Led Zeppelin I review

The first album of the influential heavy metal band Led Zeppelin. Pretty much The Beatles of the 1970s, they're yet another massive British band which changed music forever. My review of the first album follows.

Tracks:

1. Good Times Bad Times: 9/10 a short but sweet opener, giving listeners the first glimpse of Led Zeppelin's incredible ability to mix heavy, epic rock music with genuine art and soul.

2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You: 10/10 a brilliantly intense and emotive track. The various moments of heavy guitar playing are more epic than a Lord of the Rings battle sequence and both Robert Plant's amazing vocals and the breathless instrumentals are unleashed on the senses like a volcanic eruption.

3. You Shook Me: 8/10 a bit overlong and overdone but who cares? It sounds like nothing else, it's brilliantly played and it represents genuine art.

4. Dazed and Confused: 8/10 it loses my attention a little in the overlong instrumentals and the lyrics aren't as striking as other Led Zeppelin songs but aside from that this power, haunting and ferocious track is a masterpiece of sound and bursts through the speakers like an onslaught of ballistic missiles.

5. Your Time is Gonna Come: 9/10 another brilliant track, this shows the variety in the album as all of the songs are easy to tell apart. Artfully made and very well performed it's a joy to listen to.

6. Black Mountain Side: 6/10 a forgettable instrumental, although Jimmy Page's imitation of a sitar is impressive and it's a nice change of pace.

7. Communication Breakdown: 8/10 although it feels slightly like an inferior version of Good Times Bad Times it's a very enjoyable song played with great enthusiasm, speed and energy.

8. I Can't Quit You Baby: 7/10 one of the slightly less successful tracks on the album, but still pretty successful overall and it's another track which feels innovative.

9. How Many More Times: 8/10 pretty much a summary of the themes and good points of the rest of the album. It didn't need to last 8 and half minutes but overall it's an entertaining conclusion.

Best song: Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Worst song: Black Mountain Side

Summary: Innovative, thrilling and artistic, this has to be one of the best debuts ever. Each song feels different and new, all of them pack emotion and energy into every note and all of it has an unbeatable swagger. A great album even if most of the songs aren't necessarily the most memorable out of Led Zeppelin's discography compared to all their other albums and it never ceases to hold your attention.

Final rating: 9/10