Led Zeppelin Research Paper

Led Zeppelin was first formed in 1968 and have been considered legends since the release of their first album, but what made fans enjoy and crave their songs in the first place? With the emergence of psychedelic music, it showcased power and strength and revolutionized the music industry. Led Zeppelin released their first album in 1969 and had numerous songs that demonstrated strong and distorted tones. The use of distorted guitar sounds, reverse echoing, and heavy drumming and bass sounds are characterized into what we now call as heavy metal music. Many people argue on whether Led Zeppelin were the fathers of heavy metal or just another rock and roll band during the early 1970s. Songs such as “Black Dog” and “Dazed and Confused” demonstrate

Scott Calef explains that “it’s an unparalleled body of work that charts a pioneering journey encompassing blues, rock, folk, funk, and eastern influence ” which shows us that led zeppelin had many influences and sounds mixed into their music instead of heavy metal music. By looking at the career of Led Zeppelin and the Evolution of their music through the albums such as Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin III, and Physical Graffiti, we are able to come to the decision that Led Zeppelin was neither a heavy metal group nor a regular rock and roll band, but a hybrid of the two with other elements that created a sound that only can be defined as “Zeppelin”. Led Zeppelin used many different types of instruments with the usual electric guitar/drums/bass sounds which showcased their virtuosity as musicians and separated themselves from typical “heavy metal”

The fans were in even more confusion because of the structure of the album. Led Zeppelin III has a total of 10 songs, half of them are the standard sound similar to the previous two albums such as “Out on the Tiles”. The other half are acoustic guitar based such as “Gallows Pole” and “Tangerine”. Robert Plant comments in an interview on their third album and says “The third album was the album of albums. If anybody had us labeled as a heavy metal, group that destroyed them .” This showcases the change in their music and how Led Zeppelin didn’t think they were a heavy metal band. Very few of their songs do have a heavy metal vibe to it compared to Led Zeppelin I, but majority of their songs were replaced with an acoustic guitar. Many of their songs were based off of many blues musicians and even instrumentalist in the late 1800’s. This allowed them to showcase their abilities even more and change the way the fans viewed Led Zeppelin. The change from semi-heavy metal to a more acoustic based sound also parallels the change in the lyrics. The lyrics in Led Zeppelin I were much darker in tone and more psychological based compared to Led Zeppelin III’s lyrics. Examples such as the “Immigrant Song” have more folk lore to it and doesn’t relate to common heavy metal topics such as death, drugs, and sex. The sound of Led Zeppelin metamorphosis’s again once