Best Led Zeppelin Album?

I tried listening to HOTH for the first time the other day and was trying to enjoy it but really I was just waiting for No Quarter to come on. That's the problem with discovering a band through a best-of compilation, the individual albums get dissipated, as in there are always 2-3 songs you know really well spread out between songs you've never heard. Also makes the chronology and the stylistic shifts therein sound less obvious.

I know exactly what you mean although Zep weren't like that for me - before I started working my way through the albums I knew maybe five of their songs, so it was interesting to find out which were the favourites/radio hits off each record coming at them that way.

I > II > IV > Houses > III > In Through the Out Door > Presence > PG > Coda

I first learned Zep through the Remasters comps of 1990 or so, and so exploring the parent albums (which I nabbed off my dad's girlfriend - still have her copies of I, HOTH, PG and TSRTS) was like rehydrating astronaut food.

Physical Graffiti
In Through the Out Door
III
Houses of the Holy
Presence
IV
II
Coda
I

xp that's exactly my experience with now trying to listen to the individual records. I listened to Remasters SO MUCH as a sixth-former, but never the albums.

I'm trying to understand the perspective of those among you who rate ITTOD so highly. I've listened to all of the albums dozens of times, but I'm certain that I've listened to IV through PG >100 times and never ever get tired of them, whereas getting through ITTOD is sometimes a chore. I'll grant you that it starts very strong, but it's a pretty limp noodle overall in comparison to their catalogue as a whole.

I put ITTOD on for my walk to work this morning and enjoyed it but some of the songs really do outstay their welcome, In the Evening especially.

Yeah that's one of the most draggy Zep songs, sad not in an expressive way but in a not-feeling-this-anymore way. It does have that neat effect on the intro to the guitar solo though.

xpost:

I listened to it today and I don't plan on listening to it again. Ever.

If ITTOD was on fire, I'd rush in and save 'South Bound Suarez' and console myself with the loss of the rest.

ITtOD is their only bad studio album imo. I'd rather listen to solo Plant.

xp "All of My Love" is my keeper.

If In Through The Out Door was on fire, I'd be out the fire exit and be all like "see ya!"

oh cool no one can agree on which children, er, tracks, to save

And no one's mentioned goddamn "Fool in the Rain."

^I'd save the drum track and pour gasoline on the rest.

love In The Evening and All of my Love and Carouselambra, but sort of feel like saying "The John Bonham drum out-takes bootleg is better than the actual album" is only partly challops

The thing is...ITTOD would probably be a fine album for a different band. It's just lackluster as a Led Zeppelin album. By that measure, 'Fool In The Rain' is perfectly pleasant, but not really what I'm looking for when I turn to the Zep.

Check the date on this...1000 Led Zeppelin fans soon to be majorly bummed out:
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1980/09/25/page/55/article/ad-for-led-zeppelin-lures-1-000

man

Wow. I complain about paying ticket fees, and there were people flying in from Denver just to get the order form for the tickets!!

So based on this drum cover (which seems insanely accurate), there's more kick going on than I thought, however none in the "One" part
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryxZFqWKQdo

What do you mean by the "One" part?

Okay, just watched.... Maybe the 5/4 part for the guitar solos? Not the first time nor the second, but the third/fourth times he accents the first 4 of the 5/4 on the bass drum (while doing metronomic modulation of the eighth notes to triplets... pretty amazing composition).

It's always been a pleasure for me to listen to Bonham's drumming on 'Achilles' - there's a couple of moments in there, especially one particular drum fill, which make me go "fucking hell!" even after listening to it countless times. It's a very exciting track, particularly the rhythm section. The opposite for me would be something like 'Kashmir' - I can completely understand why Bonham is holding the groove down and keeping it simple, but in terms of drum work I find it on the duller end of what Bonham was able to pull off.

(xpost) ^^see 6m43s & 8m20s

The 2m13s fill is the one that always kills me.

