LED ZEPPELIN

Review #43. After The Yardbirds were disbanded, Jimmy Page (who was owning the legal rights of the name The Yardbirds), found John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and John Bonham, and together they started touring under the name 'The New Yardbirds'. But that didn't last for long, because soon they changed their name to Led Zeppelin. Some of the greatest songs that were recorded for their debut album were written during the 'New Yardbirds' period.

Led Zeppelin I was recorded at Olympic studios in London, within 36 hours; because the band had no contract yet, therefore they had to pay with their own money for the studio expenses. The album was released on the 12th of January 1969 in the USA, and on the 31st of March 1969 in the UK. Upon its release, it didn't receive good critics, but it was commercially successful. The main problem seemed to be that nobody couldn't categorize them under any of the music styles they knew so far. Because the album was based on the blues forms of The Yardbirds, but the music was played in a 'heavy' way let's say. Despite the poor critics, the album remained on the Billboard charts for 73 weeks, and on the UK charts for 79 weeks.

The success and influence of that album is today widely acknowledged, even among publications that were initially sceptical. One of the music magazines that gave poor reviews on the album back then, was no other than Rolling Stone. But many years later, in 2006 to be exact, Rolling Stone added Led Zeppelin I at No. 29 in its list with the '500 greatest albums of all time'.

The album includes some of the best songs the band ever recorded, such as Good Times Bad Times, Dazed and Confused, Communication Breakdown and I Can't Quit You Baby. It is a "must have" album for every person who is a fan of Rock music! 5 stars.