My very first Led Zeppelin album. I had heard Whole Lotta Love in Brian’s car at proper volume. The instrumental bridge leading into the guitar solo by Jimmy Page had me hooked. It had so many of the elemens that I had loved. It was kind of like mixing up Agony, Aldo Nova, Space Battle Sound Effects, Whale Songsand punctuated with the perfect tone of Jimmy’s guitar.
As you might recall, I had listened to my cousin’s Led Zeppelin IV. I had even seen The Song Remains The Same at the midnight movies. This album sounded very different. Was itHeavy Metal? It certainly felt heavy and had loud guitars and heavy drums. It was quite as buzz saw as the other stuff like Accept. Still, at the time it was metal enough and it is full of great songs.
My collection of Metal was growing. It was starting to fall into a couple different categories. The was the old school stuff like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Then there was the new metal like Twisted Sister and Ratt. Still compared to what was coming down the pike in the 90’s with bands like Slipknot, some of this stuff hardly seems metal at all.
I think that Led Zeppelin II also ushered in the appreciation for classic rock. It was my first step beyond the Billboard Top 100 mainstream pop music path that I had been on for so long. I still don’t and won’t apologize for liking Culture Club, The B-52’s, Thomas Dolby, or even The Safety Dance. There is room for all that stuff and while some may be more critically acclaimed than others, music has never been about technical prowess but all bout the emotion. What makes you feel good and gets you moving or singing along?
Whole Lotta Love
What Is And What Should Never Be
Thank You – I put this on a mix tape years later. It was the last song on the tape and it ran out of room before it finished so the last line came out “mountains crumble to the sea, there would still be you…” There wasn’t enough tape for “me”
Heartbreaker – Here is another one that I had heard years ago as played by Dave Wilder on a guitar in one of the music rooms at Vermont Academy even though I didn’t know that was what it was at that time.
Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
Ramble On
Moby Dick