What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

FBG'S TOP 81 LED ZEPPELIN SONGS: #1 - When The Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin IV (1971) (1 Viewer)

#74 - Ozone Baby from Coda (1978 by way of 1982)

Appeared On: 1 ballot (out of 62) . . . 1.6%
Total Points: 8 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  0.516%)
Ranker: @Cowboysfan8
Highest Ranking: 18

Live Performances: Zip chewy
Other Versions: If you were to cover a Zeppelin song, would you pick this one???

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 57
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): Not Ranked
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 57
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 80
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 79
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 52
 

I mostly burned my write up material on Coda already, but Ozone Baby was another leftover from the In Through The Out Door recording sessions from 1978. The opening track to Side Two, the up tempo number was recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm at a studio owned by pop sensations ABBA.

Coda was the fifth Swan Song Records album and was released two years after the band had broken up after the untimely death of drummer John Bonham. The album was released to honor contractual commitments to Atlantic Records and to cover unpaid taxes on previous earnings. It cleared away nearly all the leftover tracks from the various studio sessions of the 1960s and 1970s across the band’s twelve-year history. Nine of the tracks feature the word “baby” in the song title or lyrics.

Atlantic counted the release as a studio album, as Swan Song had owed the label a final studio album from the band. According to music journalist Martin Popoff, "There's conjecture that Jimmy called We're Gonna Groove a studio track and I Can't Quit You Baby a rehearsal track because Swan Song owed Atlantic one more studio album."

Page explained that part of the reasoning for the album's release related to the popularity of unofficial Led Zeppelin recordings, which continued to be circulated by fans. "Coda was released, basically, because there was so much bootleg stuff out. We thought, ‘Well, if there's that much interest, then we may as well put the rest of our studio stuff out.’” As John Paul Jones recalled: "They were good tracks. A lot of it was recorded around the time punk was really happening... basically there wasn't a lot of Zeppelin tracks that didn't go out. We used everything."

A remastered version of Coda was reissued in 2015 and came in six formats: a standard CD edition, a deluxe three-CD edition, a standard LP version, a deluxe three-LP version, a super deluxe three-CD plus three-LP version with a hardcover book, and as high resolution 24-bit / 96k digital downloads. The deluxe and super deluxe editions feature bonus material containing alternative takes and previously unreleased songs including If It Keeps On Raining, Sugar Mama, Four Hands, St. Tristan's Sword, and Desire. The reissue was released with an alternate color version of the original album's artwork as its bonus disc's cover.

The reissue was met with generally positive reviews. Metacritic reviews scored it 78 out of 100 points. Rolling Stone magazine said it is "the unlikely closing triumph in Page's series of deluxe Zeppelin reissues: a dynamic pocket history in rarities, across three discs with 15 bonus tracks, of his band's epic-blues achievement". Pitchfork journalist Mark Richardson was less impressed by the bonus disc, believing "there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the Bombay Orchestra tracks.”

To summarize, they released an album because they still contractually had to. And then they kept adding more and more leftover tracks to make it a 3 CD, super deluxe collection of leftover tracks. No matter how you slice it, I don’t care how much sausage and baloney you stack together, it will never turn into prime rib. Coda somehow managed to go platinum with over 1 million in album sales.

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (57 of 92 songs): One of the more tuneful songs on the odds-and-ends grab bag Coda. Recorded at the same time as In Through the Out Door, presumably left off because it's more straightforward than anything else on the album.

WMGK Ranking (57 of 92 songs): One of the highlights from Coda that was leftover during the recording of In Through The Out Door. If the then-current state of Zeppelin was different, it would’ve been fascinating to see what more they could’ve done with this track in studio. 

SPIN Ranking (80 of 87 songs): There’s a spark there at the beginning, but it’s not strong enough to survive the 50th “Ooo-ooh / It’s my love” exhortation in the song’s quickly-grating chorus.

