Jump to content

Rank the Zeppelin albums - favorite to least favorite.


Jukkin

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

Impossible to rank in order, as I will listen to a particular album dependant on my mood. Every album has a different feel. One day  Presence  will by favourite, but next day it will be II, so impossible to put in order.

I still believe you get the best feel of each by playing them on vinyl. Their is nothing like pulling the record out & putting it on the turntable whilst holding and reading the album sleeve whilst it is playing. Beats the CD version hands down.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have hardly any vinyl now. But no Led Zepp. All mine is on cd. Due to moving houses. My Mrs bought a cheap record player. So we have been buying what we like from the charity shops. I just hope i spot the odd Led Zepp one in there. There is no way i can afford to start again. They are way expensive. I do agree, They do sound better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Rank ordering Led Zeppelin's studio albums?

 

Its a very hard choice to rank order the studio albums of one of the greatest bands ever.  The top 5 invites heavy debate and clearly they are ranked very closely.  And admittedly if I am forced to answer this question in a couple of weeks I could give a different answer.  I rank Led Zeppelin IV at #1 even though I haven't played it much in a good while.  Physical Grafitti gets to #2 on the strength of containing some of their greatest songs, despite some filler.  Houses Of The Holy... cannot go wrong and every track is an absolute classic, same with Led Zeppelin II.  When we look at 6, 7, and 8 is where we see some real distinctions in overall quality, I think.

 

For me it's

 

1. Led Zeppelin IV

2. Physical Graffitti

3. Houses Of The Holy

4. Led Zeppelin II

5. Presence 

6. Led Zeppelin I

7. Led Zeppelin III

8. In Through The Out Door

9. CODA

Edited by irondirigible
spelling error
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the order of "how often I listen to them", rather than critics' choice....

 

1. Led Zep 2

2. Physical Graffiti

3. Presence

4. Led Zep 3

5. Led Zep 1

6. Led Zep 4

7. Houses of the Holy

8. Coda

9. In thru The Out Door

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow!  Some real differences here.  Well, the great thing here is that this is art (and high art at that!) so none of us is right and none wrong.

There are many days that I would make the case that Houses Of The Holy is their finest.  I feel no other Zeppelin album can match its perfection and the strength and brilliance of every track.  Even IV cannot do this.  Yet IV, while overplayed does contain moments where the band took rock n roll to another level and that's why its #1 for me.

But like i said, no list here is wrong

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Fun topic!

My preferences don't change often, but they have gradually changed over the past 5-15 years.

  1. Physical Graffiti - My favorite since I first started buying my own music at age 12
  2. Zep III - This one has moved the most on my list since my tween and early teen years. The light and shade are just amazing
  3. Zep I - The second-biggest mover since my early years.i Has any band been more fully formed at its debut, especially after taking only, what, 3 weeks to make the album. Also,  ironically this earliest album might be their best sonically too
  4. Zep II - After all these years, Whole Lotta Love by itself has like a half-dozen spine-tingling moments.
  5. Zep IV - Played to death of course, but Levee never gets old and listening to the reissue companion disc really sheds new light on how genius this album is
  6. Houses of the Holy - Love the songs, don't love the helium (TSRTS) and quaalude (No Quarter) vocals; and find the sonics/production a little too trebly and not quite muscular enough. I much prefer the versions on The Song Remains the Same soundtrack.
  7. Presence - I run hot and cold on this, depending on my mood. Sometimes I think it's a sterile, depressing record with no light and shade. Other times I think it's a tour de force of incredible intensity and energy.
  8. In Through the Out Door - I don't rank this as distantly behind the other albums as a lot of folks here seem to. In the Evening is a killer track and can stand with most other album openers in the catalogue. I'm Gonna Crawl is IMHO terribly underrated. I think Fool in the Rain is a fantastic song that no other hard rock band could ever have pulled off. And All My Love is beautiful.
  9. Coda - Just listened to it today from beginning to end for the first time in quite awhile, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I still will never love Ozone Baby, but the rest of the album is actually pretty solid IMHO.

