Note: It returns and I am guessing with a much anticipated list. Enjoy.
Led Zeppelin II (1969) by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin III (1970) by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin IV (1971) by Led Zeppelin
Leftism (1995) by Leftfield
Legalize It (1976) by Peter Tosh
First Five at a Glance: Led Zeppelin dominates this group, and I can already see the smile crossing Snake’s lips. Here’s my brief take on these, I am sure the discussion will go further than this. Zep II cements the Zeppelin sound as Page, Jones and Bonham blend into a chorus of havoc. “Whole Lotta Love,” is as important of a song to its genre as any other. Zep III is a melding of hard rock and acoustic folk. “Immigrant Song” stands above as the hit from this album. I know Zep IV the best with eight powerful tracks, only “When the Levee Breaks” took time for me to warm too. The rest are power and beauty clashing. Peter Tosh is a former member of the Wailers, the backing band for Bob Marley. Take a guess on what he wants to legalize. Leftism is a dance album, you know pulsating sounds that repeat over and over and over and over.
Let It Be (1984) by the Replacements
Let It Bleed (1969) by The Rolling Stones
Let Love Rule (1989) by Lenny Kravitz
Let’s Get It On (1973) by Marvin Gaye
Let’s Get Killed (1997) by David Holmes
Second Five at a Glance: The Replacements “Let It Be,” was put there only to confuse me into thinking there was some sort of typo in the book. The Stones “Let It Bleed,” is a sharp contrast to old rivals the Beatles, who released “Let It Be” around the same time. The Stones gave us sex, drugs and violence, the Beatles ballads and breakup. I think the Beatles album should have made it here also, but the Stones may have been more in touch with the times. “Gimme Shelter” opens the album and that is one of the top tunes in the Stones catalog. Marvin Gaye focuses on the sex, but also interestingly enough uses a T.S. Eliot quote in the sleeve of the album. That’s an interesting mix. I’ve always thought Kravitz was a bit pretentious and had a lot of unrealized talent. “Let’s Get Killed,” sounds like an interesting social experiment. It takes real interviews with the underbelly personalities of New York and mixes them with rock, techno, funk and latin-styles.
Let’s Stay Together (1972) by Al Green
The Lexicon of Love (1982) by ABC
The Libertines (2004) by The Libertines
Licensed to Ill (1986) by Beastie Boys
Liege and Lief (1969) by Fairport Convention
Third Five at a Glance: Licensed to Ill may be as important of a rap album as there has ever been. It introduced to the massive, white teenage public to the genre. While songs like “Girls,” and “Fight for Your Right,” catch in the immature, tunes like “Brass Monkey,” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” force brighter folk to keep listening. Let’s Stay Together is a soul classic. The album takes some risks and is the height of Green’s brief career. Fairport Convention was an early folk band that started to use electric instruments. Singer Sandy Denny was a big influence on Robert Plant. They kept calling ABC a punk band, I hear more New Wave. The two frontmen of The Libertines apparently hated each other to the point they had bouncers at the studio to prevent fights, the music reflects this constant tension.
The Goods: Led Zeppelin II, III, IV; Let It Bleed, Let’s Get It On, Let’s Stay Together, Licensed to Ill
Something to check out: I’d put Let’s Get Killed, The Libertines and Fairport Convention all on this list for very different reasons.
Verdict: This is an excellent group filled with hard rock standards and classic soul sounds. From top to bottom, we may not get a better group that this. The top albums are great and the one’s in the middle are good artists and the ones on the bottom are not completely terrible.
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3 comments:
No I'm not dead, just been some hectic times :) I had to check to make sure LZ1 was on the last set or I was gonna be pretty mad. :) Strangely looking at these 3, and really first 4 LZ albums, #2 probably becomes my least favorite. Whole Lotta Love is eternal of course. My personal choice is Heartbreaker and Living Loving Maid since the two are really one song. The rest is just ok to me. Ramble On and Moby Dick are good. The Lemon Song is just a weaker version of the sexed out blues tunes from LZ1. LZ3 is mega depth. They basically gave the middle finger to the music world and said oh yeah check this out. It is hard to get into if you some to Led because of their famous songs, but these is great beauty in these acoustic numbers. Gallows Pole, Tangerine, That;s The Way & Bron-Y-Aur Stomp is an awesome B side in old record play. The unnamed 4th album, be it LZ4, Zoso, Runes albums, etc, is an eternal masterpiece. Certainly one you could listen to over and over. I too didnt like When The Levee Breaks at first, but it is really the best band blues song they ever made. Bohnam thunders through the entire song starting with a well sampled and famous opening drum line. Nothing says blues like the harmonica too, every good blues band can make it sing. It sets a great tone for the end of the epic album. So far by my recollection, In Through The Out Door is the only missing LZ album which is a travesty too.
Let It Bleed is probably my favorite Stones album, either that or Sticky Fingers. Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler & You Cant Always Get What You Want are the hits. Monkey Man & Live With Me are my favorites and are songs everyoen should hear. Love in Vain is a classic styled slow sad blues song. Country Honk is super country-sized redo of Honky Tonk Woman which is quite comical. Even Let It Bleed has some comic value. They were truely in their prime.
Speaking of Led Zeppelin, their influence in more than obvious in their samples on Licensed to Ill. Not only did it introduce white people to rap, it really made rock rap as they sample LZ generously and No Sleep Till Brooklyn is probably the greatest example of the style with one of the best guitar solos ever. I'd have to listen ago to tell you which songs have LZ samples but it is at least 3.
Great group to get us back to it! Glad to have it back.
Yeah, they mentioned the Zeppelin samples on Licensed to Ill in the book. I haven't listened to Beastie Boys in a long time. But, then again, I haven't listened to a lot of Zeppelin either recently. Although, my boss and I did take a Zeppelin quiz on Sporcle where you had to name the zeppelin songs by listening to a short clip. We did pretty good at that.
I'll be interested to see your reaction to this next group. The best part is I've made it half way through the albums! It's only taken a couple years!
I need to take quizzes like that, it sounds like fun. I dont think Let It Bleed gets talked about as much as it should. Although I dunno that people really talk about Stones albums anymore. They always seem to get hurt by the idea of them retorting to The Beatles. I was thinking I needed to make you an Album Cuts CD of the stones, stuff beyond the singles.
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