I’m going to have to get creative with ANOTHER Coda track coming up soon. But first, another short song that illustrates the kinder, gentler, softer, more sensitive side to Led Zeppelin.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
#73 - Bron-Yr-Aur from Physical Graffiti (1975)

Appeared On: 2 ballots (out of 62) . . . 3.2%
Total Points: 8 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  0.516%)
Rankers: @fatguyinalittlecoat@dhockster
Highest Ranking: 21

Live Performances:
Led Zeppelin: 9 (Los Angeles - 1970-09-04)

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 80
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 21
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 65
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 46
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 45
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 47

A virtuoso acoustic masterpiece from Jimmy Page, recorded in 1970 for inclusion on the third album. After a brutal recording, touring, and promoting schedule for almost two years straight, the band retreated to Bron-Yr-Aur, a cottage on the outskirts of Wales where Plant’s family would vacation in the 50’s. The band developed multiple songs there that would make it to the third and fourth albums, Houses of the Holy, and Phys Graf.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1975, Robert Plant said of his Fortress of Solitude: “It was a great place. The Golden Breast is what it means. The place is in a little valley and the sun always moves across it. There's even a track on the new album, a little acoustic thing, that Jimmy got together up there. It typifies the days when we used to chug around the countryside in jeeps. It was a good idea to go up there." (There are pictures in the linked video to the song.)

Page also had a positive vibe: “Robert and I went to Bron-Yr-Aur in 1970. We'd been working solidly right up to that point. Even recordings were done on the road. We had this time off and Robert suggested the cottage. I certainly hadn't been to that area of Wales. We took our guitars down there and played a few bits and pieces. This wonderful countryside, panoramic views and having the guitars . . . it was just an automatic thing to be playing. And we started writing. It was the first time I really came to know Robert. Actually living together at Bron-Yr-Aur, as opposed to occupying nearby hotel rooms. The songs took us into areas that changed the band, and it established a standard of travelling for inspiration . . . which is the best thing a musician can do.”

Two other songs that were recorded in the same general time frame (but never released) were Another Way to Wales and I Wanna Be Her Man.

The song was performed live nine times in 1970 to promote the upcoming release of the third album. However, it was not released in album form until five years later.

Ultimate Classic Rock (80 of 92 songs): Page's solo acoustic instrumental from Physical Graffiti originated years earlier, during the sessions for the third album – the same LP that yielded the similarly named but better Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.

Vulture (21 out of 74 songs): Another tribute to Bron-Yr-Aur, in a rare instrumental track. Another track that shows how supple and protean Page’s guitar talents are.

WMGK (65 of 92 songs): A lovely instrumental from Jimmy Page, this was an outtake from Led Zeppelin III, but it made a nice home for itself as a palate cleanser of sorts on Physical Graffiti after In the Light.

SPIN (46 of 87 songs): Two instrumental interludes, both totally essential on their respective albums, and both about as stately and gorgeous as the band ever got. The guitar-only Bron-Yr-Aur gets the slight nod over the tabla-featuring Black Mountain Side, mainly for the awesome whooshing sound of the guitar riff that’s seemingly reversed on itself every so often - but both represent a key (if rarely seen) side of Zeppelin’s power.

Next up, another track off of Coda. Like I said earlier, the sooner we get them out of the way, the more quality songs will be left.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
By the way, compared to most, I'm sort of a Zeppelin ingenue. Probably due to age and upbringing and demographics. But Led Zeppelin III, upon first blush, is really familiar and probably the track list I enjoyed best as part of the box set that came out in like 1990. Cool stuff. They're very good, but if I had to ding the albums, IV is overplayed, I is too bombastic, and II is perhaps just not up to III.

Anyway, cool thread. Wish I knew a bit more and could have participated. 

 
Anarchy99 said:
#70 - Bron-Yr-Aur from Physical Graffiti (1975)

Appeared On: 2 ballots (out of 61) . . . 3.28%
Total Points: 8 points (out of 1,525 possible points . . .  0.525%)
High Rankers: @fatguyinalittlecoat@dhockster

Live Performances:
Led Zeppelin: 9 (Los Angeles - 1970-09-04)

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 80
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 21
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 65
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 46
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 45
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 47

A virtuoso acoustic masterpiece from Jimmy Page, recorded in 1970 for inclusion on the third album. After a brutal recording, touring, and promoting schedule for almost two years straight, the band retreated to Bron-Yr-Aur, a cottage on the outskirts of Wales where Plant’s family would vacation in the 50’s. The band developed multiple songs there that would make it to the third and fourth albums, Houses of the Holy, and Phys Graf.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1975, Robert Plant said of his Fortress of Solitude: “It was a great place. The Golden Breast is what it means. The place is in a little valley and the sun always moves across it. There's even a track on the new album, a little acoustic thing, that Jimmy got together up there. It typifies the days when we used to chug around the countryside in jeeps. It was a good idea to go up there." (There are pictures in the linked video to the song.)

