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Led Zeppelin
Best Of, Vol. 1: Early Days


3.5
great

Review

by The Door Mouse USER (29 Reviews)
May 6th, 2006 | 12 replies


Release Date: 1999 | Tracklist


Led Zeppelin is considered one of the best rock and roll bands ever and I concur. This album (Early Days) wraps up there best material from 1969-1971. Those of you who don"t respect LZ, I hope this will change your mind.

The Gods:

Robert Plant: Vocals
Jimmy Page: Guitarist
John "Bonzo" Bonham: Drums
John Paul Jones: Bass

Table of contents:
1) Good Times Bad Times- Led Zeppelin I
2) Babe I"m Gonna Leave You- Led Zeppelin I
3) Dazed and Confused- Led Zeppelin I
4) Communication Breakdown- Led Zeppelin I
5) Whole Lotta Love- Led Zeppelin II
6) What Is And What Should Never Be- Led Zeppelin II
7) Immigrant Song- Led Zeppelin III
8) Since I"ve Been Loving You- Led Zeppelin III
9) Black Dog- Led Zeppelin IIII
10) Rock And Roll- Led Zeppelin IIII
11) Battle Of Evermore- Led Zeppelin IIII
12) When The Levee Breaks- Led Zeppelin IIII
13) Stairway To Heaven-Led Zeppelin IIII

1) Good Times Bad Times- This song is the first track on the first album. For most people this is probably the first LZ song fans listened to and what an awesome first impression. It starts out with a catchy guitar riff and bass line. It keeps you on your feet for 2:48. It"s a cool short, sweet song. (4/5)

2) Babe I"m Gonna Leave You- This song is one of the best on the album and one of the heaviest acoustic songs ever. It"s got great acoustic guitar in the beginning and when it builds up you can"t skip this song. Just the mood of the song is compelling. (5/5)

3) Dazed And Confused- This song shows how good of a bassist JPJ is. A nice catchy bass line is present through out the whole song while Page is using a bow in his guitar. As this builds up its starts kicking but still keeping it chilled. Then as it progresses it slow back down again for a while then out of leftfield the guitar solo comes in to end the song. The thing I love about this song are the sudden transitions. This shows how talented the great band of Zeppelin is. (5/5)

4) Communication Breakdown- Also a short captivating song similar to GTBT. As one of the fastest (if not the fastest) songs they wrote it gets you very hyped up. This song has a very nice driving sound to it. (4/5)

5) Whole Lotta Love- This song is flat out epic. Everything is amazing. It starts with a memorable guitar riff and stunning lyrics. It often reminds me of DAC. It slows down to a calm but not to soft part of the song. And then just like DAC it goes into a shredding guitar solo. As it fades your in complete shock. (4.5/5)

6) What Is And What Should Never Be- This song (like many others) has a remarkable bass line. It comes of as a mellow song but then it rapidity speeds up maintaining that well know Led Zeppelin like bluesy feel to it. It"s another great addition to the album. (4.5/5)

7) Immigrant Song- This song is very well know. I bet if this came on the radio 9/10 rock fans would know this song. Though it is the shortest song on the album it is also one of there best. A great guitar riff and the famous "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" makes this song unforgettable. (5/5)

8) Since I"ve Been Loving You- This song starts out bluesy and has soft guitar. After a little while it speeds up and takes you somewhere else. Then a little synthesizer by JPJ comes in. This is a blues drenched LZ classic. (4.5/5)

9) Black Dog- "Hey hey momma I said the way you move gonna make you sweat gonna make you grove." Wow what a great song. In fact it"s known one of there best. So this song starts out with that verse and then it switches into a great guitar riff. It repeats a couple of times and then in comes the guitar solo and its breathtaking. Later the song dies down. This is another one of LZ high points. (5/5)

10) Rock And Roll- This song is very pushing and very heavy. It begins with a recognizable guitar riff and it gets energetic extremely quickly. As it repeats itself and then the song comes to an end with Bonham doing really cool fills. (4/5)

