Review: Led Zeppelin - s/t

Led Zeppelin
(Atlantic/Polydor 1969)

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
3. You Shook Me
4. Dazed and Confused
5. Your Time Is Gonna Come
6. Black Mountain Side
7. Communication Breakdown
8. I Can't Quit You Baby
9. How Many More Times

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So, what do you want me to say about this album? That it's the first heavy metal album, released at least one year before Sabbath's debut? Forget it, I won't say that. Not because it isn't true or anything, it's just that it doesn't matter since I'm setting out to write about the contents and not its historical importance (which nonetheless is quite big, and that's how much we're going to talk about that). What matters though, is that it hits you over the head from the press play in such an astonishing way that even today in the year 2011, with all the metallic waters under the bridge, it's not that hard to imagine its impact when it was released over 40 years ago. I even remember my first impression when I, after careful investigation of my musical preference conditions visavi the first generation of heavy rock during my teens, installed it into my CD player; from the very first few thumping bars of "Good times, bad times" I knew that I had discovered a band that would rarely let me down (for a few years). It may be but a bagatelle, but I still think it's one of the best tracks on here. Short, sharp and crisp with a blistering guitar assault after the second round, as well as showcasing Bonzo's lightning-fast bass pedal in the verses, albeit not making that much of an impression these days as I since has learned how to emulate them myself but nonetheless having quite an impact upon me as a newly aspiring drummer boy way back when. All in all, a killer tune.

Already on the second track you're greeted with a thorough display of Page's alleged amibition of his 'light-and-shade' juxtaposition, with their rendition of an old folk tune in "Babe, I'm gonna leave you". I'd say that if anything, it successfully heralds the way for "Stairway to heaven", not least since the intro pattern is almost the same, but on here it's much more tense and foreboding and indeed alternated with full frontal assaults with an amount of power and frenzy that was rarely matched ever since, all the while with Plant plaintively assuring you that he is gonna leave you, and there's nothing you can do about it! The best known track on here is no less dramatic; "Dazed and confused" is undoubtedly one of the all-time Zep classics, showcasing just about everything that makes them worth your while. An ominous bass line, the pinging wahwah picks, Plant's battle cry which by the way is right up to the point on this studio version; I've never cared much for the live rendition which later on would showcase his off-melody ramblings, not to mention the lack of tightness which is all but present here (although it sure was a visual highlight with Pagey's bowings and all). Oh yeah, and the fast mid-section which showcases their ability to do fast mid-sections. You should be aware though, that a lot of these songs, "Dazed" included, are merely reworkings of older songs so their strength doesn't lie as much in the composing as in the arrangement, and quite a lot of their best songs get along mainly on the blistering performance and not on the melody. Whatever, "Dazed" is worth the entire album alone.

The lack of actual songwriting though becomes apparent on most of the remaining tracks where the excitement is all hung up on how much they can twist the ol' folk 'n blues to their advantage. See, after the massive impact of "Babe" and "Dazed" (and possibly "You shook me") there isn't that much going on here after all. "Communication breakdown" is a classic, of course, but I'm not a big fan of its punkish abandon really. "Black mountain side" is a nice showcase of Page's acoustics, but once again carried over from his Yardbirds days. The two slow blues workouts "You shook me" and "I can't quit you baby" are just dull, although the former at least displays some very impressing chops on their part, especially Plant going in total overdrive. "Your time is gonna come" isn't worth shit apart from the very moody and very unfitting church organ intro (on courtsey of Jones, who else would save the day?), and the closing "How many more times" is based upon exactly one riff which they overabuse ad infinitum.

At the end of the day, what saves this record is the band's sheer power and dexterity which hold even the weakest tracks above the water (apart from "Your time is gonna come", that one was beyond repair from the start) and that may as well be enough. And nothing in the world will ever prevent it from being one of the most exciting debut albums in the history of rock. Or death metal.