Don't Pick the Purple Ones Trivia Quiz

Answer:

"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" appears on Led Zeppelin's self titled debut from 1969 and it, essentially, set the standard for what the band would produce for the next decade. In a nutshell, it showcased a blues based hard rock outfit that would draw on Celtic and Middle Eastern influences, adding deft acoustic touches to heavy drumming, screaming amplifiers and great experimentation.

Going back to the summer of 1968 Jimmy Page and Chris Dreja found themselves as the sole survivors of the band, the Yardbirds. They held the rights to the name, but they also had an obligation to fulfill an upcoming tour. Robert Plant was invited to join the pair as a vocalist and Plant suggested the recruitment of John Bonham from a band he'd previously been involved in called Band of Joy. When Dreja dropped out he was replaced by John Paul Jones and the line-up that would later become known as Led Zeppelin was complete.

Paid a reported $200,000 advance, a staggering amount at the time, the band recorded their debut album in less than 30 hours. Within two months the album had climbed into the Top Ten of the Billboards' US Album charts thanks, in part, to strong airplay of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", a reworking of a 1950s Anne Bredon song, despite it not being released as a single.

Whilst "Led Zeppelin I" set the foundations for the band, the follow up LP "Led Zeppelin II" (1969) created the blueprint for future heavy metal bands to follow. The disc was recorded while the band was touring the States in 1969, which impacted on the recording. Their studio time was limited and the fact that they were touring allowed for little time to generate original material or to extend their experimentation. This meant that most of the tracks were re-workings of blues standards, and these were delivered with an "in your face" heavy bent - hard, brutal and direct. This is particularly evident on tracks such as "The Lemon Song", "Bring it on Home" and the heavy metal orgy that represents the opening track "Whole Lotta Love". The only real moment of respite for the listener is the timelessly refreshing dreamscape that is "What is and What Should Never Be", following hot on the heels of the opener.

"Led Zeppelin II" may not have been as eclectic as its predecessor, but it could be argued that its pummeling riffs were significantly more of an influence on the bands that followed.

Although many will say that "Immigrant Song" (1970) is not a technically difficult song... let's face it, Jimmy Page's opening riff is the same note switched between two octaves and Bonham's drumming doubles down on it... the song is a true powerhouse that kickstarts the band's "Led Zeppelin III" album. However, it is Plant's vocal, which opens the track with an unearthly scream, that steals the song and seems to invoke "the hammer of the gods" described within the lyrics.

This LP saw the band draw on British folk, creating a heavy metal hybrid that deepens rather than diminishes the band's sound. Whilst the album did reach number one on the UK Album charts, the sales paled in comparison to its predecessors in that country and it would take quite a few years before it achieved platinum status. The Americans, however, were enamoured by it and the LP went platinum six times over in the States, consolidating the band's position there.

The untitled, though commonly referred to as "Led Zeppelin IV" (1971), fourth album opened the door to what this author terms the band's "Imperious period", a span of three albums when the band was virtually "untouchable" and could lay claim to being the greatest band in the world. Their only real competition, at this time, was the Rolling Stones.

"Led Zeppelin IV", which many claim to be the band's best, saw them take the heavy rock stylings of the second album, incorporate the strands of folk from their third LP and added layers of mysticism that took this disc to whole new level. It balanced the extremes of the chiming mandolins on "Going to California" with the complex power riffs of "Black Dog" and, at the crossroads of these two behemoths, sat the ubiquitous "Stairway to Heaven", a song often quoted as the greatest ever written, to become one that would border on parody and ride the waves between the lovers and the detesters.

Those that baulked at claiming the fourth album was the best the band produced are likely to be the ones that would hold the band's fifth album, "Houses of the Holy" (1973) as the band's finest hour (or 40 minutes and 57 seconds for the pedantic). Those opinions may well be moot but there would be no denying that, at this point in time, the band was on a creative roll. Here they introduced elements of funk and reggae to compliment their crunching riffs and seven minute epics. "Over the Hills and Far Away" is often quoted as one of the band's best, "The Ocean" delivers one of Page's finest riffs and "The Rain Song" evolves into a classic study of the balance between power chords and acoustic strumming.

The interesting deviation on the album is "D'yer Mak'er". This was the band's exploration into reggae but it's a song that didn't sit well with all of its members. John Bonham detested it, to the point that he refused to write a drum part for it and simply played the first beat that came to him.

