Led Zeppelin is the debut studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released on 12 January 1969 in the United States and on 28 March in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records.

There was a time, not so long ago, when you had to hide yourLed Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix records when your cool friends called around. Thankfully those days are gone, as Led Zeppelin’s 1969 self-titled debut is a great record that has, once again, become cool. Guitarist, Jimmy Page, (widely considered one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time), was the only survivor of the ’60’s band The Yardbirds, who played a big part in the UK blues revival before evolving into a psychedelic pop band, releasing a string of excellent singles including ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’ and ‘Shapes of Things’. ‘Led Zeppelin’ was recorded as The New Yardbirds, but Page discovered the name was copyrighted, so Led Zeppelin were born.

The band were driven by the powerhouse rhythm section of John Bonham and John Paul Jones and over their rhythm beds Jimmy Page created unique, searing ethereal sounds, quite unlike anything ever heard before, accompanied by twenty year old Robert Plant’s four octave range vocals. The album was recorded live in the studio and Plant’s vocals were so powerful that screens were needed to mimimise leakage onto the other mikes.

Page, produced the album, developing a ‘distance makes depth’ technique, which used room ambience to enhance the reverb by placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this technique, Page became one of the first producers to record a band’s ‘ambient sound’. It was also one of the first albums to be released in stereo-only format.

Of the nine tracks, five are originals, two are Willie Dixon blues standards and two are adaptations of traditional tunes. What makes this groundbreaking album stand out is the sheer sonic intensity of longer tracks such as ‘Dazed and Confused’ and the quality of the songwriting of the shorter tracks such as ‘Communication Breakdown’ and ‘Good Times Bad Times’ which are, surprisingly, pretty good pop songs. In 2003, the album was ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Vinyl, Reissue, Remastered, 180g

Tracklist:
A1 Good Times Bad Times
A2 Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
A3 You Shook Me
A4 Dazed And Confused
B1 Your Time Is Gonna Come
B2 Black Mountain Side
B3 Communication Breakdown
B4 I Can’t Quit You Baby
B5 How Many More Times