2:26 is the one that gets me, but that one too

I can't believe I'm considering buying the reissues...anyone here batted for the cycle (vinyl, cd, box set, and reissues)?

fp'd everyone who bothered ranking coda

killfiled ez snappin for ranking it ahead of something else

I'd like to know whether or not the HotH reissue is 'ok' now ... My buddy's copy had some weird clipping on crunge & ocean...

I can't believe I'm considering buying the reissues...anyone here batted for the cycle (vinyl, cd, box set, and reissues)?

― Iago Galdston, Monday, August 10, 2015 6:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kinda thinkin' the same thing. I'd totally missed that any reissued had been issued until the sudden rash of LZ thread revives. I only actually own cassette copies of all the albums. I've hardly ever gone in for the "deluxe two-disc remaster with unreleased demos and alternate tracks!" thing but I think I could make an exception in this case.

I'd like to know whether or not the HotH reissue is 'ok' now ... My buddy's copy had some weird clipping on crunge & ocean...

― BlackIronPrison, Monday, August 10, 2015 8:30 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's a 32-page thread on the Steve Hoffman forums that may answer that:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/distortion-on-led-zeppelin-houses-of-the-holy-vinyl-remaster.389892/

would have voted HotH

old lunch, the remasters on the reissues i've got thus far sound ace, better than previous CDs. the bonus tracks are mostly zzzz though and definitely feel like a ripoff (though great to hear the India tracks finally in good Fi on the Coda reissue)

The live show paired w/I SMOKES.

I've said this before, but I really like how they've structured the tiers of this reissue series. Just want the album? You're covered at lower than before price. Want the extras? There's two/three-disc editions that are cheaper than you'd think they'd be. Want to go all out? There's a box with everything on CD and Vinyl plus a big book and related bric-a-brac if you're into that kind of thing, but luckily for those that aren't no annoyingly exclusive audio content (Dylan, Stones, Floyd--I'm looking scornfully in your direction!).

luckily for those that aren't no annoyingly exclusive audio content

true. bummed though i am that the extras (beyond the aforementioned live set) aren't stellar, i think the tiering of the formats is really good and NOT ripoff-minded.

Interesting; of the latest batch of reissues, ITTOD is the one that went Top 10 in the US (#9).

I got really lucky and found all of the deluxe 2/3 CDs in a Target priced at $9.99 each last time I was in the States (I wasn't sure if that was an accident or a nice bargain) but I still need the last three!

Interesting; of the latest batch of reissues, ITTOD is the one that went Top 10 in the US (#9).

The original release could've been the final US #1 of the 70s had it not been for .... The Long Run by Eagles.

Well, yeah.

I have a friend that spent the night for those Tribune tix order forms via that edition. He loved reading the article posted above and reminiscing about that night. Thanks to whomever posted that.

You're welcome! I can't imagine how crushing it must've been for the people who went to those lengths just for, as Fastnbulbous pointed out, the order form for tickets -- not even the actual tickets themselves -- to hear about Bonham's passing the next day.

The wikipedia page on what would've been the 1980 US tour has some interesting info, including the planned logo:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Led_Zeppelin_-_The_1980s%2C_Part_One_Logo.jpg

Here's the ad/order form:
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1980/09/25/page/33

(xpost) Cool logo! Looks kind of Peter Saville-ish.

Can imagine people reading that order form thinking "15 bucks? Screw that!"

The apostrophe in The 1980s is unfortunate.

Yeah, people putting the apostrophe in the wrong place when writing about decades (it's the '60s, not the 60's) drives me nuts.

Can imagine people reading that order form thinking "15 bucks? Screw that!"

What did arena show tickets usually go for in 1980?

Yeah, people putting the apostrophe in the wrong place when writing about decades (it's the '60s, not the 60's) drives me nuts.

― the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, August 11, 2015 3:29 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This! I've had editors backwards correct this for me in the past >:-(

What did arena show tickets usually go for in 1980?

I've seen posted photos of concert tickets from the early '80s in the $5-10 range. Not that $15 would have been so outrageous — probably at the higher end of what people were paying — though hilariously paltry compared to the $350 or whatever U2 etc. are charging these days.