Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin's 1968 debut introduced such an avalanche of ideas into the rock vernacular the band now and forever holds a status shared by only the very biggest names -- the Beatles, the Stones ... er, God. As for this album, "Good Times Bad Times" is heavy metal, "Communication Breakdown" is punk rock and the influence of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" on make-out sessions really cannot be overstated. Recorded on 4-track and produced by Jimmy Page, whose studio innovations (a backward echo he invented, placing mics at different distances in the room, witchcraft) are still referred to with awe.

The popular formula in England in this, the aftermath era of such successful British
bluesmen as Cream and John Mayall, seems to be: add, to an excellent guitarist who, since
leaving the Yardbirds and/or Mayall, has become a minor musical deity, a competent
rhythm section and pretty soul-belter who can do a good spade imitation. The latest of the
British blues groups so conceived offers little that its twin, the Jeff Beck Group,... More >