11) Battle Of Evermore- It starts out with very relaxing mandolin. Some poetic lyrics come in. This has everything good about it and it still has the good old LZ feel to it. It kind of disappoints me because it has so much potential but they don"t go very far with it. Say what you want I just don"t think it"s the greatest song on the album. (3.5/5)

12) When The Levee Brakes- Here a song. This starts out with a mesmerizing drumbeat. Then some blues guitar comes in. Plant has his classic lyrics and fine vocals. This is one of there most bluesy songs. When this song comes on the radio you know you can just sit back and enjoy. (5/5)

13) Stairway To Heaven- There are song that come along and change are view on the world of music. This is one of them arguably the best rock song ever written. If you disagree than your not a fan of rock and roll. The guitar is great, the drums are pushy, the lyrics are compelling and when the bass comes in it starts to soar. This song defines LZ. (5/5 without a doubt)

There it is. The best of there first four albums.



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user ratings (224)
4.2
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Comments:Add a Comment 
Liberi Fatali
Emeritus
May 6th 2006


1618 Comments


Those of you who don’t respect LZ, I hope this will change your mind.

Most people will have already heard of most of the songs on this album, so I doubt it would change anybodies opinion on Led Zeppelin.

Pretty good review for a nub, work on your spelling and grammar in the future.

The Door Mouse
May 6th 2006


2092 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

true dat

JohnXDoesn't
May 6th 2006


1395 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Unless thiis record contains outtakes or live cuts or something, I don't see what is so special about this collection. It seems to be simply a randomly thrown together collection of Zeppelin tunes from the first four albums. Kind of meh even for a compilation.

tom79
May 7th 2006


3949 Comments


Its not a bad compilation, infact they picked mostly very good songs. But it would be nice if they included Misty Mountain Hop on here inplace of The Battle of Evermore , not that that song is not good...

CharmlessMan
May 7th 2006


169 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Led Zeppelin's a bit like Pink Floyd, their music is magnificent when packaged as an album, but not that flash when chopped and changed to be put together as a compilation, but anyone starting out with Led Zeppelin would appreciate this tidy, little disc. Although there are a few songs that could have been left off, and a few better ones off of the albums that would have been better replacements.

Bron-Yr-Aur
May 7th 2006


4405 Comments


I dunno about that, I believe that Zeppelin is great all around as you can tell by my name, but I always felt songs were better in the context on an album.

CharmlessMan
May 7th 2006


169 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I feel that Zeppelin have underlying concepts in their albums even if they aren't all that noticeable. I don't know, there's a certain magic on a Led Zeppelin album when all the songs are in place, I just don't think that it translates good enough when you take different songs off of all their albums (like the Remasters album) and put them into a compilation, the songs all seem to lose a bit of edge they most certainly have when on their respective albums. It's probably just me.

Bron-Yr-Aur
May 7th 2006


4405 Comments


No it's not you. I agree one-hundred percent.This Message Edited On 05.07.06

Holy Diver
May 7th 2006


8 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Battle of Evermore is my favorite song on here, as well as one of my favorite Zep songs of all time. It's positively epic, no electric guitars needed.



When my friend got this album (along with latter days) it was the first time I had really heard Led Zeppelin, outside of maybe a few radio listens. Along with the Beatles, they were one of the first classic rock bands I got into. This is an excellent album to pick up if you're new to them.

BigTrav415
May 7th 2006


9 Comments


My sister actually got into LZ before me, when I was still on my Pink Floyd obsession-drive, and she got HTWWW. When I went to camp, I was gonna take it, but I accidentally left it at home. I wanted some LZ, so I ended up getting this and Latter Days. I liked them a lot, and ended up getting the Complete Studio Recordings. After obcessing over every album, I've decided that Early Days/Latter Days are great for either newbies to LZ or older people who want some of their favorite LZ singles they heard on the radio back in the day, but if you are already an LZ completionist, then there's no need to get them.This Message Edited On 05.07.06

John Paul Harrison
May 7th 2006


1014 Comments


Nah, this comp is pretty awesome. One day you'll realize your wrongness.


I suppose out of necessity it's a good compilation. But Zeppelin is different- their first four albums essentially are their greatest hits.




Rocksta71
April 15th 2008


1023 Comments


cool comp



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