“They are determined to waste their considerable talent on unworthy material.” Bam!
Our colleague from US ROLLING STONE, John Mendelsohn, didn’t leave anything good about “Led Zeppelin I”, Led Zeppelin’s debut. Mendelsohn reviewed the record in March 1969, two months after its release. But hey, we can all be wrong sometimes.
Limited, weak songs
John Mendelsohn writes: The composition of the band alone is “formulaic”: an excellent but undersold guitarist meets a “handsome” singer with a “soul pipe” (phew, those clichés!), the rhythm section is reasonably competent; Drummer John Bonham finally hits the cymbals “with every beat”. All of this gave the American ROLLING STONE editor a headache. But he forced himself to keep listening, it’s his job.
Music critic Mendelsohn particularly hits out at guitarist Jimmy Page: “Unfortunately, he is very limited as a producer, and he writes weak songs, without ideas, and the album suffers from Page’s production and the songs he composed.” They would go to B -Page material for the Yardbirds remember. Today Jimmy Page, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, is considered one of the ten best guitarists of all time, and deservedly so.
Drugs!
Mendelsohn characterizes “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” as a particularly bad piece: “Very dull, especially in the vocal passages, redundant, certainly not worth the six and a half minutes that Led Zeppelin devote to the song.”
The complete review of “Led Zeppelin I” – which was not yet rated with stars at the time You will find here.
The buyers judged differently than ROLLING STONE. The record climbed to number ten in the US album charts in 1969 and to number six in England. Led Zeppelin were made people, the rise to world stars began; In 1980 the band would retire following the death of John Bonham.
And our colleagues from US ROLLING STONE also see “Led Zeppelin I” in a different light today. The magazine listed it at number 29 in the “500 Greatest Albums of all Time” ranking.