Led Zeppelin Albums From The Band's Official Catalogue

Any discussion of Led Zeppelin albums has to include the group’s official and unofficial releases. Over the course of Zeppelin’s career (1968-1980), the band recorded eight studio albums, two (official) live albums, one soundtrack and several compilations.

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• Led Zeppelin
• Led Zeppelin II
• Led Zeppelin III
• Led Zeppelin IV(actually untitled)
• Houses of the Holy
• Physical Graffiti
• Presence
• In Through the Out Door

After drummer John Bonham’s tragic, untimely death on September 25, 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded that December.

In 1982, the group released Coda, its ninth official studio album. It featured session out-takes and material the group had recorded with Bonham.

The two official live albums were BBC Sessions: Led Zeppelin and How the West Was Won. While the music was recorded live on this release, The Song Remains the Same is considered a soundtrack to the movie of that name.

Mothership is a recent compilation of 24 works from Led Zeppelin’s studio recording days from 1968 through 1978.

Click here to tell us what's YOUR favourite album!

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From Motown To Masterpiece

How is it that Led Zeppelin albums continue to sound as fresh and exciting today as when they were first recorded? For one thing, their production values were extremely high given the state of technology current at the time.

The group was also highly innovative and ahead of its day in the use of wah-wah pedal, backwards echo, microphone placement, stereo and recording techniques. Roger Mayer, who designed Jimi Hendrix’s first fuzz box, also made one for Jimmy Page.

Both John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page were accomplished, in-demand session players for years before Led Zeppelin.

Bass guitarist/keyboardist Jones also had considerable arranging skills and experience. Their combined expertise in the recording studio proved invaluable to the production process.

According to Robert Godwin, John Paul loved Motown. He was fascinated that its music engineers had finally figured out how to record the bottom end of bass guitar and bass drum. He used this knowledge to good effect with Zeppelin.

The Ultimate Music Master

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As I mentioned, you simply can’t discuss Led Zeppelin albums without getting into the band’s unofficial recordings, or bootlegs of its live performances and studio sessions. They are fascinating chronicles of the group’s musical evolution.

And no other group in rock history has been bootlegged as often as the mighty Zeppelin! It’s impossible to list and review them all, there are so many. And newly packaged ones seem to emerge every week.

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Going On Record To Learn

In the early years, Led Zeppelin albums were always recorded in the studio. But, as the group continued to experiment with both the music and its production, some of the later LPs were recorded in granges (halls) or other locations.

In this section of our website, I’ll be taking an in-depth look at each album in the band’s official catalogue. Each one will appear in the chronological order of its release date.

What’s YOUR favourite Led Zeppelin album? Pick any Zep album – official or not!

Where were you the first time you heard it? How did it affect you? Tell us why this album is IT for you!

Have a funny story about how your parents hated it?!!

Which songs do you like best – and least? Why? What could the band have done to make this album even better?

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...