it home in Auckland, I was really disappointed. I still struggle to connect with a lot of this album. It sounds too light and flimsy to me.

It certainly doesn't pack the brutal wallop of IV or the earthiness of III, or the superior blues rock of I. Instead, Robert's singing and Jimmy's tone is higher, or else they are experimenting with different textures. They obviously needed to get this out of their system because the next album was back to their core strengths.

Physical Graffiti is a sprawling double album that I think would have been a killer single. These days they would have put it out with an album of outtakes. There are some great moments on it, but I struggle to listen to it all the way.

The great moments: The Rover; Trampled Underfoot; Kashmir; Down by the Seaside (yes, a weird one, but I love it).

In 2015 Mojo Magazine put out Physical Graffiti Redrawn as a covermount CD - with various artists covering the album, and the disparate nature of the material is truly revealed. There are some great moments though: Blackberry Smoke's The Rover; Miraculous Mule's In My Time Of Dying; Max Jury's Down by the Seaside.

I still looked forward to Presence, and my faith was rewarded big time. The first track of each side - Achilles Last Stand and Nobody's Fault But Mine are jaw-droppingly awesome (they inspire awe so this is appropriate). Wow.

The rest of the album is close to that standard too. Bonzo is in full flight and the whole band is in top form to help him out - plus the material is there.

In Through The Out Door was their final studio effort from 1979. Bonzo died in 1980 and his death killed the band as a recording unit as well. 

In Through The Out Door is dominated by John Paul Jones and isn't as strong as previous albums with the exception of Houses Of The Holy, of course. Instead, the keyboard heavy sound is dense but lacks the presence of Presence in terms of crispness.

Coda, especially on side 1, is a much better swan song than Out Door (sorry). Bonzo is brilliant, Robert's vocals are superb, Jimmy is sublime and JPJ is at his most supportive over these tracks ranging from We're Gonna Groove 1969 to songs from 1978. Side 2 isn't as interesting but great to have as a historic document.

Jimmy and Robert reunited for the MTV UnLedded project (JPJ was apparently unaware of the project and not invited in any case). 

The programme (and this album) was recorded live in Morocco, Wales and London and features interesting LZ covers done in an unplugged fashion, plus some new songs with a Moroccan string band and some Egyptian musicians. It all jells brilliantly. 

Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin is uneven obviously - as with all of these kinds of cover albums. Hootie and the Blowfish do a great Hey Hey What Can I Do (an obscure B side that I've written about before) but none of these versions improve on the originals, mainly because they keep to the original arrangement in most instances.

BTW: Robert Plant and LZ fangirl Tori Amos tackle Down By The Seaside and go for a gothic feel which doesn't work IMHO.

And, deep breath, that's it. Some lows but some cracking highs make up the LZ catalogue. What's that? Oh - you're welcome!

Where do they all belong? I'm not a completist for the band so I haven't bothered with a few of the live albums released post Bonzo, except for the 2007 Albert Hall gig - Celebration Day, with Jason Bonham, which I've written about before. Oh, and a DVD of The Song Remains The Same film. My ears are still ringing from watching that in the movies with Greg Knowles back in the day. Brother, it was LOUD!