Led Zeppelin - Mothership

For two and a half years (from about April 1975 to the end of 1977) I worshipped Led Zeppelin. It started when I heard "Physical Graffiti" through our next door neighbour's wall. I borrowed it and loved it. The thing that made the most impression was John Bonham's drum sound. But when I bought "Led Zeppelin II" later that year (after the school carol service, if memory serves) I knew that it was the real thing. It's a bit sad, I suppose, that great as Led Zeppelin were, they never surpassed the music on their first two albums. It may, then, have been a long slow decline, but what a decline.

I don't think I've listened to any Led Zep for 30 years, and I was expecting to be underwhelmed, especially since heavy metal has long been a derided cliche, and Rolf Harris and Dread Zeppelin have done their worst, but I was bowled over by the immediacy and power of the early stuff on this compilation, especially "Good Times Bad Times" and "Whole Lotta Love".