II is actually their weakest album after Presence and ITTOD in my opinion. It's just boring, only a few songs are engaging.

II for me is the quintessential 70s hard rock album, catchy riffs, brilliant melodies, awesome licks, what more could you ask for?

If often gets stated as the quintessential hard rock album of the 70s anyway.

Thing is, Zep were (IMO) the only metal band to transcend the genre.
Starting with LZ3, they successfully incorporated elements of folk, pop, and jazz into their rock /R&B/blues roots.
(I think I`ve covered most musical styles there!)
They experimented and took chances-after 1 and 2, who would ever have envisaged Zep playing reggae?
Yet a few albums later they did.
I mean, they were good.
Effing good

Fully agree :bringit:

When it comes to Led Zeppelin, i cant choose. They're just so.. erm. "bonerific" :D

Since I told someone yesterday that I don't really like Led Zeppelin because their songs seem heavy on guitar noodling and low on melody, I thought I should listen to some of their music again and decide if that's really true.

As coincidence would have it, this morning while filling up the car with gas a Led Zeppelin song was playing over the loudspeaker, and with an internal sigh I realized that I kinda liked the song, destroying my dignified, sweeping statement of distaste.

I think a fair assessment of my feelings about Led Zeppelin is that I like around ten of their songs but don't love any of them. Their songs usually sound too gritty, rambling, and unmelodious for my tastes, and chafe me like auditory sandpaper.

Below, however, I'll share some of the Led Zeppelin songs that I do like.

But first, I must chuckle at the name "Led Zeppelin," because the cutesy spelling of "lead" reminds me of the name of Rodrick Heffley's metal band "Löded Diper" (from the Wimpy Kid book series, which is hilarious):

"Löded Diper" (fake band)
Rodrick is the best part of the movies, IMO.




Okay, but back to Zep, these are some songs I like:

(1) "Kashmir"
I like its oppressive feeling, which lasts a long time because it's a long song! :)



(2) "Fool in The Rain"
I like the relaxed beat and cheerful emotion.



(3) "All of My Love"
This was the song playing at the gas station. I just read the lyrics and see they are odd. I've heard the song many times but obviously never listened to it because I had no idea they were singing this: "One voice is clear above the din, Proud Aryan one word, my will to sustain for me, the cloth once more to spin"

Huh? Aryan?? I thought this was a simple love song, but now I don't know.

The problem you`ve got is that about a million people have already told you just how great and brilliant this band actually is, meaning that you`re going to look for the faults in their music. Because they were so popular they have been exposed to death, had they been some long forgotten and unknown band then you`d find them a lot easier to like.

I think if you really want to get into Led Zeppelin start and really absorb the first album, its an absolute classic, but most importantly you have to listen to the band in the context of their era the late 60s to the mid 70s, by and large both music wise and stage wise, they were blasting most of the competition out of the water. To really appreciate how great they were you really need to line them up against the other hard rock bands of that era.

I agree that in order to appreciate Led Zeppelin fully I should learn enough to put their music into its historical context. I am judging the music purely by comparing it to what I like to listen to NOW, regardless of the band's role in history. Led Zeppelin's music just doesn't move me much.

I've heard "Good Times, Bad Times" off their first album, of course, but I listened through the rest of "Led Zeppelin" to make sure I'd heard all the songs off the album ...


Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin [Full Album] - YouTube

... and honestly, Unknown Soldier, there are just quite a few qualities of their music that I don't like.

I don't like long guitar solos in any song (example: Buckethead is torture to me), and their songs often have them. I don't like the vocals that frequently rise up to a shrieking - they often sound the same from one song to the next, and I don't like the shrieking. Finally, I don't like the Blues very much, which I think gives the slow, lumphing-along mournful feeling to some of their songs. I get bored listening to the music.

I don't think I dislike much of Led Zeppelin's music because they are famous. I think I dislike the music because I dislike the music! :D

P.S. They also use a lot of organ in this album and I just don't like much organ music, especially not in rock songs.

You don`t like blues based hard rock, you don`t like guitar solos or shrieking style vocals................mmm I`m guessing 75% of 1970s hard rock is not going to be your cuppa:laughing:

I`d actually recommend a hard rock act like Free, far more melodic with less noticeable blues influences and clean sounding smooth vocals, give them a try, if you don`t already know them.

I`ve just seen that you don`t like organ music, well stay clear of Deep Purple, they have shrieking vocals, guitar solos and organ grinding!!!