In January 1969, Led Zeppelin raised the ante on what the Doors had done eighteen months earlier in America. The Doors had made significant inroads with changing the face of rock and roll, making it something darker and less blatantly commercial than before. Led Zeppelin did the same thing, dropping the ‘roll’ by focusing exclusively on the ‘rock’.

The British obsession with American blues music predated the British Invasion of 1964, with just about every English band relying on Black American culture for material and influence. Back then, it was mostly innocent, and the British attempts at American Blues and R&B music were often juvenile when compared to the original material, but Led Zeppelin took the formula to an entirely new level.

They created a Frankenstein-type breed of the blues by using an aural form of electro-shock therapy, pumping 20,000 watts of volume and power into an art form that once relied almost exclusively on an acoustic guitar. Some people hated it, recognizing it as a pompous, overblown and fatuous exaggeration of something that was meant to be subtle. Other people could care less about expectations and heard it as something brand new and powerful. In the long run, Led Zeppelin managed to win over the hearts and minds of most listeners, but this album covers a time when the band drew a distinct line in the sand.

Featured tracks include;

Good Times, Bad Times

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You

You Shook Me

Dazed and Confused

Your Time Is Gonna Come

Black Mountain Side

Communication Breakdown

I Can’t Quit You Baby

How Many More Times

January 1969 – Billboard Charted #10