Page also had a positive vibe: “Robert and I went to Bron-Yr-Aur in 1970. We'd been working solidly right up to that point. Even recordings were done on the road. We had this time off and Robert suggested the cottage. I certainly hadn't been to that area of Wales. We took our guitars down there and played a few bits and pieces. This wonderful countryside, panoramic views and having the guitars . . . it was just an automatic thing to be playing. And we started writing. It was the first time I really came to know Robert. Actually living together at Bron-Yr-Aur, as opposed to occupying nearby hotel rooms. The songs took us into areas that changed the band, and it established a standard of travelling for inspiration . . . which is the best thing a musician can do.”

Two other songs that were recorded in the same general time frame (but never released) were Another Way to Wales and I Wanna Be Her Man.

The song was performed live nine times in 1970 to promote the upcoming release of the third album. However, it was not released in album form until five years later.

Next up, another track off of Coda. Like I said earlier, the sooner we get them out of the way, the more quality songs will be left.
Click to expand...
I figured I would be one of the only ones to list this one but I love it.  Just a really catchy and sweet melody.  I love the acoustic guitar and no vocals, just Jimmy Page just making beautiful music.  I put this on like every mixed CD I made for at least five years.

 
Anarchy99 said:
#77 - Feel So Bad / Fixin’ To Die / That’s Alright Mama (Unreleased from 1970)

An acoustic medley that sounds good enough to at least have made it as a bonus track to the deluxe version of the third album, the deluxe version of Coda, or one of the box sets. Sounds like a sprinkle of In My Time of Dying mixed with Hats Off to Roy Harper (very similar guitar and vocal effects). Maybe they thought it sounded too similar to officially release it, but I figured it was something different that people probably hadn’t heard before.
Click to expand...
From what I've read, Jimmy didn't want to release this song (on the recent deluxe edition of III) because it had already been heavily bootlegged. Instead, he decided to give us "rough mixes" of a bunch of songs that are 99.9% identical to the regular mixes of the songs.  :wall:

Jimmy did release another track from this session -- "Key To The Highway". Pretty underwhelming stuff, though -- even compared to "Hats Off To (Roy) Harper".

 
Anarchy99 said:
#70 - Bron-Yr-Aur from Physical Graffiti (1975)

Appeared On: 2 ballots (out of 61) . . . 3.28%
Total Points: 8 points (out of 1,525 possible points . . .  0.525%)
High Rankers: @fatguyinalittlecoat@dhockster

Live Performances:
Led Zeppelin: 9 (Los Angeles - 1970-09-04)

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 80
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): 21
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 65
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 46
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 45
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 47

A virtuoso acoustic masterpiece from Jimmy Page, recorded in 1970 for inclusion on the third album. After a brutal recording, touring, and promoting schedule for almost two years straight, the band retreated to Bron-Yr-Aur, a cottage on the outskirts of Wales where Plant’s family would vacation in the 50’s. The band developed multiple songs there that would make it to the third and fourth albums, Houses of the Holy, and Phys Graf.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1975, Robert Plant said of his Fortress of Solitude: “It was a great place. The Golden Breast is what it means. The place is in a little valley and the sun always moves across it. There's even a track on the new album, a little acoustic thing, that Jimmy got together up there. It typifies the days when we used to chug around the countryside in jeeps. It was a good idea to go up there." (There are pictures in the linked video to the song.)

Page also had a positive vibe: “Robert and I went to Bron-Yr-Aur in 1970. We'd been working solidly right up to that point. Even recordings were done on the road. We had this time off and Robert suggested the cottage. I certainly hadn't been to that area of Wales. We took our guitars down there and played a few bits and pieces. This wonderful countryside, panoramic views and having the guitars . . . it was just an automatic thing to be playing. And we started writing. It was the first time I really came to know Robert. Actually living together at Bron-Yr-Aur, as opposed to occupying nearby hotel rooms. The songs took us into areas that changed the band, and it established a standard of travelling for inspiration . . . which is the best thing a musician can do.”

Two other songs that were recorded in the same general time frame (but never released) were Another Way to Wales and I Wanna Be Her Man.

The song was performed live nine times in 1970 to promote the upcoming release of the third album. However, it was not released in album form until five years later.