Both Robert Plant and Jimmy Page declared that "Kashmir" (1975) was the quintessential Led Zeppelin song. Little wonder then that this eight and a half minute, Middle Eastern styled epic, that begins with an explosive cymbal crash, drifts into a horn heavy middle section and then closes with some sparse funk rock, forms the centrepiece of the band's most ambitious album, to this point, the double disc "Physical Graffiti" (1975).

Completing the trifecta of their "Imperious" period", the album, though a little disjointed, remains a marvel. The powerful riffs are still there in tracks such as "Custard Pie", "Houses of the Holy" and the jam creation "The Wanton Song". These are backed up by the deconstructed blues of "In My Time of Dying", the pastoral musings of "Black Mountainside" and the blissfully acoustic, though way too short, "Bron-Yr-Aur". In calling this disjointed, it appeared that the band had entered the studio with way too many ideas and wound up creating a monument that could rival the Beatles' "White Album" (1968).

After the completion of "Physical Graffiti", the band was set to embark on a mammoth tour but a serious car accident to Robert Plant soon put paid to that. Page, however, was keen to keep the band working and, immediately, called them into the studio to work on their next LP, "Presence" (1976). The lack of pre-planning and preparation would emerge in an album that ended up being dry and lean. There was a strong emphasis on instrumentation and no consideration to producing anything likely to be "radio friendly". As if to emphasize this, there is very little in the way of keyboards on the album and only one song allows for an acoustic guitar.

Further, one of the keys to Led Zeppelin's success was Robert Plant's voice, which, to this point, had virtually been another instrument that the band utilized expertly. On this album, however, it does not shine, though Plant could be excused for this as he spent the entire recording sessions sitting in a wheelchair. "Achilles Last Stand" is a vague nod to Plant's plight and, ironically, it is one of the tracks on which the singer does shine and one of the few tracks where the band's mastery of layering is also evident.

By the time Led Zeppelin had entered the studio to record "In Through the Out Door" (1979), the band was in serious decline. Page was heavily addicted to heroin and Bonham's demons with booze had grown demonstrably. Consequently, the thrust of this album would fall upon the shoulders of Robert Plant and the ever reliable John Paul Jones. The consequence was this LP was the polar opposite of what the band had produced in their previous outing. Unlike the guitar-fueled numbers of "Presence", the songs here wore colourful cloaks woven by a heavier emphasis on synthesizers and satin like production values. "All My Love" is a good example of this change in mood. Written as a tribute to Plant's son, who'd died while the band had been touring, the song is a lilting number. Whilst it was radio friendly, it stood a long way away from the amplified sounds that the band was famous for.

In September of 1979 John Bonham was found dead in his bed after a night spent binging on alcohol. A little over 12 months later the band announced that they would disband, declaring that they could not continue without John.

Two years after that announcement (1982) the band's last studio album "Coda" was released. The LP is merely a collection of outtakes from past recording sessions that served to complete a contractual obligation. For a band that had carried itself with such majesty and daring throughout the 1970s, this was not a particular high note on which to go out on. The blistering "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" is an exception. Originally recorded as the b-side to 1970's "Immigrant Song", the track had, previously, failed to make it on any album, yet it remains (arguably) one of the band's most radio friendly songs... perhaps that was the reason. It proved to be a hidden gem and it garnered a lot of interest from radio stations when it appeared on the band's 1990 four disc box-set, becoming a rock radio staple for a number of years.

If "Coda" was a let-down then "Celebration Day", their 2012 live set, was a triumph and a fitting finale for the band. Despite their reputation about reunions and the stories of the levels of frostiness that supposedly existed among the remaining members, the group was not averse to getting together for occasional gigs. Too often though, these proved to be lacklustre affairs that were steadily eroding the band's legacy.

Asked to headline the 2007 Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert, the members got serious. Sensing that this would, most likely, be their last show together, they felt that they should go out with a bang. With Bonham's son, Jason, on drums, the four rehearsed diligently and delivered a reunion gig to remember. The live set would be released five years later, and it stands as a testament to the skill of this outfit.

The incessant funk rhythms arising from the pummeling foundations of "Trampled Under Foot" bear witness to this. Originally recorded for the "Physical Graffiti" set in 1975, on this live set, the band shows that age has not wearied them. Rather than being a detraction, Robert Plant's reduced vocal range manages to add another level of gravity to the song. The song, like the album, delivers the truth that while band may be older, they were no less majestic.