A-Z CDs - Day 33

Friday? More like Ledzeppelinday.
276. Led Zeppelin - III (last listen: 0-3 months) - A very underrated Zeppelin album. “Out on the Tiles” is becoming one of my favorite Zeppelin songs. Other highlights include “Tangerine,” “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,” “That’s the Way,” and “Celebration Day.”
277. Led Zeppelin - (untitled fourth album) (last listen: 1-2 years) - Four, IV, ZOSO, Runes, Four Symbols, or whatever you want to call it, is a great album. From the beginning wail in “Black Dog” of “Hey hey mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove,” to the droning blues-rock masterpiece “When the Levee Breaks” (far and away my favorite Led Zeppelin song), this album is gold. And by “gold,” I mean platinum. And by “platinum,” I mean 23x platinum in the US alone. “Stairway to Heaven” may be overplayed and overhyped, but when you hear it for the first time in a while, you remember why it’s often considered one of the top 5 songs in rock and roll history. Plus, if you play it backwards, it supposedly says “my sweet Satan” right around the “bustle in your hedgerow” part. I also love “Misty Mountain Hop.”
278. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (last listen: 1-2 years) - Where’s that confounded bridge? Off this album, my favorite songs are “Over the Hills and Far Away” and “The Ocean.” “No Quarter” is an eerie song. And of course there’s the reggae-influenced “D’yer Mak’er,” the title being a play on words for “did you make her” and “Jamaica,” thereby pronounced “jah-may-kah,” not “dire maker.” Still confused? Here’s the old British joke it was based off of. Man A says to Man B, "My wife's on vacation in the West Indies." Man B replies, "Jamaica?" Man A says, "No, she went of her own accord." Maybe now you filthy Americans will get it right.
279. Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions (last listen: 1-2 years) - A compilation of stuff recorded “live” at the BBC from 1969 to 1971, this is a good double album for the learned fan, unless you’re the kind of random non-Led Zeppelin fan who likes 18-minute versions of “Dazed and Confused” and 10+-minute versions of other songs. There are also repeats of a couple songs. That said, there are a couple rarities, including “The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair,” “Somethin’ Else,” and “Travelling Riverside Blues” (the latter being a Robert Johnson remake that is otherwise only available on the box set) on the first CD and a 13+-minute version of “Whole Lotta Love” with a blues medley injected into it, including “Boogie Chillun’,” “Fixin’ To Die,” “That’s Alright Mama,” and “A Mess of Blues” on the second CD.
280. Led Zeppelin - Box Set Disc 1 (last listen: 1-2 years) - The treasure off this CD is “Hey Hey What Can I Do,” which does not appear on any of their albums, but was the b-side to III’s “Immigrant Song” (one of the very few Led Zeppelin songs released in single format). I can particularly relate to the song’s subject matter, since I also got a woman who stays drunk all the time.
281. Led Zeppelin - Box Set Disc 2 (last listen: 1-2 years)
282. Led Zeppelin - Box Set Disc 3 (last listen: 2-5 years) - The last 2 CDs are especially good for me because they feature songs from the last few Zeppelin albums, which I don’t have on CD. You see, I used to have every Led Zeppelin album on tape. I kept said tapes in a shoebox in my old car, Blackura. Occasionally I would pop them into Blackura’s tape deck and have an absolute ball. Blackura would get so excited about hearing Zeppelin that she would go through a quart of motor oil every 250 to 300 miles. It was the greatest time in my life. Then senior year at IU, a certain woman who would one day become my wife decided not to lock Blackura’s doors when we retired to her abode in Matlock Apartments one evening. The next morning greeted me with horror, as I came back to find my rearview mirror tilted and my “Houses of the Holy” tape precariously resting on my driver’s side floor mat. Something was amiss. The thieves didn’t take my Oakleys, nor did they take my Discman (with tape adapter), nor did they take any of the other tapes in my shoebox (Hendrix, The Doors, Cream, Bowie, among others). No, they only took my Zeppelin tapes (aside from the aforementioned “Houses of the Holy,” which must have been accidentally dropped, or perhaps left there to teach me a lesson in trusting women).