What's Your Favorite Led Zeppelin Album?

[RainbowElf]

My favorite Zeppelin is Led Zeppelin III, love this album it strikes such emotion in me, That's The Way is so beautiful, that's the only way I can describe it.

I'm interested to see other diehard's favorites and the reason why it's your favorite.

Edited July 15 by RainbowElf

[paul carruthers]

Houses of the Holy -- if I had to give specific reasons, usually what the detractors hate about this album is what I like or love: Robert's sped up vocals on a few of the tracks, the funny songs like Crunge & D'yer M'aker, the mostly happy vibes feel from the whole album. And of course, some shade with the dark & gloomy NQ. Perfect album & I wrestle with whether ITTOD or PG should be #2....

 

 

[chillumpuffer]

1st Album for me. Raw, ballsey blues and rock. It was first album I ever bought when I was 13 in 1974. Dazed and Confused was just so amazing when I first heard it. Brings back many memories for me. I recall going into a record store in my home town. They had listening booths where you put on a set of cans and they played the record. As soon as "Good times bad times" hit my ears I was hooked, line and sinker. 

[Muskee]

How the West Was Won. Personally this is my favorite era of Zeppelin, the 70-73 era. Featuring tracks off of every album up to Houses of the Holy with great live performances of Dancing Days and my favorite rendition of Over the Hills and Far Away. This album holds up even with the MSG shows. The quality is amazing and it is put together incredibly well for being two shows mixed (the LA Forum and Long Beach Arena) and really shows what made Led Zeppelin such a great live band.

[Stryder1978]

Physical Graffiti.....twice as much Zeppelin is always better!

[Wolfman]

PG 

[tmtomh]

Physical Graffiti, without a doubt. It has everything - the light and shade, hard electric blues, funk, beautiful acoustics, long epics, fun goofs, the whole nine yards.

Also, if you break it down between the 1974 tracks and the other tracks, the early tracks make up one of the best outtakes albums of all time (The Rover, Houses of the Holy, Down by the Seaside, Night Flight, Boogie with Stu, Black Country Woman).

Meanwhile, the 1974 tracks - the tracks they came up with just for that album - are incredible: Custard Pie, In My Time of Dying, Trampled Under Foot, Kashmir, In the Light, Ten Years Gone, The Wanton Song, Sick Again. There's not a weak or even so-so track in the bunch. And it includes not one or two but three long epics, plus arguably the best ballad they ever did (Ten Years Gone).

All that said, Led Zeppelin III is a close second for me.

And How the West Was Won is one of the best live albums in all of rock history.

 

[RainbowElf]

Great post ^^^^ LED III is my favorite of them all.

[pageluvva]

9 hours ago, tmtomh said:

Physical Graffiti, without a doubt. It has everything - the light and shade, hard electric blues, funk, beautiful acoustics, long epics, fun goofs, the whole nine yards.

Also, if you break it down between the 1974 tracks and the other tracks, the early tracks make up one of the best outtakes albums of all time (The Rover, Houses of the Holy, Down by the Seaside, Night Flight, Boogie with Stu, Black Country Woman).

Meanwhile, the 1974 tracks - the tracks they came up with just for that album - are incredible: Custard Pie, In My Time of Dying, Trampled Under Foot, Kashmir, In the Light, Ten Years Gone, The Wanton Song, Sick Again. There's not a weak or even so-so track in the bunch. And it includes not one or two but three long epics, plus arguably the best ballad they ever did (Ten Years Gone)

 

Oh hell yeah. Well said my friend. In The Light, TYG and Kashmir are, for me, THE masterpieces. 

And as a guitar player, the TYG solo is an underrated work of art. 

[sixpense]

First Album or Fourth Album. (Depending on the day)

[gcczep]

Hard to choose since I've loved the band's music for so long but push comes to shove? It will have to be the fourth. 

[JTM]

My fiirst favourite was II because it's the first one I heard, then it was I, followed by HOTH, then back to I then II again, back to I  So for years it alternated between I and II, nowadays it's HOTH, has been for years, not a tune on it that I don't like. None of the other albums have ever made my top three.

HOTH is special because it's the first LZ album I bought the week it was released. I didn't even have a record player when the fourth album was released.

Edited July 17 by JTM

[John M]

At one time or another every one of the albums has been my favorite.  The albums are so different from each other, and each is so special.  The only way for me to answer this question is to say that my favorite album is the one I am listening to at the time.   Each one I listen to I think about how great it is, and I am reminded of all the reasons I like it so much.

[RainbowElf]

2 hours ago, John M said:

At one time or another every one of the albums has been my favorite.  The albums are so different from each other, and each is so special.  The only way for me to answer this question is to say that my favorite album is the one I am listening to at the time.   Each one I listen to I think about how great it is, and I am reminded of all the reasons I like it so much.

I see what you mean, at one time Led Zeppelin IV was my favorite, but every time I listen to III, man the feelings the album invokes in me I just can't explain it. 

[JohnOsbourne]

Physical Graffiti.  (III would probably be 2nd.)

[LedZed66]

I - IV. Impossible to choose a favorite one