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First Zep song to melt your brain


Peep Solero

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I've been thinking lately about my condition of obsession with Zeppelin and digging back I realized that for me the first song that made me babble like crazy to my friends about "this cool band, you should really listen to it, even though they broke up 6 years before I was born"....was Whole Lotta Love.

What was it for you? what melted your brain beyond recognition and made you into a fan?

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It was an experience that few have ever had, relatively speaking, considering the Millions of Led Zeppelin fans out there.....

But, at 14, in October of 1969, I put on the Large Koss Headphones, and I put on the brand new LP of Led Zeppelin II, and "Whole Lotta Love" blew my mind, and my 14 year old brain had a Glorious "Meltdown" ! ! :D

I HAD N-E-V-E-R heard ANYTHING like that before ! ! :o

I knew there was something special about Led Zeppelin because of the "buzz", the "word" on the street. I had not felt a "buzz" of that magnitude since The Beatles came on the scene back in '63-'64.

The original LP of LZ II, as Pressed by Robert Ludwig, of "RL" for short, was later re-pressed to be "not so dynamic", as there were reports that the cheapest turntables could not handle the Dynamics on that LP. Do I need to tell you that NO CD, since released of LZ II, from ANYONE, has been able to match the Dynamics found on that "RL" Pressing produced back in 1969.

If there was any dooubt about Led Zeppelin, after hearing WLL, upon experiencing "Heartbreaker" from that same LP.... I was duly brought into Submission... B)

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Trampled Underfoot

Riding around with my brother in his van, who I hadn't seen since before I started getting high.

He had PG on cassette, and when Trampled came on, I was literally blown away - it seemed to play on for what seemed like 20 or 30 minutes. I asked him what the name of the song was, and (in typical fashion) instead of admitting he wasn't sure of the name, told me "L-O-V-E – love".

All I knew was that it was the most incredible thing I'd ever heard, so I went out and bought the album the next day, and in so doing, discovered the actual name of the song. :lolo:

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1969 I was 11 and a friend of mine, his big brother had Led Zep 2. We played Whole lotta love, I'd never heard anything like it before, the sheer energy. I thought the abstract noise middle section was a gimmick, but the more I listened the more I could follow it just like a melody, suddenly music wasnt what I thought it was whole world had just exploded in my ears!

The next time something like that happened was when Zep 3 came out 'Friends', and 'Since i've bin lovin you' I didnt know music could melt your soul like that.

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I don't know why, but it's going be stairway which I had heard/felt the song in some mystical way at my last Grade 8 dance. I have heard Zeppelin before and all, but it didn't stick to me. I was more into the dance/House/Techno/Freestyle (Stevie B)/Euro Music and Rap up until then. Not to mention from a little infant till the Gr 8 dance, my father for some weird reason had been trying to "brain wash" us with the Styx, Floyd, Doors, the whole sha-bam all aboard on the train.

watching the teachers reactions on stage, with Kaleidoscope eyes and the air guitar waving through the air sealed the deal for me. Going to school the next day gave the teachers all the feedback/Research they deserved. Walking through the class door with eyeballs clicking and ears open I said, "wow, Led Zeppelin...<Pause>" and immediately asked for the song title.

I can keep more to the story but ill save it for later B)

A little bit of Hollywood/Real life for you

B):o

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It 's gotta be "Whole lotta love". The first time I discovered the magic of LZ.

I was babysitting at some people's place and they had this huge music library with LPs and cassettes (a long ago... :) )

I just went through every single LP and cassette they had and there it was. I had just found Led Zeppelin II, or as I like to believe, it found me.

I looked at the cover and of course I knew them, but only by their name. I had never ever listened to any of their songs.

I just played it and when Whole Lotta Love erupted I was in love, indeed.

I remember I just couldn't get enough of that song: the sharp and hard guitar riffery, the middle pause with those Robert's moans and groans, the powerful drums and the sexual tension of the whole song. Well, I think I played that song over and over for an hour, at high volume. Only the following day, I discovered there were other great songs on that album and much more, other great albums.

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It 's gotta be "Whole lotta love". The first time I discovered the magic of LZ.

I was babysitting at some people's place and they had this huge music library with LPs and cassettes (a long ago... :) )

I just went through every single LP and cassette they had and there it was. I had just found Led Zeppelin II, or as I like to believe, it found me.

I looked at the cover and of course I knew them, but only by their name. I had never ever listened to any of their songs.

I just played it and when Whole Lotta Love erupted I was in love, indeed.

