Led Zeppelin’s top 10 underrated songs
As the man responsible for this century’s greatest guitar riff put it, “Well, I sort of don’t trust anybody who doesn’t like Led Zeppelin.” Well said, Jack White.
Led Zeppelin is undeniably one of rock’s best and most influential rock bands of all-time. The new documentary on the band’s origins and early years, “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” in theaters now, brings their widescreen wallop to big screens.
In the doc, Zep guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones tell their story. A newly excavated interview with John Bonham poignantly adds the late great drummer’s voice.
Led Zeppelin is known for timeless, titanic songs like “Kashmir,” “Whole Lotta Love,” and yes “Stairway to Heaven.” The band’s catalog is also rich with beloved deeper cuts.
Below are my picks for the 10 underrated Led Zeppelin songs. For this list, we’re sticking to one song each from the band’s eight studio albums, 1976 concert release “The Song Remains The Same,” and “Coda,” the 1982 outtakes collection released in the wake of Bonham’s 1980 passing.
10. “The Lemon Song”
From 1969 album “Led Zeppelin II”
Opening with one of Page’s raunchiest riffs, “The Lemon Song” shifts gears brilliantly over its six-minutes. There’s a mid-song breakdown with a Bonham and Jones groove straight off the Chitlin’ Circuit. Double-time passages mutate Howlin’ Wolf’s blues “Killing Floor” into metallic rave-ups. Plant howls like a hellcat. Especially when he invokes Robert Johnson’s old double entendre involving lemons.
9. “Celebration Day”
From 1970 album “Led Zeppelin III”
A recording engineer accidentally erased Bonham’s original drum intro to “Celebration Day.” Oof. As a fix, the band added droning synthesizer to segue from the previous track on “Zep III,” snake-charmer strummer “Friends.” It made “Celebration Day” even better. Out of that swirl, the band explodes into hippie boogie. Plant’s lyrics are clever and diaphanous, allowing listeners to slide into the song.
8. “The Crunge”
From 1973 album “Houses Of The Holy”
Like many musicians, Zeppelin drew inspiration from James Brown. On “The Crunge,” from the band’s most eclectic album, “House Of The Holy,” they try on Brown-style funk. And they wear it well. Page throws chunk chords, Bonham and Jones make rumps shake, and Plant scats about the whereabouts of a bridge.
7. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” (live)
From 1976 album “The Song Remains The Same”
On Zep’s first two studio albums, the band swiped from blues music they loved and made it heavier, sleazier and catchier. For the third album, they finally wrote a nuanced blues all their own, “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” But the song’s definitive version is on the soundtrack to concert film “The Song Remains The Same.” After a lightning Page salvo, the band delivers a stunner. The interplay between Page and Plant is particularly inspired.
6. “Hots on for Nowhere”
From 1976 album “Presence”
By their seventh album, these fast-living rockers began to reap their karma. The darkness and desperation fueled the music. “Presence” opens with the epic “Achilles Last Stand” and coke stomp “For Your Life,” two hardcore fan faves. The sauntering “Hots on for Nowhere” deserves more love though, among Zep-ophiles and casual listeners alike.
5. “Hot Dog”
From 1978 album “In Through the Out Door”
Possibly the most polarizing track in Zep’s catalog. Is Elvis Presley pastiche “Hot Dog” a symphonic masterwork? No. But it’s rollicking fun. Presley’s one of Plant’s biggest influences. On “Hot Dog” he echoes his idol’s drawl while delivering winking lines about a Texas heartbreaker. Page’s chicken-picking and Jones’ honky-tonk piano are a hoot, too.
4. “Four Sticks”
From untitled 1971 album, aka “Led Zepplin IV”
“Led Zeppelin IV” is better than most band’s greatest hits. A stocked pond of classics like “Stairway to Heaven,” “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll,” “Misty Mountain Hop,” “Going to California” and “When The Levee Breaks.” Amid those megaliths resides “Four Sticks.” The witchy track’s powered by Bonham’s tribal pow which, as the song title hints, he played with four drumsticks. Two in each of his thunder-kissed hands.
3. “Your Time Is Gonna Come”
From 1969 album “Led Zeppelin”
For a debut album recorded in less than 40 studio hours, Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut is ripe with atmosphere. From the opening oomph of “Good Times Bad Times” to acoustic cinema “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” to psych-blues closer “How Many More Times,” the band’s bow wowed fans. But not snooty critics like Rolling Stone’s John Mendelson. His album review called Page, “a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs,” and asserted “the Zeppelin album suffers from his having both produced it and written most of it.” That assessment’s aged less than well. Soul-rock ballad “Your Time Is Gonna Come” exemplifies the depth and width of Zep’s debut.
2. “Sick Again”
From 1975 album “Physical Graffiti”
An introspective ballad about influenza? Uh, no. “Sick Again” soundtracks too-much-too-soon stuff with private-jet clang. Step inside a rented limousine filled with silver-eyed L.A. queens. Destination: a downhill slide to Hotel Paradise.
1. “Wearing and Tearing”
From 1982 compilation “Coda”
Zep’s haymaking retort to punk rockers dissing them as has-beens. “Wearing and Tearing” was cut during “In Through the Out Door” sessions. At one point, the track was to drop ahead of the band’s 1979 headlining set at U.K. mega festival Knebworth. That release didn’t happen. Led Zeppelin never performed “Wearing and Tearing” live. But during Plant’s solo 1990 Knebworth set, Page made a surprise cameo, including a windswept debut of “Wearing and Tearing.” The performance thrilled fans there and those watching worldwide on MTV. I’ll never forget it.
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