August 26, 2021  ·  The complete Zeppelin career sampler

The essential starting point. Think of Led Zeppelin as "the Metallica of the 60s and 70s… kind of" — as Metallica did with obscure NWOBHM bands, Zeppelin co-opted the sound of their favorite obscure blues artists to forge a new, heavier brand of sonic bliss never heard before in rock 'n' roll. The "Dogs of Doom" come out to play. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham — "the magical combination of different creative forces coming together to make something special." The origin story, John Paul Jones' real name, and the conundrum around "borrowing" from the original artists (Willie Dixon et al.). Albums vs. singles — Zeppelin were an album rock band. Tracks covered: Carouselambra ("kinda like their Sabbath Bloody Sabbath") / Achilles Last Stand (Presence) / I Can't Quit You Baby / The Song Remains the Same ("go watch the concert movie!") / Bring It On Home / What Is and What Should Never Be / Since I've Been Loving You / Out on the Tiles / Black Country Woman / When the Levee Breaks / Black Dog & Four Sticks / The Battle of Evermore / No Quarter ("the essence of Led Zeppelin") / Immigrant Song / Dazed and Confused. Plus: "What would be considered Metal Zeppelin?" and "If you HAD to pick JUST ONE desert island album, which one would YOU pick?" Communication Breakdown is heavy metal.

September 29, 2022  ·  Released January 12, 1969

Exactly ONE year, ONE month and ONE day before Black Sabbath's debut delivered heavy metal upon the world (Jan. 12, 1969 vs. Feb. 13, 1970), Birmingham's Led Zeppelin marked the "birth pains" of what was yet to be born — a darker, grittier, heavier sound. "A powerful skinsman behind the drum kit radically impacts a band's overall sound & dynamics." Tracks: Good Times Bad Times (#killeropener — "perhaps the beginning of shred?") / Babe I'm Gonna Leave You ("one of the heaviest, angriest, hardest ballads ever orchestrated" — you can hear the peace and love of the late 60s breaking down) / You Shook Me (twin keyboards by JPJ and backwards reverb — "the prequel to the metal that was released one year, one month and one day later") / Dazed and Confused ("THE creepiest riff of the sixties" — and the bow solo) / Your Time Is Gonna Come ("turn to page 111 in the metal hymnal") / Black Mountain Side / Communication Breakdown ("early cock-rock thrash… all downstrokes") / I Can't Quit You Baby (a Willie Dixon cover — go check out the Otis Rush version) / How Many More Times ("the heaviest album of the decade closes with one of the heaviest tracks of the decade"). Also in this episode: We'll Play Your Sh*t-tah featuring Silversel.

July 27, 2023  ·  Released October 22 (US) / October 31 (UK), 1969

Less than a year after the near-flawless debut, the sophomore slam arrived — a refinement of their sound with new arrangements, song structures, lyrical imagery, and most notably: a guitar solo AND a drum solo. "The first Zeppelin album with the most radio hits?" Learn the identity of "The John Bonham of Thrash" and why "magma hoof" sounds hot, exotic, and dangerous. Tracks: Whole Lotta Love ("the heaviest part during a guitar solo" — those are the heaviest djunt djunts ever recorded; the earliest form of hard rock/heavy metal considered darker than the norm) / What Is and What Should Never Be ("you could not take out any of those four" — the headphone moment) / The Lemon Song (John Paul Jones on lead bass — "he's like Geezer, he's all over the place!") / Thank You (a genuinely tender love song) / Heartbreaker ("the bass is HUGE… it makes the sound on this album" — a Kyuss-y stoner energy) / Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) — it only makes sense with Heartbreaker, like Postmortem and Raining Blood / Ramble On ("a lot of moving parts" — Mordor lyrics, full autumn vibes) / Moby Dick (the studio drum solo — you can hear how hard Bonham hits) / Bring It On Home ("one of the best killer closers ever… watch out, magma hoof"). "If you take any one of those four ingredients out of the Led Zeppelin recipe, it doesn't work. It's magic. It's sonic sorcery." Featuring Blackbraid on We'll Play Your Sh*t-tah.

October 26, 2023  ·  Released October 5, 1970  ·  Sober October, Zero Relaxers Edition

Perhaps the most perfectly ideal album for fall: subtle stoner vibes, a folksy, medieval, Tolkien-esque feel, and a mystical, magical nature. Sonically more radically different than anything else in their catalog — released just eight months after Black Sabbath's debut. Learn about a "blue-eyed merle," the magical place called Snowdonia, and the best word ever invented in the English language: VOLVELLE (the episode's word of the episode). Tracks: Immigrant Song ("a whole new level of balls" — the most Viking song they ever wrote, an ugly chord in the outro that is pure perfection) / Friends (eerie eastern-sounding strings, Bonzo's bongos, a Moog transition) / Celebration Day / Since I've Been Loving You ("one of the greatest Zeppelin songs ever to bless music" — can you hear the kick drum pedal squeak?) / Out on the Tiles (pure heaviness; a punk rock walk-down — also check out Rival Sons' "Pressure & Time") / Gallows Pole ("probably one of the heaviest unplugged songs ever recorded") / Tangerine / That's the Way (virtually no percussion — mountains in autumn) / Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (a song about Robert Plant's dog Strider — "ain't no companion like a blue-eyed merle") / Hats Off to (Roy) Harper (delta blues, slide acoustic). "Led Zeppelin is all about texture."

August 1, 2024  ·  Released November 8, 1971  ·  Runes / ZOSO / Untitled

Imagine flipping through the Led Zeppelin section on November 8, 1971 and finding an album with no band name, no title, no track listing and no pictures — just an old bearded man with a bundle of sticks and four unusual symbols on the spine. It became the biggest-selling album in their catalog and one of the top 10 biggest-selling albums in the history of ALL music. Tracks: Black Dog ("a WTF opener" — the riff is in 4/4 but it's not; "kind of their Enter Sandman") / Rock and Roll (#killeropener on The Song Remains the Same — "old school 50s rock 'n' roll with more balls and a lot of steroids") / The Battle of Evermore (a grower — Plant and Sandy Denny, Tolkien, the Ringwraiths ride in black) / Stairway to Heaven (the song that was the reason we all learned the recorder — that's a recorder, not a flute; and check out the Kennedy Center Honors version with Ann and Nancy Wilson and Jason Bonham on drums) / Misty Mountain Hop (#killeropener for Side 2) / Four Sticks (played with FOUR sticks — "somebody should do a doom version of this") / Going to California (recorded in the lobby/hallway of Headley Grange) / When the Levee Breaks ("one of, if not THE heaviest drum intros on any song ever" — and the sample on the Beastie Boys' "Rhymin' & Stealin'"). Plus Gojira at the Olympics' opening ceremony ("Ah! Ça Ira") and a Pac-Man Fever detour.