Music / Led Zeppelin (1969)

The original cover; later prints had the turquoise print swapped out for red or yellow.

Led Zeppelin is the debut studio album by Led Zeppelin, released in 1969 through Atlantic Records. It's best remembered for the hits and fan favorites "Good Times Bad Times", "Dazed And Confused", and "Communication Breakdown".

The album was recorded in late 1968 in just 36 hours for £1,782.

Its sound had become an influence on Heavy Metal.

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Good Times Bad Times" (2:46)
2. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (6:42)
3. "You Shook Me" (6:28)
4. "Dazed And Confused" (6:28)

Side Two

5. "Your Time Is Gonna Come" (4:34)
6. "Black Mountain Side" (2:12)
7. "Communication Breakdown" (2:30)
8. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (4:42)
9. "How Many More Times" (8:27)

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Live Bonus Disc (Deluxe Edition):

1. "Good Times, Bad Times/Communication Breakdown" (4:05)
2. "I Can't Quit You Baby" (6:41)
3. "Heartbreaker" (3:50)
4. "Dazed And Confused" (15:01)
5. "White Summer/Black Mountain Side" (9:19)
6. "You Shook Me" (11:56)
7. "Moby Dick" (9:51)
8. "How Many More Times" (10:43)

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Principal Members:

• John Bonham - drums, percussion, timpani, vocals
• John Paul Jones - bass, organ, piano, vocals
• Jimmy Page - guitar, vocals
• Robert Plant - lead vocals, harmonica

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Good tropes, bad tropes, you know I've had my share

• Break Up Song:
  • "Dazed And Confused"
  Every day I work so hard, bringin' home my hard earned pay
  Try to love you, baby, but you push me away
  Don't know where you're goin', only know just where you've been
  Sweet little baby, I want you again
  • "I Can't Quit You Baby".
  Woman, I can't quit you babe
  I think I'm gonna put you down for a while
• But Now I Must Go: "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".
  I know, I know, I know I never, never, never, never, never gonna leave you, babe
  But I got to go away from this place,
  I've got to quit you, yeah
  Ooh, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, ooh, don't you hear it callin' me?
  Oh, woman, woman, I know, I know
  It feels good to have you back again
  And I know that one day, baby, it's gonna really grow, yes it is.
  We gonna go walkin' through the park every day.
  Come what may, every day, ooh
• Cover Version: "How Many More Times?" was inspired by Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years?" from Moanin' in the Moonlight. At the time he wasn't credited for this, but reissues have corrected this mistake.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The album cover.
• Echoing Acoustics: Evident throughout the whole album.
• Epic Instrumental Opener: "Your Time Is Gonna Come", the opening track of side two, starts with a minute-long organ intro, courtesy of John Paul Jones. Some versions of the album reversed the order of the sides, in effect making it this trope for the whole album.
• Epic Rocking: "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "You Shook Me", "Dazed And Confused" and "How Many More Times".
• Fade Out: "Good Times Bad Times", "Your Time Is Gonna Come" (though it fades into "Black Mountain Side") and "Communication Breakdown".
• Fading into the Next Song: As "Your Time Is Gonna Come" starts fading out, "Black Mountain Side" begins playing.
• The Immodest Orgasm: Some of the vocals on "Dazed and Confused" are...sensual, to say the least.
• Instrumental: "Black Mountain Side".
• Longest Song Goes Last: The album ends with the eight-and-a-half-minute "How Many More Times" (though the packaging on the original release mistakenly clocks it in at three and a half), making it the only song on the record to pass the seven minute mark.
• Love Hurts: Apart from the break up songs "Dazed And Confused", "I Can't Quit You Baby" there's "Heartbreaker" on the 2014 Deluxe Edition companion disc, about an adulterous woman who has broken the protagonist's heart in the past.
• Questioning Title?: "How Many More Times?".
• Self-Titled Album: The first of four (officially three).
• Shout-Out: The album cover is the iconic photo of the 1937 Hindenburg zeppelin disaster.
• Siamese Twin Songs: "You Shook Me" → "Dazed and Confused", "Black Mountain Side" → "Communication Breakdown" and "I Can't Quit You Baby" → "How Many More Times" are all examples.
• Title-Only Chorus: The refrain of "Your Time Is Gonna Come" consists solely of the title.
• Truck Driver's Gear Change: "Good Times Bad Times".
• Tyop on the Cover: The timestamp for "How Many More Times" is mistakenly listed as three and a half minutes on the original release; the actual runtime is five minutes longer than that.
• Uncommon Time: "Black Mountain Side" is mostly in 4/4, but switches to 9/8, 2/4 and 5/8 at points.

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