For what it's worth, if I were to add in the other officially released audio, I'd put How the West Was Won between Zep I and Zep II; The Song Remains the Same between Zep IV and Houses; and BBC Sessions between Houses and Presence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, since Physical Graffiti is a double album this poll will kind of be biased towards that, but here is my pick:

1. Presence

2. Physical Graffiti

3. III

4. I

5. IV

6. II

7. Houses of the Holy

8. Coda

9. In Through the Out Door (A very distant 9th)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Physical Graffiti

2. IV

3. III

4. II

5. HotH

6. I

7. Presence

8. ITTOD

Coda is odds and sods so I don't tend to rank that one. III and II switch round as and when I like it, and HotH moves up and down the list a lot - sometimes it's in my top 3, othertimes it isn't. I love the first album, but it's just improved on so much in subsequent records. Neither Presence or ITTOD are that much of a step down, but they're both weird. Presence is difficult to get into, and ITTOD feels like a collection of songs and interesting ideas, not so much a cohesive statement.

PG and IV are always the top ones, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Cosmic_Equilibrium said:

1. Physical Graffiti

2. IV

3. III

4. II

5. HotH

6. I

7. Presence

8. ITTOD

Coda is odds and sods so I don't tend to rank that one. III and II switch round as and when I like it, and HotH moves up and down the list a lot - sometimes it's in my top 3, othertimes it isn't. I love the first album, but it's just improved on so much in subsequent records. Neither Presence or ITTOD are that much of a step down, but they're both weird. Presence is difficult to get into, and ITTOD feels like a collection of songs and interesting ideas, not so much a cohesive statement.

PG and IV are always the top ones, though.

But CODA is STILL a released Zep album, so put it in your rankings. Specifically I'd like to know how it ranks compared to ITTOD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

nice topic....for me difficult to rank as an adult as I can fit them in all as #1's (LZ I through PG) and #2's (the last 3...) definitely has changed over the years, I wore out IV as a teen...I can put together a "best of" all the reissues and have it rank in the middle

1. II

2. Physical Graffiti

3. IV

4. Houses

5. III

6. I

7.ITTOD

8. Presence

9. Coda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/11/2016 at 1:06 AM, zeppatic said:

Impossible to rank in order, as I will listen to a particular album dependant on my mood. Every album has a different feel. One day  Presence  will by favourite, but next day it will be II, so impossible to put in order.

I still believe you get the best feel of each by playing them on vinyl. Their is nothing like pulling the record out & putting it on the turntable whilst holding and reading the album sleeve whilst it is playing. Beats the CD version hands down.

 

Agree... I absolutely cannot rank them in order and there is at LEAST one song on each album that can be my "favorite" depending on my mood.

Also agree with sound on vinyl. I don't have a turntable now, but growing up, my dad had all the Zep albums and listening to them on vinyl is one of my favorite memories (although setting the needle without scratching the album was always a little nerve wracking as my dad was a bit of a freak about things like that!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

 

I don't think I can really rank them, but ok:

Led Zeppelin III-always loved the acoustic songs, first Zep album I had, it has some progressive rock with Celebration day and I still think SIBLY is the best version ever if you consider everything in detail and it's my favourite Zep song, plus really lots of great melodies and choruses on the album.

Physical Graffiti-everything up to this point is here, the pinnacle of creativity, great interaction, great songs and some fantastic symphonic overdubbing, especially on Ten years gone, another one of my favourites.

TSRTS-mostly my nostalgia, but Page is really great and the rest are not far behind at times, plus only live album with enough of keyboards 

IV-Black dog is nice and complex, Rock and roll is pure Zep, BOE has great atmosphere and vocals, Stairway has great intimate atmosphere, great solo and appropriate drum sound, not to heavy, the rest is really good to, but not Zep's best songwriting, lack of melody and (long) choruses.

Led Zeppelin I-great solos, even if Page got better at constructing them, nice blues songs, unpredictable arrangements and even a few chorus tunes.

Houses of the holy- I like the live versions more, but I think Page truly achieved something great and unique with the way he made the album sound, plus The Crunge is just so weird and funny, never made me laugh though.

In through the out door-always something so special about the atmosphere of Carouselambra, especially the keyboard bridge and the slow part, All my love is just great and beautiful and the rest is just great Jones, Page does some amazing riffs, even in Fool in the rain, Bonzo is still full of detail and playfullness even if less active and Plant is really touching, plus there are some really fun songs too.

