The new band was initially called, “The New
Yardbirds,” but changed their name to “Led Zeppelin” as a response to one
observer who predicted their doom by stating, “They’ll go down like a lead
balloon.” Like most other early hard rock bands, Zeppelin had a solid grounding
in the electric blues of Chicago ,
especially where Hubert Sumlin, Otis Rush and Howlin’ Wolf were concerned.
The band’s debut album, “Led Zeppelin”
(1968), clearly revealed that influence as the band recorded revolutionary
takes on a number of Chess standards such as “You Shook Me,” “I Can't Quit You,”
and “How Many More Times” with over-amplified bass, guitar and drums and the banshee-like
vocals of Robert Plant. The album remains today one of the all-time classics of
hard rock.
Their next effort, the superb “Led Zeppelin
2” (1969), contained fewer covers and moved more toward a mainstream hard rock
sound with classic tracks such as “Heartbreaker,” “Whole Lotta Love,” and
“Ramble On.” Their third release, “Led Zeppelin 3” (1970), was a more eclectic
affair featuring several acoustic performances by Page and the hard-driving,
“Immigrant Song.”
The band’s next release, “Led Zeppelin 4” (1971),
would ultimately become their masterpiece due in large part to the presence of
one of the most popular rock tracks ever, “Stairway to Heaven.” In addition to
this hard rock anthem, there were other gems such as the folk-rock of “The Battle
of Evermore,” featuring a vocal duet between Plant and former Fairport
Convention lead singer, Sandy Denny. This album remains one of the best-selling
and most-praised rock albums in history.
The first Led Zeppelin album to actually
bear a proper title, “Houses of the Holy” (1973), followed next. It was yet
another outstanding offering, containing the standout tracks, “The Song Remains
the Same,” and “Over the Hills and Far Away.” The double album, “Physical
Graffiti,” was next and continued Led Zeppelin’s almost unprecedented run of
fine albums. Another diverse release, the album contained the epic track, “Kashmir .”
The very solid, “Presence,” was released in
1976, followed by the somewhat disappointing, “In Through the Out Door,” in
1979. An excellent live album of material from the Seventies, “How the West was
Won,” would appear out of the blue in 2003.