Day 100: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
100 days, baby! Let me tell you, I don’t always feel like I have the time or energy to do this, but it’s very satisfying to make a goal and stick to it. During my 50th day, I did a little check in and posted a list of all of my reviews thus far. I’m not sure yet if I’m doing the check in for 100, but I’m putting the list in its own little section very soon. Maybe tomorrow.
Album cover courtesy of Atlantic Records
To honour my first 100 days, I thought I’d go for a Kat Classic Album – nothing new this time, but a timeless 10/10 that’s been with me for a long time. Today, I’m doing one of my all-time favourite records, Led Zeppelin II.
Led Zeppelin is a band that probably doesn’t need too much introduction in a music blog, I’m sure we all know the drill: English band formed in the late ‘60s, consisting of guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham and singer Robert Plant, who I have been desperately in love with for probably about half of my life if we’re being completely honest. They do folk and blues inspired hard rock with lyrics usually ranging from the “oooo sweet lady let me make love to you”-category to the Tolkien-inspired fantasy poetry about mythical England and/or Middle Earth.
The band was formed after the Yardbirds dissolved and their guitarist, Page, decided to fulfil the contractual obligations of the band with a new line up and under the name the New Yardbirds. They practiced together for mere days before heading out on a small Scandinavian tour, starting at a Danish teen event at a school. Despite only having about 15 hours of practice under their belt, the group got rave reviews. They said the mini-tour was an opportunity for them to see if they’re any good. They realised that they were on the first night.
After the tour ended, Page decided to self-fund the band’s first record, coughing up £1,782 to ensure that they could record it without any interference from anyone. His bet paid off, as they signed a massive record deal with Atlantic and the album ended up selling around 15 million copies in total.
The band went on to tour America before Led Zeppelin was released, and it came out when they were on the road. Essentially, the band’s popularity was built on touring - they didn’t release many singles or rely on TV appearances, and instead relied on their mob boss/manager Peter Grant’s strategy of breaking America by touring and playing as many shows as possible. Led Zeppelin II was both written and recorded in various different places on the road, as they had just completed three American and four European concert tours.
Released in October 1969, Led Zeppelin II was the record that brought the band to their legendary levels of fame. It reached top of the album charts in both the US and the UK and to date has sold anywhere between 15 and 20 million copies worldwide.
Every song on this album is a banger. It opens with “Whole Lotta Love” which has to be one of the best rock songs of all time, with its deceptively simple but instantly recognizable riff. “Thank You”, with the softness of Plant’s vocals and the Hammond organ, is an underrated favourite of mine. “Ramble On” is a perfect example of the mythical England/Middle Earth vibes of the band, and it’s at least the only rock song that I can think of that mentions Mordor and Gollum and still sounds a little bit sexy. But there’s not a bad song on the record, nor is there even anything that’s close to average.
This is my first time listening to this record with my good headphones and it’s really doing something. The Nothing Ears have changed my life, and that’s not a sponsored statement – not that I think anyone thinks that, I have like four readers, but still. This is one of my most listened to records of all time, and maybe it’s the headphones, but I feel like I still get something new out of it every time. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it, it still just blows your head clean off every time.
There will never be another band like Led Zeppelin. I’ll spend the rest of my life hoping that someone invents a time machine so I can go back to see them live. 10/10.