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Rating: An explosive debut, no doubt about it. I don't want to delve into the usual debate about whether Led Zeppelin invented anything or not. Maybe they didn't invent anything, but they knew how to combine blues and rock like no one had before, reinventing a genre in a creative crisis and making it devastating, visceral, and certainly more complex. It's an album almost entirely composed of covers or remakes (especially by Willie Dixon) but that doesn't matter: the result is brilliant, striking the heart, soul, and mind like a bolt from the blue.
"Good Times Bad Times", with its memorable opening riff, raises the curtain on this masterpiece, a perfect summary of what the Zeppelin sound would be from then on, at least for the next 3 albums.
"Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You": a traditional folk song characterized by moments of poignant melancholy and sudden explosions of guitar.
"You Shook Me" is the third track, a splendid blues piece by Dixon, which, thanks to Page's virtuosity and Robert Plant's incredibly sensual vocal performance, is greatly enhanced.
And we come to "Dazed and Confused", one of the most experimental and avant-garde pieces of the time: Jimmy Page plays the guitar with a violin bow, and the song would later become one of the great English guitarist's signature pieces, creating with this unique technique demonic, haunting, and evocative sounds.
"Your Time is Gonna Come", a ballad with a folk-inspired touch, is perhaps the least interesting and weakest piece on the entire album, very pleasant but nothing more.
"Black Mountain Side" is a delightful instrumental interlude, an excellent acoustic solo by Page, in my opinion, the best of all.
"Communication Breakdown": a classic with a devastating and frantic riff, accompanied by superb drumming. The shouting vocals of the blond angel Robert Plant are gritty and passionate, like a sort of male Janis Joplin.
"I Can't Quit You Babe" is once again a remarkable example of high-quality blues/rock.
The last track, "How Many More Times", with breathtaking bass and drums, is my favorite. Perhaps for its escalating and driving rhythm, its sheer hardness, for being so pleasantly obsessive.
Strongly revolutionary and innovative, this first work by the famous British band is a breath of fresh, new air, a regenerating tonic, a life-extending elixir for stagnant and repetitive rock. It unmistakably hints at the bright future of Led Zeppelin, this immense band that contributed so much to contemporary music for nearly 4 decades. It was released in '69, the same year as "In the Court of the Crimson King": a new era had begun, and the airship started to fly...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (06:42)
Babe, baby, baby, I'm gonna leave you
I said baby, you know I'm gonna leave you
I'll leave you when the summertime
Leave you when the summer comes a-rollin'
Leave you when the summer comes along
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, I don't wanna leave you
I ain't jokin' woman, I've got to ramble
Oh yeah, baby, baby, I be leavin'
We really got to ramble
I can hear it callin' me the way it used to do
I can hear it callin' me back home, whoa-oh
Babe, oh, babe, I'm gonna leave you
Ohh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you
Oh, I can hear it callin' me
I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?
Ohh
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
Oh, baby, baby, baby, baby
Baby, baby, baby, oh
Don't you hear it callin' me?
Oh, woman, woman, I know, I know
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
Oh, mama, baba, mama babe
I'm gonna leave you, go away, ohh
So good, sweet baby
It was really, really good
You made me happy every single day
But now, I've got to go away
Oh! Oh! Oh!
Baby, baby, baby
That's when it's callin' me
I said that's when it's callin' me back home
03 You Shook Me (06:28)
You know you shook me
You shook me all night long
You know you shook me, baby
You shook me all night long
You shook me so hard, baby
Baby, baby baby, please come home
I have a bird that whistles
And I have birds that sing
I have a bird that whistles
And I have birds that sing
I have a babe, won't do nothing
Oh-oh, oh-oh, buy a diamond ring, yeah
You know you shook me, babe
You shook me all night long, I know you really really did, babe
I said you shook me, baby
You shook me all night long
You shook me so hard, baby
Babe! Ah-ahh! Ah-ahh! Ah-ahh! Ah-ahhh!
Ah-nah-nahh! Ah-ah-ah-nah-nahh!
You shook me oh ooh oh ooh oh ooh oh ooh oh ooh oh ooh oh ooh oh all night long
04 Dazed and Confused (06:28)
Been dazed and confused for so long it's not true
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you
Lots of people talk and few of them know
Soul of a woman was created below, yeah
You hurt and abuse tellin' all of your lies
Run 'round sweet baby, Lord how they hypnotize
Sweet little baby, I don't know where you've been
Gonna love you baby, here I come again
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
Ah ahh...
