"We obviously went right down to our blues roots. I still had plenty of Yardbirds riffs left over. By the time Jeff Beck left, it was up to me to come up with a lot of new stuff. It was this thing where Clapton set a heavy precedent in the Yardbirds which Beck had to follow and then it was even harder for me because the 2nd lead guitarist had suddenly become the 1st. I was under pressure to come up with my own riffs."
One of the first stereo-only rock albums, Led Zeppelin I took 36 hours of studio time and costed Jimmy Page £1,782. 40 years later, Led Zeppelin's debut LP is considered one of hard rock's most influencial and groundbreaking masterpieces.
Taking the heavy, distorted electric blues of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Cream to an extreme, Led Zepp created a majestic, powerful brand of guitar rock constructed around simple, memorable riffs and lumbering rhythms. But the key to the group's attack was subtlety. It wasn't just an onslaught of guitar noise, it was shaded and textured, filled with alternating dynamics and tempos. Although the extended psychedelic blues of "Dazed and Confused" "You Shook Me" and "I Can't Quit You Baby" often gather the most attention, the remainder of the album is a better indication of what would come later. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" shifts from folky verses to pummeling choruses, "Good Times Bad Times" and "How Many More Times" have groovy, bluesy shuffles, "Your Time Is Gonna Come" is an anthemic hard rocker, "Black Mountain Side" is pure English folk. And of course "Communication Breakdown" is a frenzied rocker with a nearly punkish attack.
Although the album isn't as varied as some of their later efforts, it nevertheless marked a significant turning point in the evolution of hard rock and heavy metal. Every rock and roll enthusiasist should own this album!
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