#1 Led Zeppelin
January 12, 1969 
For anyone who's known me here on DTF, this one isn't a shocker I'm sure. Without a doubt,to me, the greatest Rock and Roll band of all time. Everyone has there own opinion with regards to that question. Many will say The Beatles, many the Stones, and some The Who or Floyd. The Beatles to me were trend setters. They made some great Pop, catchy type music. Then some experimental-ish type stuff. None of it was my cup of tea. The Stones were a great basic R&B rock band. By basic I mean not the most complex writing and arranging, and just not "Hard Rock" enough for me. The Who, had moments of brilliance and carved out there own niche in the early Mod days. Floyd, as I mentioned earlier, had one of the best 4 album runs of all time. Also their own unique sound, creativity and brilliance. Initially in this thread Chad called me on the my "Big 4" not including Floyd, that was a major muff on my part. In the 70's, it was more the Big 4 for me, I hadn't really gotten hard into Floyd yet. This is how I rate the "Big 5". In my life, I have owned 1 Stones album (Some Girls) and zero Beatles albums. They just don't do it for me, and over the last 40 years, I'm sure I've heard about everything they've done.
1. Led Zeppelin
2. Pink Floyd
3. The Who
4. The Rolling Stones
5. The Beatles
I've picked Led Zeppelin I because it's the start of it all. In all honesty, Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin II, or Led Zeppelin IV are all also worthy for this spot.
My first exposure to Led Zeppelin was a friend of mine loaning me Led Zeppelin IV. After that, I was hooked. I couldn't get enough of them and worked my way through their discography, which at that point Physical Graffiti was the latest album. This was around '75 I think. So, the band was still around, yet I was to young to go to concerts. I was actually getting ready to buy tickets for the "In Through the Out Door" tour when Bonham died. I was 16 and absolutely crushed by the death of John Bonham. I was a drummer in my High school Jazz band, and John Henry was my idol. Zeppelin at the time was my musical life, and we all (my friends) knew that without Bonham the band would probably cease to exist. We were unfortunately correct. The closest I came to seeing them was seeing Jimmy Page in '83 for the ARMS benefit show for Ronnie Lane. Awesome show with Clapton, Beck, and a whole gaggle of legendary musicians from that era.
Jimmy Page is not the best performer live. At times he was sloppy, at times loaded and sloppy, at times OK, and on those rare moments stellar. Page's strong point to me, and where his brilliance lies, is in his writing, arranging and producing. If I could pull up one example, I would say "Achilles' Last Stand". A perfect example of Page at his "Studio" best. Layered guitar tracks that are sheer genius when mixed. His studio prowess and production skills are legendary. This is where his strength lies.
Like with any great band, there has to be that harmonious chemistry. Zeppelin lacked none of that. From the very beginning they all complimented and meshed so well together. For those who aren't familiar, they were a band that was basically thrown together to fulfill an existing tour obligation for Page and the Yardbirds. Call it fate, call it luck, call it whatever you like, but whatever stars were aligned to bring together these 4 men.... was incredible.
Topic: Crimson's Top 50 v. #1 ..... And then there was one... (Read 29548 times)