Oh yeah, alright
I don't want your lovin' this time yeah
Oh don't leave me so confused, ah
Ohh baby
Been dazed and confused for so long it's not true
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you
Take it easy baby, let them say what they will
Tongue wag so much when I send you the bill?
Oh yeah, alright
Oh oh...
07 Communication Breakdown (02:31)
Hey, girl, stop what you're doin'
Hey, girl, you'll drive me to ruin
I don't know what it is that I like about you, but I like it a lot
Oh, won't you let me hold you, let me feel your lovin' touch
Communication breakdown
It's always the same
Havin' a nervous breakdown
Drive me insane
Hey, babe, I got something I think you ought to know
Hey, babe, I wanna tell you that I love you so
I wanna hold you in my arms, yeah
I'm never gonna let you go, 'cause I like your charms
Communication breakdown
It's always the same
Havin' a nervous breakdown
Drive me insane
Oh suck it!
Communication breakdown
It's always the same
Havin' a nervous breakdown
A-drive me insane, yeah
Communication breakdown (Yeah, I want you to love me all night, I want you to know that)
Communication breakdown (I want, hey, I want, oh)
Communication breakdown (I want you to love me, I want you to love me babe)
Communication breakdown (I want you to love, yeah, I want you to love)
Communication breakdown (Hey, I want you to love yeah)
08 I Can't Quit You Baby (04:42)
Ah, ah
I can't quit you, babe
So I'm gonna put you down for awhile
I said I can't quit you, babe
I guess I got to put you down for awhile
Said you messed up my happy home
Made me mistreat my only child
Yes you did babe, oh
Said you know I love you, baby
My love for you, I could never hide
Oh, you know I love you, babe
My love for you, I could never hide
A-when I feel you near me little girl
I know you are my one desire
Whoa, oh, oh yeah
When you hear me moanin' an' groanin, babe
You know it hurts me deep down inside
Oh, when you hear me moanin' an' groanin', babe
You know it hurts me deep down inside
Oh, when you hear me, honey baby
You know you're my one desire
Yes, you are
Oh, you are
09 How Many More Times (08:28)
How many more times
Treat me the way you wanna do?
How many more times
Treat me the way you wanna do?
When I give you all my love, please, please be true
I'll give you all I've got to give
Rings, pearls, and all
I'll give you all I've got to give
Rings, pearls, and all
I've got to get you together baby, I'm sure, sure you're gonna crawl
Oh! Wanna love some other man too?
I was a young man, I couldn't resist
Started thinkin' it over, just what I had missed
Got me a girl and I kissed her and then and then
Whoops, oh Lordy, well I did it again
Now I've got ten children of my own
I got another child on the way that makes eleven
But I'm in constant heaven
I know it's alright in my mind
'Cause I got a little schoolgirl and she's all mine
I can't get through to her 'cause it doesn't permit
But I'm gonna give her everything I've got to give
Oh Rosie, oh girl
Oh Rosie, oh girl
Steal away now, steal away
Steal away baby, steal away
Little Robert Anthony wants to come and play
Why don't ya come with me baby?
Steal away
Alright, alright
Well they call me the hunter, that's my name
Call me the hunter, that's how I got my fame
Ain't no need to hide, ain't no need to run
'Cause I've got you in the sights of my gun
How many more times
Barrelhouse all night long, all right
How many more times
Barrelhouse all night long
Well I've got to get to you, baby
Girl, please come home
Why don't you listen to me babe?
Why don't you please come home?
Why don't you please come home?
Why don't you please come home?
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Other reviews
By claudio carpentieri
‘Good Times Bad Times’ showcases a stunning blend of incandescent sounds, paving the way for a blistering solo and a catchy chorus.
The album is tangible proof of a group with a strong artistic personality and a clear understanding of the musical directions to pursue.
By paolofreddie
If there’s an album that embodies the ideal of fusion through synthesis, it can only be 'Led Zeppelin,' the eponymous debut of one of the most significant and adrenaline-fueled bands the history of rock has ever embraced.
The magic of Page & Co is not in their musical originality, but in having created an alchemical fusion, which is not the simple sum of the parts.
By Cialtronius
Led Zeppelin: one of the most overrated bands in rock history, but what can you do, that’s how the world goes.
Dazed and Confused is a masterpiece, but many other songs suffer from poor melodies and excessive length.