Next up, another track off of Coda. Like I said earlier, the sooner we get them out of the way, the more quality songs will be left.
Click to expand...
Wow. Way underrated here. And two songs off PG toward the bottom of the list, too. Like a kick in the nads.

 
I would be curious for those of you who ranked some of these songs in your top 25, what “notable” songs did you not include.  For example, did you select Darlene over Stairway?

I get it…musical tastes are very subjective and what appeals to some might not appeal to others.

There is no one way to make a list, but I tried not to have the “overplayed” songs sway my judgement too much.  There are songs in my 30-40 range that I would rather listen to than some of the radio staples I included in my top 25

Excited to see where songs end up and have some fun debating.

 
I didn't purposefully leave out any "popular" songs. But I do not care as much for their long "epic" songs other than Stairway. 

Songs like Dazed and Confused, Kashmir and Achilles Last Stand are in the 30s for me. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
gdub said:
I would be curious for those of you who ranked some of these songs in your top 25, what “notable” songs did you not include.  For example, did you select Darlene over Stairway?

I get it…musical tastes are very subjective and what appeals to some might not appeal to others.

There is no one way to make a list, but I tried not to have the “overplayed” songs sway my judgement too much.  There are songs in my 30-40 range that I would rather listen to than some of the radio staples I included in my top 25

Excited to see where songs end up and have some fun debating.
Click to expand...
My list was pretty chalky.  Other than Bron-Yr-Aur and maybe one other favorite track off Physical Graffiti, I think the rest of my top 25 will be highly ranked.  
 

Highest ranked song from the Vulture list that didn’t make my list was “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.”  Highest ranked on the Rolling Stone list that didn’t make my list was “The Battle of Evermore.”

 
fatguyinalittlecoat said:
My list was pretty chalky.  Other than Bron-Yr-Aur and maybe one other favorite track off Physical Graffiti, I think the rest of my top 25 will be highly ranked.  
 

Highest ranked song from the Vulture list that didn’t make my list was “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.”  Highest ranked on the Rolling Stone list that didn’t make my list was “The Battle of Evermore.”
Click to expand...
LOL, the top two songs on that Vulture list didn't make my list. 

 
#72 - Wearing and Tearing from Coda (from 1978 by way of 1982)

Appeared On: 2 ballots (out of 62) . . . 3.2%
Total Points: 9 points (out of 1,550 possible points . . .  0.58%)
High Rankers: @ConstruxBoy@PIK95
Highest Ranking: 18

Live Performances:
Led Zeppelin: 0
Page & Plant: 1 (Knebworth - 1990-06-30)
Plant: 19 (Dallas - 1990-08-04)

Other Versions: Nothing noteworthy

Ultimate Classic Rock Ranking (out of 92 songs): 60
Vulture Ranking (out of 74 songs): Not Ranked
Rolling Stone Ranking (out of 40 songs): Not Ranked
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
Uproxx Ranking (out of 50 songs): Not Ranked
WMGK Ranking (out of 92 songs): 69
SPIN Ranking (out of 87 songs): 51
Ranker Ranking (out of 87 songs): 70
Anachronarchy Ranking (out of 80 songs): 14 (Really???)

The parade of Coda songs continues, this one to close out the album. Rumored to be a song referencing Page’s cravings and heroin addiction issues. Another song originally recorded for In Through the Out Door. The song was supposed to be released as a single to coincide with their 1979 tour. They planned to release the song using a fake band name so it would not be judged as a Zeppelin song and it could compete against popular punk bands. Page, who just turned 78 this week, nixed that idea, but apparently Plant did not give up and tried again to have Wearing and Tearing released as a single before the kickoff of their 1980 European tour. Obviously, that didn’t happen either, and drummer John Bonham passed away and the idea and pursuit became moot.

Certainly the members of Led Zeppelin were no strangers to the sex, drugs, and rock and roll / living to excess lifestyle. There’s no shortage of groupie stories out there with such names as The Whipped Cream Surprise and The Mud Shark Incident. Things that happened on the plane they traveled in might make Jeffrey Epstein cringe. Even Mick Jagger mentioned he had never seen the level of depravity and debauchery that he saw in the air. The night John Bonham died in 1980, he had taken the equivalent of 40 shots of vodka. Jimmy liked his women young . . . like 14-16 years old young. (Apparently that sort of perverse behavior was not only accepted but seemingly expected at that time.) Their are multiple young women that he either dated and hooked up with. Yikes.

