LED ZEPPELIN

I remember it well. I was 13 years old and had just received my uncle's collection of 8-track tapes from the 60s & early 70s. He was now living abroad and no longer wanted them. In the garage I found my father's still functioning 8-track tape player (in 1987 there weren't many of them left), dusted it off and hooked it up to my stereo in my bedroom. My dad also gave me his very cool 70s vintage stereo headphones, though I am sure it had more to do with him wanting to control the volume reverberating through the walls in my bedroom. At this time in my life I was a metalhead. 80s metal ruled my life. Everything from Judas Priest & Iron Maiden to Guns N Roses & Motley Crue. I also listened to some 70s hard rock bands like Aerosmith and especially Kiss. However Led Zeppelin was a band I had often heard about, but never investigated. As I began to dig through the box of 8-tracks I pulled out classic album after classic album from the likes of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Blind Faith, Crosby Stills & Nash, Yes, Pink Floyd, Derek & the Dominos, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Black Sabbath and the Byrds. That box of tapes changed my life man. I can't really explain it. Listening to all of this music that was unknown to me at the time was like a religious experience. I was a changed man. Overnight I pretty much stopped listening to 80s metal and plugged myself into classic rock from the 60s & 70s. Music that I am still plugged into over 25 years later. Among those wonderful tapes was this classic first album by Led Zeppelin. Finally! Now was my chance to hear this legendary band. I put the tape in and apparently the last time my uncle played it was during You Shook Me, since that is the first song that came blasting through my stereo speakers. No one was home at the time, so there was no need for the headphones. I was floored by the heavy bass, the searing bluesy guitar, the pounding drums and by the wailing singer. I've never heard anything like it. Song after song kept me enthralled. Communication Breakdown (what a riff!), Dazed & Confused (that bass is incredible!), Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (such passionate singing!). The whole album was a revelation. Every song perfect. Love the organ into to Your Time is Gonna Come, the trippy acoustic Black Mountain Side and the heavy blues of How Many More Times. This album picks up where Cream left off. It may not be considered progessive by some, but there certainly was nothing like it before. One of the greatest debut albums in rock history, along with Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, the Jimi Hendrix Experience & the Doors. Led Zeppelin's first album absolutely smokes. Most of those 8- tracks did not survive more than a couple of plays (not surprising), but that was enough to get a taste for these different bands and to eventually replace the the broken tapes with their cd counterpart. This album was one of the first cd's I ever bought. Absolutely essential.