HTWWW-the vocals are a bit squeaky, but still very powerful at times and wonderfull in the acoustic section which has great mandolin, the guitar is amazing in improvisation which is not that loose yet but really precise, the drums lack some typical Bonzo sound in the mix and he is not yet at his peak and Jones is not mixed loud enough and not enough keyboard songs, but it's really great and sometimes earlier Plant yells almost too much, while on the latter tours he sometimes has some trouble, so this is almost middle ground, but certainly Zep at it's best in many ways. I like Dazed from TSRTS more, but for many it must have been great to hear such a technically flawless version.

Led Zeppelin II-great songwriting starts, Plant still borrows some lyrics, the rest is mostly original, great riffs, energy and more interaction then the first album.

Presence-amazing guitar structures, still great, but lack of vocal melody, no keyboards and acoustic instruments and no variety in sound and almost no choruses, still should be higher on the list, because the band wanted to sound like that on all songs to portray how they felt.

BBC sessions-some great playing and energy on the first disc, but disc two doesn't capture early Zep that well, the guitar sound is a bit to thin and I preffer Montreux and Bath 1970 or Toronto, Milan, LA and Florida 1971 if I want early Zep with most explosive vocals and other members that are not a bit confused by the studio environment.

Coda-Ozone baby would be really great with better vocals, Darlene is a nice 1977 piano guitar jam and the ending has Plant singing some great phrasing, Bonzo's Montreux is a nice experiment and more groovy than studio Moby dick, but overall the album is certainly not Zep's best songwriting, playing or singing, but still good, no need for Stairway or Whole lotta love there, the album is a showcase for Bonzo mostly.

Edited by SamoKodela
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 11/15/2017 at 5:15 AM, SamoKodela said:

Led Zeppelin III-always loved the acoustic songs, first Zep album I had, it has some progressive rock with Celebration day and I still think SIBLY is the best version ever if you consider everything in detail and it's my favourite Zep song, plus really lots of great melodies and choruses on the album.

i absolutely LOVE III! :hurrah:

Edited by thatguynamedjosh247
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
On 7/2/2017 at 8:23 PM, tmtomh said:

Fun topic!

My preferences don't change often, but they have gradually changed over the past 5-15 years.

  1. Physical Graffiti - My favorite since I first started buying my own music at age 12
  2. Zep III - This one has moved the most on my list since my tween and early teen years. The light and shade are just amazing
  3. Zep I - The second-biggest mover since my early years.i Has any band been more fully formed at its debut, especially after taking only, what, 3 weeks to make the album. Also,  ironically this earliest album might be their best sonically too
  4. Zep II - After all these years, Whole Lotta Love by itself has like a half-dozen spine-tingling moments.
  5. Zep IV - Played to death of course, but Levee never gets old and listening to the reissue companion disc really sheds new light on how genius this album is
  6. Houses of the Holy - Love the songs, don't love the helium (TSRTS) and quaalude (No Quarter) vocals; and find the sonics/production a little too trebly and not quite muscular enough. I much prefer the versions on The Song Remains the Same soundtrack.
  7. Presence - I run hot and cold on this, depending on my mood. Sometimes I think it's a sterile, depressing record with no light and shade. Other times I think it's a tour de force of incredible intensity and energy.
  8. In Through the Out Door - I don't rank this as distantly behind the other albums as a lot of folks here seem to. In the Evening is a killer track and can stand with most other album openers in the catalogue. I'm Gonna Crawl is IMHO terribly underrated. I think Fool in the Rain is a fantastic song that no other hard rock band could ever have pulled off. And All My Love is beautiful.
  9. Coda - Just listened to it today from beginning to end for the first time in quite awhile, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I still will never love Ozone Baby, but the rest of the album is actually pretty solid IMHO.

For what it's worth, if I were to add in the other officially released audio, I'd put How the West Was Won between Zep I and Zep II; The Song Remains the Same between Zep IV and Houses; and BBC Sessions between Houses and Presence.

It really is so strange how the first one sounds the best. Literally the others don't hold a candle, sonically, with the exception of Presence. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...