Easiest Zep album to get into?

[Stairway is NOT stolen]

Picture the Scene: You have a friend. They have never heard Zeppelin before (I know, terrible right?). You want to introduce them to Led Zeppelin and see if they like the Band.

The question is, which album do you recommened to them. The Album has to incorporate all the things that make Led Zeppelin great, while also showing the greatest diversity.

Which album do you choose?

[lcondo123]

I gotta say PG just because of the album's diversity. It's got the fast paced rockers (Wanton Song, Trampled Underfoot, Sick Again, The Rover, etc.), the thunderous hard hitters (Kashmir, In My Time of Dying), the rock ballads (Ten Years Gone, In the Light), the slower bluesy stuff (Down By the Seaside), the catchy rockers (Houses of the Holy, Night Flight), the acoustics (duh), and I could go on and on.... Personally the easiest to get into IMO. Why start out listening to a band by ONLY listening to their popular stuff, you gotta dig a little deeper to get to their ​truly good stuff!! Plus it's the album that got me into Zep so I may be a little bit biased

[juxtiphi]

I gotta say PG just because of the album's diversity. It's got the fast paced rockers (Wanton Song, Trampled Underfoot, Sick Again, The Rover, etc.), the thunderous hard hitters (Kashmir, In My Time of Dying), the rock ballads (Ten Years Gone, In the Light), the slower bluesy stuff (Down By the Seaside), the catchy rockers (Houses of the Holy, Night Flight), the acoustics (duh), and I could go on and on.... Personally the easiest to get into IMO. Why start out listening to a band by ONLY listening to their popular stuff, you gotta dig a little deeper to get to their ​truly good stuff!! Plus it's the album that got me into Zep so I may be a little bit biased

Ditto! PG is the best of all worlds.

[Sathington Willoughby]

Houses of the Holy for me. To me it is their most original album from their 'peak years', least reliant on blues, folk, and rockabilly influences. Still has a very 'fresh' sound.

[Glyn]

PG is easily the most diverse, it incorporates all of Led Zeppelins different styles without relying too heavily on any one. Other than that I would suggest Led Zeppelin II or IV.

[JTM]

Definitely not PG, it's all over the place and too long with too many almost filler tunes to grab the beginner, It's hard to say really. I started on the second album before the third came out, then went back the first album then three, four and so on. So to come from the perspective of someone new to the whole catalogue, I really have not got a clue, say to not begin with PG.

[The Dark Lord]

Definitely not PG, it's all over the place and too long with too many almost filler tunes to grab the beginner, It's hard to say really. I started on the second album before the third came out, then went back the first album then three, four and so on. So to come from the perspective of someone new to the whole catalogue, I really have not got a clue, say to not begin with PG.

I tend to agree, even though I adore every note of PG. It really comes down to the musical taste and background of the individual. I started with LZ IV, and my relationship was cemented. To try and hit the musical middle ground, I would probably introduce someone to ITTOD or Houses of the Holy.

[Glyn]

How about disc one of PG, then?

[juxtiphi]

I say PG because first time I heard it I had just discovered Zeppelin I and had some exposure to II and III and IV. I was only 14 and didnt yet know what bootlegs were or had listened to TSRTS. So on Friday I went with a friend to his friends house and we walked out back into his yard and followed a 100 foot extension cord connected to another 100 footer that led into a fairly swampy area where this kid has set up a shack about 8x8x6. Inside there were 7 people crowded around a tiny table in the middle getting stoned. They had another table in the corner with a turntable on it, my Buddy said this guy loves Zep play something he hasn't heard yet. Physical Graffiti was it. The walls were covered in black light posters of Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and I got incredibly high. But I remember it all to this day because of how cool PG was!. Every song moved me instantly and I had to have it. Later I traded my vinyl Jimi Hendrix Essentials Vol 1 and 2 for it and never looked back!!.

[Charles J. White]

I was unable to choose because it depends on the listener as each album has nothing in common with the one before it or after. If you want "heavy" Led Zeppelin 1. If you want acoustic it would be 3 and so on. Led Zeppelin were a band that unlike many other bands didn't appear to consciously write something to appeal to a certain segment of the population, they kind of never listened to record executives as far as I can tell. Each album was a painting from a particular set of moments and each new album was a fresh canvas from a different day with a different set of moments. If you listen to the entire studio catalogue from start to finish you find that each album represents a different mood or set of emotions. Led Zeppelin set the standard for adventure rock because each album is a musical adventure

[ledded1]

I have always stuck by starting at the beginning where else.

Why introduce someone to a 6th album or 3rd or whichever?

Each is different in it's own right.

That said we have all I'm sure heard a track or album by an artist and then found their other albums which may be older and develop-ed listeiong ot theor whol body of work.

But tatstes vary and sopme may love 1 and not HOTh, for others it may be the other way round.

Try Mothership to introduce someone, best ofs so to speak are a good way in for some given that people these days rarley seem to listen to whole albums they just want tracks.

[Ddladner]

I have always stuck by starting at the beginning where else.

Why introduce someone to a 6th album or 3rd or whichever?

Each is different in it's own right.

That said we have all I'm sure heard a track or album by an artist and then found their other albums which may be older and develop-ed listeiong ot theor whol body of work.

But tatstes vary and sopme may love 1 and not HOTh, for others it may be the other way round.

Try Mothership to introduce someone, best ofs so to speak are a good way in for some given that people these days rarley seem to listen to whole albums they just want tracks.

Agree, for a first time listener, start at the beginning with I or Mothership to get a blend of 'best of'...and listen to the entire album without skipping songs. But no matter where you start, to me, what will turn someone into a huge fan is to show them LZ playing live, so TSRTS movie. Watching them play live will do the trick, and before long, they will have to have all of the albums!

[Pagefan55]

Agree, for a first time listener, start at the beginning with I or Mothership to get a blend of 'best of'...and listen to the entire album without skipping songs. But no matter where you start, to me, what will turn someone into a huge fan is to show them LZ playing live, so TSRTS movie. Watching them play live will do the trick, and before long, they will have to have all of the albums!

I agree completely, Dd!

[juxtiphi]

My Cousin says, "If you can't get past the first album then there's no need to listen to the rest".

[Mr. Mountain Hop]

The fourth album. Most of the tracks are already pretty well known to your average classic rock radio listening...you know, Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Stairway, Misty, California, Levee, even Evermore. In fact on my local classic rock station I'm sure I've heard all 8 tracks from the fourth album played at one point or another.

[Lilu]

Presence for me ! why ? because it's the first I heard and it made ​​me want to listen to anything else.

Moral: no matter the album, the spirit is everywhere

[chillumpuffer]

You could include the DVD here. Turn up the volume and introduce The Albert Hall Show. Zeppelin at their very, very best

[Sathington Willoughby]

You could include the DVD here. Turn up the volume and introduce The Albert Hall Show. Zeppelin at their very, very best

[Charles J. White]

This is such a stupid fucking question, how can anyone declare which album is "easiest", it seems dumb to me

[Gospel Zone]

Maybe we should be discussing witch one is the hardest to get out of. Yes, tomorrow is Halloween.