Ranking Led Zeppelin's 8 Studio Albums - Progressive Rock Music Forum

^ I gave full 5-star rankings to four Led Zeppelin albums, but they were all Live albums, so The Song Remains the Same.

1. Physical Graffiti

2. IV

3. III

4. II

5. I

6. Presence

7. Houses of the Holy

8. In Through the Out Door

Houses Of the Holy

IV

II

Physical Graffiti

III

Presence

In Through the Outdoor

Led Zeppelin

I

II

III

IV

Houses

Physical

Presence

Coda

Outhouse

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moshkito wrote:

just that energy ... not even if the band was good or not, and most of them were not even worth the discussion.

But the media made them look good and great ... and what did most of us do? ... geee ... I must have missed the boat!

HOGWASH! ... (and yes, The Groundhogs were great! Smile

)

Biggest misconception about this band, that they were subpar skill-wise. All four members loved American blues and were committed to recreating the ragged roughness of the early recordings they grew up on. In fact they were masters of their craft, so much that their records and performances were often considered "sloppy". That was the point. If they'd wanted to do clean, perfectly executed music, they would not have been the same band (and thank goodness).

Zeppelin were among the finest, most seasoned musicians in Britain at that time. Oh, and the Groundhogs? Do you mean the Yardbirds?

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

1. Presence... couple of tracks need a tune to hold them together but quite unique. Invents 80s metal with Achilles and not a power chord in sight.

2. Graffiti. Variety. IMTOD could've been shorter and like Presence they kept plagiarism down Two tracks rather than I on the first.

3. IV. The odd dodgy lyric (GTC and MMH) but splendid stuff over all.

4. III. Great everything. And Hey Hey What Can I Do was left off in favour of Roy Harper. Probably because they usually finished an album with a blues and that element was not prevalent on III.

5. In Through The Out Door. Fantastic 3 part number Carouselambra as John Paul Jones uses the same harmonic trick that Jeff Wayne used to open War Of The Worlds. Needed to be a 2 LP set. Multi trick pony Zeppelin wrong foot everyone who stereotypes them as a metal band.

6. I. Great side 1 and interesting side 2. One of the best debuts. One of the most unique by using other people's material. HMMT sums up the album as a quick jam to fill up side 2. ICQYB was done better live and is easily their worst version. Quite funny really especially after the devastating Shook Me which was also stunning live. The Yardbirds would also release Dazed and Confused but credit Jake Holmes.

7. HoTH. Over The Hills is exemplary as is The Ocean. Rain Song and Song Remans worked even better in concert. No Quarter is way too short and sounds a bit stilted. Worked better in other versions and live. Outstanding track though. The rest are either complex and confusing (Crunge), silly D'Yer Mak'er saved by fantastic drumming or simple and overly bright ... Dancing Days. And they left the excellent title cut off.

8. II. The album that set the template for 70s rock albums. Guitar, drum and bass solos, Organ solo, power ballad prototype. And one of the most plagiarised albums of music. I think Bukka White's version (it was on utube) of You Need Love uses the WLL riff. Not sure if that was before or after the Zeppelin thing. Plants 2 songs What Is and Ramble On make up for the beneath the scenes dodginess. The drum solo was done with hands and is different for that.

Steve Wyzard wrote:

SteveG wrote:

Steve Wyzard wrote:

From Best to Worst:

1) In Through the Out Door

2) Physical Graffiti

3) Houses of the Holy

4) III

5) II

6) IV

7) Presence

8) Led Zeppelin

Out Door as number one?

I will gladly defend my choice of In Through the Out Door as the best Led Zeppelin album. While Physical Graffiti is very close with the awe-inspiring "Kashmir" and "In the Light", In Through the Out Door has "Carouselambra", "I'm Gonna Crawl", "Fool in the Rain", and "All my Love", all among the best songs the band ever did. I'm somewhat biased in that this album was my first LZ album (back when it was new), but it's the one I still most enjoy listening to all the way through. Even "Hot Dog" is very amusing, although I really wish "Ozone Baby" (which later appeared on the Coda album) would have filled that slot.

In Through the Out Door is similar to ELP's Black Moon album, in that both bands finally decided it was time to be grown-ups, and left behind a lot of their earlier silliness / "bad boy" antics.

While I won't go as far as you and say ITTOD is my favorite I do think it's their most underrated. I like it a lot and think it's easily their most eclectic album which is another reason I like it a lot. If you took away "hot dog" and "fool in the rain" I think more people would appreciate it more and rate it higher. I still like those tracks though. Also, "I'm gonna crawl" might be the most underrated LZ song along with "the rover" from PG.

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - February 05 2021 at 17:18

Atavachron wrote:

^ It's a magnificent album-- 'Fool in the Rain' is a great track and 'Hotdog' is fun, it shows off their working-musician background and mastery of studiocraft.

I picked up a cassette of the album in Mexico when it came out. The title was spelled In Thregw The Outdoor. Think it was booted? I don't think it's a bad album, just not good enough to be number 1 on anyone's list.

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SteveG wrote:

Atavachron wrote:

^ It's a magnificent album-- 'Fool in the Rain' is a great track and 'Hotdog' is fun, it shows off their working-musician background and mastery of studiocraft.

I picked up a cassette of the album in Mexico when it came out. The title was spelled In Thregw The Outdoor. Think it was booted? I don't think it's a bad album, just not good enough to be number 1 on anyone's list.

That's a fairly snap judgement of an album every high school kid secretly listens to when ZoSo is over and everyone's gone home. And for lifelong fans it is a breath of fresh air after years of Heartbreaker, Going to California, and Kashmir.

I can see it becoming someone's Number 1 ... eventually.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

SteveG wrote:

Atavachron wrote:

SteveG wrote:

Atavachron wrote:

^ It's a magnificent album-- 'Fool in the Rain' is a great track and 'Hotdog' is fun, it shows off their working-musician background and mastery of studiocraft.

I picked up a cassette of the album in Mexico when it came out. The title was spelled In Thregw The Outdoor. Think it was booted? I don't think it's a bad album, just not good enough to be number 1 on anyone's list.

That's a fairly snap judgement of an album every high school kid secretly listens to when ZoSo is over and everyone's gone home. And for lifelong fans it is a breath of fresh air after years of Heartbreaker, Going to California, and Kashmir.

I can see it becoming someone's Number 1 ... eventually.

What snap judgement? I lived with the album for 3 months. It sucked. Btw, I was out of high school in 1966.

Not a fan of Up the Down Escalator, never was. A few decent songs. That's it. Most of it is forgettable. I usually listen to Physical Graffiti or Presence these days. I'm not as ancient as old fart Steve since I graduated in 1978, but I believe I know what's what when it comes to Zeppelin, and their last album is not up to snuff.

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