I remember I just couldn't get enough of that song: the sharp and hard guitar riffery, the middle pause with those Robert's moans and groans, the powerful drums and the sexual tension of the whole song. Well, I think I played that song over and over for an hour, at high volume. Only the following day, I discovered there were other great songs on that album and much more, other great albums.

That was my first also. But brain melting at the time was Ramble on.

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I started listening to Zep when I was 10 years old. One day when I was 16, me and a friend got really stoned and starting blasting tunes. For some reason, maybe the volume, maybe the drugs, I don't know, when Whole Lotta Love came on I was dumbstruck. I had heard it hundreds of times before but just at that moment it clicked. The solo just burned right through me. I felt like I was just given a key to open a magical door.

My friend said to me after the song, "What's wrong, you look weird," and I blurted out something to the effect that I am going to learn that song. He laughed and said, "You don't even play guitar. And that's Jimmy Page. You can't do that"

So I went and bought a guitar. In time I learned the song. But what's most impressive is that WLL inspired me to become the professional musician I am today.

I really think that if that moment in time never happened, my path would have been much different.

Edited by deluxe
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Oh, well, the first song I ever heard of Led Zep was The Immigrant Song! It was at the age of 6, when my dad was putting "Led Zeppelin III" (the only album he has on vinyl, haha!) on his pick-up with speakers up!!! I really loved that SCREAM!!... :rolleyes: As for Whole Lotta Love, I first heard it much later, when I was 9!

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Seeing/hearing SIBLY from The Song Remains the Same for the first time did it for me too. I was, I think, 14, maybe 15 (and quite naive); and was completely blown away by the raw power and bluesiness of the song; the vocals, the guitar, everything. Prior to that I'd been listening mainly to the 4th album, and some other songs of theirs that were played on FM radio, but had never heard anything like SIBLY before (it's still my favorite Zeppelin song, 25+ years later). I had to run out and buy all the albums after that. I also immediately understood the qualities that set them apart from other bands.

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Seeing/hearing SIBLY from The Song Remains the Same for the first time did it for me too. I was, I think, 14, maybe 15 (and quite naive); and was completely blown away by the raw power and bluesiness of the song; the vocals, the guitar, everything. Prior to that I'd been listening mainly to the 4th album, and some other songs of theirs that were played on FM radio, but had never heard anything like SIBLY before (it's still my favorite Zeppelin song, 25+ years later). I had to run out and buy all the albums after that. I also immediately understood the qualities that set them apart from other bands.

God, when I heard SIBLY from TSRTS, 3 years ago, I fell for Robert...And think that, when I was 10 I deemed him an arrogant bastard!!! :bagoverhead:

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"Dazed and Confused" when LZ I was released, in 1969. I was ten years old. The entire album blew me away but it was "Dazed and Confused" that "melted my brain". I studied the album cover until I had it memorized - down to the "1841 Broadway" address and the "Produced by Jimmy Page". My friends and I spent hours listening to each song and trying to decipher the lyrics and the meanings. We had small spiral-bound notepads where we would record our findings. We didn't just write out the lyrics but would write down things before or after each lyric such as: "Robert moans, John crashes cymbals." or "Jimmy plays chords hard, Robert howls loudly" and so on. In hindsight, I wish I had saved those little notebooks because, once we started to actually go to Zep concerts, for one reason or another, we stopped doing that. LZ opened the world to me and enhanced my life and it started with LZ I.

Edited by MadScreamingGallery
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As hot as the first album was, it took Heartbreaker to scald my brain. I just stared at the flame for the debut but finally put my finger to the fire with the second one.

Yeah, I was scorched. Cooked. Fried. Burnt to a crisp.

Even the mind graphs couldn't bring me back, I was scarred for life.

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I was born in the year of Led Zeppelin.1968.

Their music, as I was growing up was like "Wallpaper".It was always there in the background, and so I took it for granted that it always would be!.I think I expected (and perhaps hoped) that one day they would be bettered, but unfortunately they never were!.

The first led Zeppelin song to melt my brain was Communication Breakdown from their first album.I did not hear it until I was 15,because they didn't play it on the radio or T.V for some reason. :unsure:

I bought all of their albums at once when I could afford to.

To me the song was, and is,such a ferocious emotional roar of real emotion that I doubt if anything else has had that sort of impact on me to this day!.

Edited by Gervox
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The first song I really loved was "You Shook me"

Later I have bought the "Remasters" CD- about 2 years ago- and I was hooked with "Ramble on"

And just wait, I remember: As a 17 years old girl I have listened for the first time to "Stairway to Heaven", my uncle had it. And I was already feeling, that this is one of the most touching rock ballads I have ever heard.

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