Label: Atlantic Records (UK), K 40037
Style: Hard Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 41:25
Format: Flac Tracks 24/96 kHz
Size: 873 Mb
Led
Zeppelin, British rock band that was extremely popular in the 1970s.
Although their musical style was diverse, they came to be well known for
their influence on the development of heavy metal. The members were
Jimmy Page (b. January 9, 1944, Heston, Middlesex, England), Robert
Plant (b. August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, West Midlands), John Paul
Jones (original name John Baldwin; b. January 3, 1946, Sidcup, Kent),
and John Bonham (b. May 31, 1948, Redditch, Hereford and Worcester—d.
September 25, 1980, Windsor, Berkshire).
Initially called the New
Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin was formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page, the final lead
guitarist for the legendary British blues band the Yardbirds. Bassist
and keyboard player Jones, like Page, was a veteran studio musician;
vocalist Plant and drummer Bonham came from little-known provincial
bands. The group was influenced by various kinds of music, including
early rock and roll, psychedelic rock, blues, folk, Celtic, Indian, and
Arabic music. Although acoustic and folk-based music was part of the
band’s repertoire from its inception, it was the bottom-heavy, loud,
raw, and powerful electric style that gained them their following and
notoriety early on; their first two albums included many of the songs
that prompted Led Zeppelin’s categorization as a precursor of heavy
metal. The heaviness of songs such as "Dazed and Confused" and "Whole
Lotta Love" was created by Bonham’s enormous drum sound and through
Page’s production techniques, in which he emphasized drums and bass,
resulting in a sonic spaciousness that has kept the records sounding
fresh years after they were made. Page and Jones also wrote most of the
band’s music, while Plant contributed lyrics and some musical ideas.
Although Page was responsible for the majority of their signature riffs
(the short, repeated musical ideas that often structure a song), Jones
wrote the riff for the celebrated "Black Dog" and several other songs.
Jones also contributed much to the arrangement of songs. Page’s guitar
solos were based primarily on melodic ideas derived from the blues scale
("Heartbreaker" is a good example), and he is especially known for
creating multiple, simultaneous guitar parts—a kind of guitar
orchestra—in such songs as "Achilles Last Stand" and "The Song Remains
the Same." Page is considered one of rock’s guitar heroes, but, because
he was more interested in creating a distinctive mood and sound on a
recording than in displaying his virtuosity, he frequently chose not to
include a guitar solo in Zeppelin songs.
Plant’s voice rounded out
Led Zeppelin’s sound. Exaggerating the vocal style and expressive
palette of blues singers such as Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, Plant
created the sound that has defined much hard rock and heavy metal
singing: a high range, an abundance of distortion, loud volume, and
emotional excess ("Whole Lotta Love" is a classic example). Plant was,
however, capable of a broader stylistic range, including tender ballads
("The Rain Song") and songs showing the influence of Indian and Arabic
vocal styles ("Kashmir").
Led Zeppelin’s best-known song is "Stairway
to Heaven"; its gentle acoustic beginning eventually builds to an
exhilarating climax featuring a lengthy electric guitar solo. This
combination of acoustic and electric sections was typical for Page, who
from the band’s beginning was interested in juxtaposing what he called
"light and shade." The song appeared on the band’s fourth and most
famous album, released untitled, which showed only four runic symbols
(intended to represent the band members) on the cover and had the
mystical, mythological lyrics to "Stairway" printed on the inner sleeve.
The sense of mystery and ritual that this created became an important
part of the band’s image. They kept their distance from the press and
were uninterested in catering to the singles market. Moreover,
"Stairway" and several other songs were of epic length by rock
standards, and concert improvisations stretched some songs to triple the
length of their studio versions.
Thanks in part to their manager,
Peter Grant, the band enjoyed phenomenal commercial success throughout
the 1970s. While Led Zeppelin never received the kind of critical
acclaim or mainstream acceptance accorded the Beatles or the Rolling
Stones, their influence on rock music has been prodigious. They are
regularly cited as the progenitors of both hard rock and heavy metal.
Their sound has been imitated by bands from Black Sabbath to Nirvana.
They also inspired hard rock bands to include acoustic elements in their
music and were among the first to experiment with Indian and North
African music. Page’s style—both his solos and riffs—has served as an
important model for most rock guitarists, and Bonham is often cited as
the model for metal or hard rock drumming.
Led Zeppelin disbanded in
1980 after Bonham’s accidental death. The group re-formed for short,
one-off performances in 1985 (the Live Aid benefit), 1988 (Atlantic
Records’ 40th anniversary concert), and 1995 (the band’s induction into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). Much more momentous was the group’s
full-blown concert in London in December 2007 to honour Atlantic’s
cofounder Ahmet Ertegun, at which Bonham’s son, Jason, played the drums.
Although the Recording Academy had honoured Led Zeppelin with a
lifetime achievement award in 2005, the group received its first Grammy
Award in 2014 for Celebration Day (2012), a live album derived from the
2007 reunion show. In 2012 Led Zeppelin was named a Kennedy Center
honoree.
(britannica.com/topic/Led-Zeppelin)
01. A1 Whole Lotta Love (05:31)
02. A2 What Is And What Should Never Be (04:46)
03. A3 The Lemon Song (06:20)
04. A4 Thank You (04:45)
05. B1 Heartbreaker (04:12)
06. B2 Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman) (02:37)
07. B3 Ramble On (04:32)
08. B4 Moby Dick (04:19)
09. B5 Bring It On Home (04:19)
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