Monday, October 1, 2012

My Led Zeppelin Ranks 11-20

Well here we go Zep Head!  We are heading into the top 20, so only one more post to my top 10 Led Zeppelin songs!

20. The Battle of Evermore - LZ4 - Just an amazing story telling song with Pagey on the Madolin.  Great piece.  Once again their J.R.R. Tolkien influence shows in this song with the classic lines "The drums will shake the castle walls.  The ring wraiths ride black".  Sandy Denny was the guest vocalist on this track and was from a british folk band Fairport Convention. 

19. Immigrant Song - LZ3 - Funny that one of their hardest songs is on one of their most acoustic albums.  This song just rocks and you can almost see and feel the wind blowing the snow off the ice covered peaks of the mountains.  "Hammer of the Gods"  "We are your overlords"  Some of the lyrics in this song completely defined who Zeppelin was to its fans.  Plant opening the song with those chanting screams is chilling.

18. What Is And What Should Never Be - LZ2 - A really cool song with the low blues beat with Plant quietly singing and Jonesy on the bass fires into a heavy rock session with Jimmy kicking in and it goes back and forth.  Just another example of the talents this band had.  Can't beat the Page bluesy guitar and slide.  The end of this song just completely rocks.

17. Stairway To Heaven - LZ4 - Okay lets hear it.  "What do you mean its only 17 and not number 1?"  Yes I know and I completely love this song but because of the overplaying of it, it has diminished it some for me.  But with that being said It certainly is one of the greatest songs ever to grace the radio airways.  The beauty of this song is that each person can take it and make it mean something to just them and could be different then someone else.  Jimmy's guitar playing and versatility is amazing on this song.  From acoustic to electric seamlessly.  The words do "make me wonder"  "There's a feeling I get when I look to the west, and my spirit is crying for leaving" Favorite lyric.  This was my highest ranked LZ4 song.

16. Whole Lotta Love - LZ2 - Is there a more memorable opening guitar riff then this one?  I think not.  And wasn't this the staple of every concert encore for them that would turn into medleys and all sorts of crazy jams and Jimmy making some wild sounds with the theremin, the black box he played with on stage moving his hand closer and farther.  Chills run down my spine when Plant his that final note "Loooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvveee" and Bonzo hits in on the drums. Powerful song!

15. The Lemon Song - LZ2 - A great rocking blues tune influenced by early blues artist Howlin Wolf and Robert Johnson.  The rawness of Jimmy on guitar is great and Jonesy really is slapping that bass.  I mean just listen to that guitar solo!  Wow.  Plant has his deep raspy blues voice on.  "I should have quit you babe, such a long time ago."  "Squeeze me baby, until the juice runs down my leg"  Classic! My topped ranked LZ2 song, beating out Whole Lotta Love.

14.  Tangerine - LZ3 - A song about love at its most innocent stage.  Jimmy Page is masterful once again on guitar.  And the part where he hits in with the whining guitar is truly great.  A song that was often played as a semi acoustic set live.  A short song but so well put together.  These are the songs that give me the chills 1-20. 

13. That's The Way - LZ3 - Another great acoustic jam, played live, came right after Tangerine on LZ3.  Just love Plants voice and his lyrics on this one.  Lots of great songs came from that time on the Wales country side.  This one might have been one of the best.  Pagey completely kills it on a very mellow but wonderful piece in the Zeppelin catalog. 

12. In The Evening - In Through The Out Door - Another unmistakable opening to this song with Bonzo on those drums and Pagey using more drone effects...Then Plant screams out "In the evening!" and the song explodes!  Bonham just hammers the drums to kick it off.  This was the top ranked ITOD song. 

11. You Shook Me - LZ1 - Oh my god Jimmy!  The guitar on this one is incredible.  Another blues influenced song that was written by Willie Dixon and played before by Muddy Waters.  Man if you want some killer rock blues this one does it complete with Jonesy on the organ as well.  Plant gets on the harmonics.  And the call and response play between Pagey's guitar and Plant is a classic and would be done again with Dazed and Confused.

Well there you have it....next will be the final rankings and the top 10 Led Zeppelin Songs.

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