Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
LED ZEPPELIN
Studio Albums: Led Zeppelin (1969) | Led Zeppelin II (1969) | Led Zeppelin III (1970) | Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) (1971) | Houses Of The Holy (1973) | Physical Graffiti (1975) | Presence (1976) | In Through The Out Door (1979) | Coda (1982) | Readers’ Poll Results
The forefathers of heavy metal and one of the most beloved blues rock bands of all time, Led Zeppelin’s discography has been in the rock & roll canon long before I found them on CD in eighth grade. Their records are all over classic rock radio no matter where you go or where you come from. The legacy of these records is what easily lands them on a list like this.
Led Zeppelin was instantly prolific. Their first two LPs were both released in 1969, the third in 1970, and the fourth, which is officially untitled but known as Led Zeppelin IV or “ZOSO,” came out in 1971. These records feel like one long anthology, and sound like a band finding their groove and settling into it.
And if you can shred, you can twang. On side two of Led Zeppelin III, the discography takes a detour and double backs over the blues’ origins and Page gets a-pickin’. Between “Gallows Pole” and “Hats Off To Roy Harper,” it’s twenty minutes of acoustic rock, a little surprise showoff from the hammer of the gods.
Zeppelin only made eight records but their double album opus, 1975’s Physical Graffiti, clocks in at 82 minutes and houses the eleven-minute “In My Time Of Dying.” And if that isn’t enough Zepp for you, their hours-long concerts were recorded and you can really Get The Led Out with their 1976 concert film and LP The Song Remains The Same, and the 1997 release How The West Was Won, a two-and-a-half hour concert combo from two nights in L.A. in 1972.
My ranking of favorite Led Zeppelin albums rotates every few years. I can never cement just one. Lately I’ve spent the most time with Led Zeppelin III (for the acoustics), their eponymous debut (for face melting pleasure), and Physical Graffiti for its dark doom; I especially love the nine-minute “In The Light.” Page uses a violin bow on his guitar and John Paul Jones plays the synthesizer. The deeper you get into their records, the more they come alive. If you ever need to talk Zeppelin, you know where to find me.
Sarah’s 3 Favorite Led Zeppelin Albums of All Time:
1. Led Zeppelin III (1970)
2. Led Zeppelin (1969)
3. Physical Graffiti (1975)
VISIT Led Zeppelin’s Official Store
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