Joe Schmo Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 First of all, I don't think there is anyone that sounds like Led Zeppelin NOW much less forty years ago when they first came on the scene. They are in a class by themselves. And contrary to the widely repeated notion you hear, in my humble opinion, Led Zeppelin was NOT heavy metal. What has always struck me is that they were great right from the beginning. Their first album came out in 1969. It's always amazed me that something THAT innovative and THAT groundbreaking was written and recorded by a bunch of 21, 22 year old kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyrus Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Led Zeppelin is definitely one of the most ground-breaking debut albums of all time. not many bands manage to pull off even a 4th or 5th album that good, let alone a debut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickZepp Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 No it was recorded by a pair of 19 and 20 year old kids in Plant and Bonham. And 23 and 24 year old studio veterans in Page and Jones. The latter two knew there way around a studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIBLY Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Listening to the tracks from I on Mothership you'd think they were recorded yesterday not 38 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrios Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 good point, made even more remarkable when one considers it was recorded in 30 hrs..................................... best album debut album of all time by a light year, for late '68, this is a truly incredible LP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Schmo Posted December 8, 2007 Author Share Posted December 8, 2007 Yeah. My point is that it's amazing that they were THAT good at such a young age. Music history is full of bands who struggled for a while before they made it big. Most bands put out a couple of albums you barely heard of before they became successful. Reason being is that their first few albums aren't that good. Not Zep. And again...they were 22 year old kids at the time. Not bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honeydripper Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Yeah. My point is that it's amazing that they were THAT good at such a young age. Music history is full of bands who struggled for a while before they made it big. Most bands put out a couple of albums you barely heard of before they became successful. Reason being is that their first few albums aren't that good. Not Zep. And again...they were 22 year old kids at the time. Not bad. Agreed, but there is a difference between a group that is built out of guys that meet by means of proximity, or are playing in their first band..........Page, Samwell-Smith, and Grant traveled pretty far to seek out the best of the best.......They tracked down Plant........ and Bonham came as a total bonus. They were in essence....a "supergroup" from the start. And I'm cetainly glad they did find Plant........just try and imagine the whole of Zep I....as the next Yardbirds album after Little Games. That's what it would have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Pamela Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Agreed, but there is a difference between a group that is built out of guys that meet by means of proximity, or are playing in their first band..........Page, Samwell-Smith, and Grant traveled pretty far to seek out the best of the best.......They tracked down Plant........ and Bonham came as a total bonus. They were in essence....a "supergroup" from the start. Two points in considering the debut album: 1. Production Quality- Hendrix, Cream, Blue Cheer-all sound thin compared to LZ at this point. They were light years ahead of other performing artists in this regard. 2. The arrangements themselves-Not so much WHAT they played, but rather how they played it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footsteps of Dawn Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 I totally agree. I is frackin' awesome, which is amazing, but what I think is even more amazing is that II just continued kicking ass right where I left off. The phrase "sophomore slump" doesn't exist for nothing, but Zep just kept going up and up and up like it was no sweat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderguy Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 It has a certain intangible quality to it. It is hard to explain exactly, but the overused phrase "greater than the sum of it's parts" comes to mind. There is something compelling about it that keeps you coming back for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackDog71 Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 It is truly something to behold. To be that musically sound that early in your career is a testament to the bands talents. I love Zeppelin I. It has so many good riffs and vocals. Ok....well i guess what i just said is obvious because they are, after all,.....LED ZEPPELIN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetTheLedOut Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I've always been amazed that despite the fact that most of that album is comprised of cover material, the band made it sound so original. Dazed And Confused keeps so much of the original yet the song is so vastly different (partly to the better version of the lyrics the band came up with). It's just as amazing that not only were they so accomplished on their debut album, but by 1970 they had vastly changed, and by 71 changed again, and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzfan715 Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I just got done listening to this album. I love it more every time I listen to it. Babe I"m Gonna Leave You sounds great on vinyl. (And turned up) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetTheLedOut Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I just got done listening to this album. I love it more every time I listen to it. Babe I"m Gonna Leave You sounds great on vinyl. (And turned up) That song sounds great in any format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzfan715 Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Right, it does but vinyl makes all things sound better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetTheLedOut Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Right, it does but vinyl makes all things sound better. I wouldn't disagree. In fact this conversation inspired me to put on my copy on my turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexKx Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 WELL remember I think Page was 25 at that point and he and Jones had already spent YEARS in production and session musicians AND performing live before they started touring as the New Yardbirds which I think helped in that they also had the experience of playing live together between the four of them. Even Plant and Bonham had live experiences on their own and in the studio before Zep so these were not just individuals who did not know what they were doing and did not have across the board experience and knowledge on what they were doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redeyedrichard Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 It is an amazing album. The recording techniques were way ahead of the times in my opinion. Sounded like it was made yesterday. And yes DEFINITELY NOT HEAVY METAL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetTheLedOut Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 WELL remember I think Page was 25 at that point and he and Jones had already spent YEARS in production Not even. When the album was recorded in late '68 Page was still 24, Jones was 21 or 22, and Plant and Bonham were both 19 or 20. Ridiculous indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evermore Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Jimmy was very young when he figured out what he really wanted to do. He is naturally gifted and was able to immerse himself. Most people cant figure out what they want to do until they hit 20 or 22 and even then most people dabble in a number of interests. Jimmy was focused in his early days. Next he was at the right place at the right time. Can you think of a better place to be a professional musician than London in the sixties? its like being in New York during the swing era or Detroit during Motown or Seattle during Grunge. This is where Jimmy paid his dues. but it wasn't just meaningless toil. He learned a lot of technical and business lessons. He worked so much as a session dude that he no doubt made his mistakes and learned from them, and learned from the masters at places like Abbey Road. He knew how the industry worked and by the time he formed Zeppelin he had gathered the wisdom to form his artistic vision. And he knew how to fulfill it. Jimmy's vision was so strong that he was able to express it and find top flight like minded musicians. In this case like minded is equally as important as talent. Because they could all contribute to a common goal rather than fight. Jimmy's ability to secure Atlantic from the get go was a huge part in the early success. He was not naive enough to accept a less than stellar deal. The planets and stars were aligned and Jimmy was able to align them himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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