On Facebook I was asked to list my top ten all-time albums that most influenced me. Since I can't list anything without a huge explanation, this is it. Not only that but I'm writing about my Top 19 instead of my Top 10.
This is what I wrote about this album on Facebook: "I was first introduced to this album in the late summer/early fall of 1990 when one of my friends would pick me up for soccer practice. We would listen to "Over the Hills and Far Away" (still my favorite Zep son) and then he'd flip the tape to "D'yer M'ker". After those two songs I was hooked. This album perfectly captures the melancholy and wistfulness of those days: the receding warmth of the late summer sun combined with the early sun down. Despite their bombast of more well-known albums and songs, this album encapsulates both the band and this time in my life perfectly, and that's what Zeppelin means to me. "
Are there better Led Zeppelin albums? Possibly. Actually definitely. There's some filler on Houses of the Holy. But you never forget your first. This is true with a lot of things, but in this case, it's especially true with Led Zeppelin albums.
When I was 16-years-old, I knew of Zep. How could I not? Every single dance since seventh grade ended with "Stairway to Heaven". But I wasn't into the band. Why? Probably because they were an older band who long ago broke up and I had no time for that. I may have been poisoned by the Robert Plant solo stuff--those songs seemed lame except for "Tall Cool One", which had Zep riffs and callbacks, though I was unaware of what those callbacks were about. But also because the band seemed like a monolith, there were nine studio albums, which at the time seemed like a lot. Who had the time to listen to nine albums and who had the money to buy nine albums?
But one day, my friend Jamie showed up in his car blasting "D'yer M'ker" and it sounded interesting. And then he flipped the tape and played "Over the Hills" and like I said above, I was pretty much hooked. They're both really good tunes. We listened to these songs over and over and over again for a solid two months.
Today if OtHaFA comes on, I can close my eyes and picture us in his white Honda CRX bombing through Amesbury, chances are we were late to practice, a gaggle of friends in this car, talking about nothing, dreading the two hours of exercise we were about to embark on, feeling the warmth of the sun cascade over my face, pounding Jolt cola and my ears filled with these tunes.
It was a good time to be alive.
I was lucky. Around this time, Jimmy Page jumped back into the studios and for the first time remastered the best Zeppelin songs over a four-disc box set. I got the slimmed down version ($60 for four tapes? I'm not a millionaire!) and that helped me wind on down the Led Zeppelin road. But I never would have started on that path if it wasn't for Jamie Morrill, his Honda CRX and the Amesbury High School soccer team.
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