The band had wreaked havoc and inflicted so much damage at several hotels that they were banned from coming back. One time they gave fake names to try to gain access and were told they first had to pay $2,500 to pay for the 5 television sets they threw out of top floor windows. Their tour manager paid immediately in cash. The front desk worker asked a now-legendary question. “I’ve heard Led Zeppelin has a reputation for throwing TVs. But I thought it was BS. Can you tell me, what does it feel like to just toss a TV out of your window?” The tour manager replied, “Kid, there are some things in life that you’ve got to experience for yourself.” He slid the worker an additional $500 and said, ”Here you go, mate. Go toss a TV courtesy of Led Zeppelin.”

Led Zeppelin never played Wearing and Tearing song live. However, Page and Plant whipped it out at the Knebworth Festival in 1990 for the first and only time. Plant played it 19 times on the Manic Nirvana tour in 1990. Here’s an alternate / in-process studio version of the song.

Ultimate Classic Rock (60 of 92 songs): A tough, late-period rocker left off In Through the Out Door but resurrected on the Coda outtakes collection three years later. Zeppelin go punk, basically.

WMGK (69 of 92 songs): An outtake from In Through The Out Door’ this showed that the band could be as aggressive as the punk rock and new wave bands that were all the rage by the end of the ‘70s. Why it wasn’t included on the album is a mystery. 

SPIN (51 of 87 songs): Zeppelin hoped that this Coda highlight could be mistaken for the Damned or one of their U.K. ilk, and maybe in the process shed the dinsoaur-rock label they’d gotten (and arguably deserved) from the punks in recent years. Not quite, but impressively close - Wearing does achieve a kind of lean muscularity that’s rare in the band’s catalog, and Bonzo’s thumping motor keeps the song from ever lagging across its 5:29 runtime.

Next up, Plant goes searching for his girl that's gone away.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
ConstruxBoy said:
Too low. 

;)
Click to expand...
We are definitely going to see signs of choosing a poor ranking mechanism and methodology to create a master ranking. Since people could only pick 25 songs, many of the middle tier of their catalog got less than stellar consideration. If I asked for people to rank the LZ entire catalog, I think a lot of songs would have fared much better. However, we would not have gotten 60+ to rank 80 or 100 songs. So I chose more participants over trying to get a handful of people to rank every song.

 
Anarchy99 said:
We are definitely going to see signs of choosing a poor ranking mechanism and methodology to create a master ranking. Since people could only pick 25 songs, many of the middle tier of their catalog got less than stellar consideration. If I asked for people to rank the LZ entire catalog, I think a lot of songs would have fared much better. However, we would not have gotten 60+ to rank 80 or 100 songs. So I chose more participants over trying to get a handful of people to rank every song.
Click to expand...
It's called BinkyTheDorkman Syndrome. 

:bye: @Binky The Doormat

 
gdub said:
I would be curious for those of you who ranked some of these songs in your top 25, what “notable” songs did you not include.  For example, did you select Darlene over Stairway?

I get it…musical tastes are very subjective and what appeals to some might not appeal to others.

There is no one way to make a list, but I tried not to have the “overplayed” songs sway my judgement too much.  There are songs in my 30-40 range that I would rather listen to than some of the radio staples I included in my top 25

Excited to see where songs end up and have some fun debating.
Click to expand...


I based it on what I would actually want to hear right now.  So while that answer would have included Black Dog 30 years ago, now no way.  

 
Plant sounds like he is in a cave and I don't like punk music so Wearing and Tearing is near the bottom of the catalogue for me. it's just a whole lotta of noise signifying a bunch of nothing.🤕

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

timschochet
The 100 Greatest Classic Rock Albums of All Time: #1. Sticky Fingers
40 41 42
Replies
2K
Views
129K
New Binky the Doormat
New Binky the Doormat
Anarchy99
FBG'S TOP 100 PINK FLOYD SONGS - #01 - Comfortably Numb from The Wall (1979)
32 33 34
Replies
2K
Views
116K
UncleZen
UncleZen
Pip's Invitation
The THIRD 100 from 1971. #1: Echoes
5 6 7
Replies
310
Views
10K
BobbyLayne
BobbyLayne

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top