Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

I was certain, even before I pressed play, that I wasn't going to like this. The reasons were stacked up; I don't like late 60s / early 70s heavy rock, I'm not that keen on extended screeching guitar solos, Robert Plant's vocal register is a little too high and anyone who thinks that a guitar needs two necks clearly has a deficiency in the trouser department. And trousers in the early 70s were tight. Enough to bring tears to your eyes. So really there was no need for me to press play at all. Why bother. I had other stuff that I could do in the time. But I had an album to listen to today so I might as well....

So at 7:10 this morning, as I locked the front door and began my daily walk to work, 'Good Times, Bad Times' started to play; crunching chords, looping bass and rhythmic drumming. I wasn't expecting much. "Mmmm this is not as bad as I was expecting", I thought to myself. By the time I'd got to the Willie Dixon blues of 'You Shook Me' I was accompanied by shopkeepers setting up their stalls for the day. And I was in the groove. And so it continued; past Marks & Spencer's, into the underpass, passed Dominos Pizza and down Valley Street; all the while stains of blues, rock and psychedelic folk entertained and delighted me; 'Dazed and Confused', 'Black Mountain Side', 'Communication Breakdown'. Great stuff. Unexpectedly likeable. I could feel my pre-conceptions dissolve before my very ears. I was confused.

Then it struck me. It was all perfectly clear. Led Zeppelin sit right on a musical heritage line running from Robert Johnson and through The Yardbirds, Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys and Kate Bush. Yes, even in the pop songstress' music the rich heritage can be heard.

Not for the first time on this musical journey have my ears been opened and I hope it won't be the last. So maybe late 60s heavy rock isn't so bad, the screeching solos were kept to an absolute minimum and maybe a flash guitar is ok in the right hands. Maybe. And as for Robert Plant's vocals? Well it is a little high pitched but I blame the trousers!